The bees, Audrey, approaching Holidays

During my lunchbreak Tuesday, I followed through on combining two hives in order to save the weak hive. First, I had to open both hives and go through the weak hive to see if I could find the queen. I searched every frame carefully and could not locate the queen. I even separated out clumps of bees to see if she was being hidden in the little mass of bees. No luck. So, I put the newspaper as instructed on the top of the brood box of the strong hive and placed the brood box of the weak hive on top of the newspaper. After reassembling the other hive parts, I set aside the extra parts from the hive I had moved into the new location, and I walked away.

The bees in the two hives will chew through the newspaper to see what is going on and as they do they will interact in small numbers to acclimate to each other. The theory is that this extended time of interaction as they clear out the newspaper between the brood boxes, will limit the killing off of the disparate populations in those two brood boxes. I am anxious to see if we succeeded but am cautioned about moving too quickly. What I have planned is to go once again over my lunch hour today and peep into the hive to see how the integration as gone or if I did something wrong and stressed out the two hives in my attempt to integrate them. I will also put out some syrup for the bees to give them some extra rations to get them over the stress. Winter is approaching very quickly and my bees need to be ready.

Brittany and Andrew are enjoying being back in New Jersey. Her three girls are thoroughly enjoying being in the church school. Zoe and Sophia are accelerating in their learning with the very structured curriculum being taught and Audrey is enjoying being in the office with Brittany. Audrey, as would be expected is the main attraction at the school. A popularity in which she has limited interest. Brittany tells us that there are three or four students that seek out Audrey every chance they get and though Audrey tolerates this attention there is one particular favorite of hers, Ethan Fisher. While she will allow herself to be carried away by certain of the young ladies at the school without too much protestation, she actively seeks out Ethan Fisher. Nonetheless, the Kim family is enjoying their life in the relocation.

Brittany was telling us as Mama and I drove home from church last night that during their ongoing Missions Conference and the dinners associated with that conference, there is a gentleman at the church who is about my age, mirroring my hairless pate, sporting glasses that Audrey has been peculiarly focused on. As Brittany began to decipher her baby talk, she realized that Audrey was identifying this gentleman as Papi – my moniker. She was thinking of me as she looked at this man. Brittany did not try to correct her. After all it is close enough in her little mind, but at least Papi has a significant place in her memory.

In our discussion last night Brittany broached the subject of Mama and I flying to New Jersey for the Christmas holidays. Mama and I are definitely interested to see if we can work that out, but it is early in the process. Christmas in New Jersey might be fun if the covid restrictions do not interfere with our personal festivities. It has been at least ten years since I have been back to visit the church and the friends we have there. Mama got a short visit when she helped Brittany and Andrew make the move back to New Jersey from Kansas. If we do get to go, Audrey can get a few days of close contact to formalize and augment her memories of Papi and Grammy.  

A service repairman came to the house yesterday to evaluate our freezer failure issue. He spent a few minutes looking over the freezer, determined that the thermostat had failed, promised to order the part and gave Mama an invoice for $90 to cover the fifteen-minute service call. The original proclamation was that the replacement part will take anywhere from one to seven weeks depending on whether the part will be shipped from the East or the West coast, but to our surprise, the part was found in Dallas and the repair will be made tomorrow. The part is about $60. How much we will be charged to have the part installed is still in question, but it should return our freezer to service. That will help.

I have my final class for the week tomorrow. It is a little bit of a struggle to present three eight-hour classes in a week. Fortunately, the day between the Monday-Wednesday-Friday classes allows me to rest my voice, which is strained by the middle of the afternoon portion of each class. I am participating in a rewriting of the class material to facilitate onboarding instructors for the class as we look to make the material less dependent on the presenter being someone with field knowledge in the industry.

We will see how that pans out.

Bad bee news, Victoria, storage space

Sunday afternoon, between services a couple from our bee club came to the farm to work through the hives with me. We got started about 2:15 and worked until a little after 4 pm. I have three hives right now and as we went through them frame by frame, we found two of the hives to be strong enough to make it through the winter. Plenty of honey. Plenty of brood. Plenty of bees in the current population. On the hive that was a split from one of my stronger hives, there was almost no brood in the hive. Plenty of honey but no bee larvae to take up the slack as the current bees die off before winter. That is a scenario for complete failure of the hive. Since I do not want to lose the work the bees have put into that hive, I am going to combine it with one of my stronger hives to ensure the bees have a chance to make it through the winter and that the stores of honey in that weak hive will be available for a hive that will survive.

To make the combination, I will put the single brood box of the weak hive on top of the brood box of the stronger hive with a single sheet of newspaper isolating the two. As the bee’s chew through the newspaper, it will give the two colonies time to get acquainted with the different pheromones of their respective colonies. That acclimation will allow the bees tending to honey and a small amount of brood in the weak hive to integrate into the stronger hive without a mass kill off of the bees that would have typically been considered invaders in the colony they will become a part of. Simple in concept. We are praying that it will work in practice. I will do that during my lunch break today. That will put me back to two hives. Sad but necessary. I will have to do better the coming spring to grow my apiary into more strong colonies. On the bright side, in one of my two strong hives, the bees have already consumed over half of the five pounds of sugar I put into the candy board. That is a good sign. I can easily prepare another sugar board for them.

