Foiled, junking, delays and directions

Mama had the pigs put up when I got home yesterday evening because the gate I put up was not able to keep them out of the coop. So, I worked on the gate a bit more to try to make it a little more difficult for them. In doing so I may have made it a bit too difficult. When Mama and I were gearing down for the evening I noticed that the chickens were still out and it was nearly dark – very unusual.

I was once again foiled by the pigs. Mama had to go out and open the gate to let the chickens into the coop because they would not fly onto and over the gate to get into the roosts they seek out every night. I suggested Mama put the feeders on the part of the roost that the chickens do not normally use. It will be too high for the pigs to get to until they are much bigger.

Mama and I took some time last night to look into some of the boxes in the old farm house. I so doing we filled the dumpster with items that should have been discarded long ago. It gave me a sense of accomplishment to get rid of the stuff and clear out some space in the old house. At some point we are going to have to complete the exercise in earnest because I do not want to carry junk with me to a new location.

I think sometimes we become too comfortable with the way things are arranged and do not realize just how big a mess we have on our hands. I have been to houses where things are stacked floor to ceiling and have wondered why the effort was even made to accumulate what looked to me to be totally worthless. For instance, we have buckets around the farm that have holes and cracks in them yet we keep them to haul dry stuff. That’s what a wheelbarrow is for.

I looked at the shed where we park the tractor to see what needed to be taken to the new address with us. There is a shed full of things that need to be hauled off for scrap. In all the accumulation of metal pipes and unusable tires there are two or three items I will take along. The rest will be sold for their weight in scrap. I do not know what we will do with the tires.

Through a series of delays – mostly due to the survey not being completed – we will not be able to close on the farm until we get back from our trip to Alaska. That is not a huge concern for us or the buyer. We have learned that God’s timing is always the best. So we will wait. I do not know if it will affect our purchase of the property in Decatur.

We have not heard from the seller yet that he is good with the delay. But there is little we can do since the sale of the farm is needed in order for us to have the finances to purchase the property. Again, God will work all that out to His will and we will adapt and praise Him along the way.

I read in Ecclesiastes 6:9 this morning “Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire…” What that says to me is, if I invest so much emotional energy in plans and dreams that I lose sight of what I already have been given, I will eventually lose both. I still have work to do as I wait on the Lord and that should be the primary focus of my energy.

He will open the doors needed and show us the way forward as we are faithful to work at what has already been entrusted to us.