Overwhelmed, kids and pups

Have you ever come to the point where you were overwhelmed with the amount of work that needed to get done and you knew you could not possibly do it all in the timeframe in which you felt it needed to be accomplished? Me too. I must have been at one of those points last night where the weight of the load caught up with my consciousness. Something hit me as I walked into the garage and it was, once again, full of leaves that had blown in under the partially open door. Mama and Victoria like to raise the door in order to give the rabbit, whose cage seems to be permanently set in the garage, some fresh air. My contention is, if the rabbit needs fresh air, set the rabbit outside. I know, it is just a few leaves, but for some reason it hit me the wrong way yesterday evening as I unloaded my things from the truck. I got over it, but not before I had to apologize for getting snippy with Mama.

As I changed and got busy working, I had to ask myself what was really bothering me? So much to do. So little help. So little time. So little money. Yearning for a change and finding the same, same, same. As I worked on mulching leaves so Mama and I can have a garden at some point this year, I began to realize – as is typical – I was frustrated because I had so much. Sad, huh? Mama and I had all this because we had prayed for it. We have a farm because we had prayed for one we could manage as we grew older. We have a garage because the farm God gave us had a large house in it with an oversized garage – complete with all the amenities of a large garage. We have all these noisome leaves to contend with because, unlike much of the area around us, we have lots of trees on our little farm; to shade our goats, our cattle, our chickens, our dogs – and our house.

We have a goat barn that needs doors because God allowed me to build it. A chicken coop that needs some finishing touches – which is very nice, by the way - because God allowed me to build that. We need fencing stretched over three hundred feet of pipe fencing because we have a property that can be subdivided for the goats we are keeping. We have a barn for the cattle and all the equipment I need to maintain the property, to get large bales of hay for the cattle, etc., etc., etc.

So, once again, I decided I can either be like Martha, who “was cumbered about much serving,” or I can be like Mary who chose the “good part”. I would like to say my attitude changed immediately, but that would be a lie. It took time to realize that being overwhelmed is a two-sided coin in this instance. At some point, I will be overwhelmed with gratitude for all that the Lord has given me and Mama. Because, in fact, He has given us so much.

Mama was somewhat frustrated yesterday evening because she cleaned an area in the goat barn for little Lilly to have her babies and rather than lie in the cleaned spot the goat was bedding down in the area that still has a bit of rabbit manure in it. Later that evening, as I was working on leaves, she checked again and was pleased and relieved that Lilly had moved to the spot Mama had prepared for her. Unlike the Disney movies, these animals act just like animals and we have to allow them to act on the instincts God gave them – and adapt our expectations to conform to those instinctually guided actions. However, in this case, Mama seems to have anticipated the need in sync with the mama-to-be. Mama is very good at that.

Kira’s pups are growing quickly. By the middle of next week, their eyes will begin to open, and we will have to make arrangements for the seven of them to be more mobile. With that in mind, I need to repair the kennel we typically use for the Banty house, so it can be ready to be used for its intended purpose – a dog kennel. It was damaged by the ice storm we had a few weeks back. We will move it this weekend to sit near the birthing center so Victoria has a place to put the pups as they require more room to move about. A place where they can be somewhat contained.

Another “extra work” blessing in disguise.