Victoria has missed the last couple days of work due to a persistent cough. She has been suffering for several weeks from some digestive ailment that has not allowed her to eat anything without suffering painful digestive consequences after any meal. To date, she has muddled through and suffered in silence, however, the current cough is unwelcomed at the pharmacy in our current fear oppressed society. The requirement of being constantly masked at work in spite of being fully vaccinated only adds to the discomfort of the cough as well as prolonging the infection because of the limitations masking produces against attaining clean breathable air. We will have to wait and see how long this persists, but so far, we are going on ten weeks or longer with the digestive issues.

I can sympathize as I continue to live with the continuous discomfort from the gallbladder issues I am having. In spite of the discomfort, insurance is convinced that no medical treatment is necessary at this time. Nor is any testing to be approved. So, I am left only with the option of continuing as I am until forced at some point to go to the Emergency Room. I am nowhere close to that yet, but at least I have a plan of action when the time comes. I am closing in on the point of being severely nauseated every time I eat, but an hour of feeling like I am going to throw up passes and the nausea eases, lessening to the uncomfortable but not urgent level. So, I am managing so far and will continue to do so.

The upright freezer that failed on us last week will potentially be looked at tomorrow to determine what repairs are needed. The expense and timeframe of those repairs will be determined at that point. We are anxious to get that freezer back in service because we have bought some beef from the Wycoff’s and have nowhere to store that purchase. Fortunately, they are not in any hurry to deliver the beef to us. They have plenty of freezer space at the moment. That works out well for us since we are momentarily hamstrung in storage capacity. As far as repairs are concerned, I will not be surprised if rodents are the root cause of the freezer failure, but that is only a guess.

Class yesterday was an okay class. Limited participation but everyone was willing to engage when called upon to do so. I have classes tomorrow and Friday. That makes for a long week, but we will get through it.

The best news, busy Mama

Brittany and Mama had a long conversation late yesterday as Brittany related a significant event to Mama concerning Zoe and Sophia. For some time, Brittany, as she recounted events leading up to last night, has been overhearing conversations between Zoe and Sophia expounding between themselves what they understood about salvation. It was surprisingly accurate and telling in the details they discussed, so last night Brittany began to quiz them about the idea. As she asked them to relate what they knew, they told their mommy about how Jesus died on the cross to take away our sins. That you cannot go to Heaven just by obeying your parents. You cannot go the Heaven just because you go to church. To go to Heaven, you must ask Jesus into our heart.

Brittany asked the obvious question of Zoe; do you want to ask Jesus to come into your heart and save you? The answer was yes, and Brittany prayed with her to ask Jesus to be her Savior. Sophia was an observer to the prayer, not a participant, so Brittany asked Sophia if she would like to ask Jesus into her heart also. Her answer was that she did not want to do so right then. Brittany assured her that was okay. She could think about it and let mommy know when she was ready. However, Zoe was mortified that her sister would not be going to Heaven as she would and her heartfelt protect motivated Sophia to pray as well. Though that will need to be revisited at some future date, Brittany is certain that Zoe understood exactly what she was doing, and we rejoice in that. When emotions had settled, both of the twins asked if Audrey could pray for Jesus to come into her heart? Obviously, that will need to happen sometime much later. Brittany, to her credit, handled the situation beautifully.

Such is the blessing of being in the right church. One that unapologetically teaches Bible doctrine; especially that of salvation. God, in His wisdom made salvation so simple that the heart and mind of a little child can understand. After raising our children in church, Mama and I felt compelled to move our church affiliation to a different denomination. The very first morning we attended that church, Joshua and Cori prayed in the Sunday School hour to ask Jesus into their hearts. That is one of the primary reasons we have stayed with the Independent Fundamental Baptists. That is why Mama and I worked in Children’s ministries for all the years that we did. That is why we were able to see many young children pray their simple prayer to ask Jesus into their hearts. When presented with the simplicity of the Gospel, children can understand the message of salvation.

Mama has been working at our church school for the past two days. Bro. Zach needed the time off to attend the men’s retreat in Arkansas. A group of about eight men went from our church. I was not able to attend this year because I could not find a substitute to teach my class yesterday. It is for the bast on my part since I do not feel very well. It has turned out to be a fun couple days for Mama. The school is traveling to a competition today – somewhere in Arlington. That is something Mama really enjoys. So, she is making the most of the time to get involved with the students, most of whom she knows well. She was so fired up yesterday evening that she got out the mower and mowed the front and back yards and down the fence line along the road. All that was done before I got home. Today’s activities will probably be a little more tiring for her. I am glad they called on her to substitute for Bro. Zach.  

As always, I have planned activities for the weekend, but I am not sure what can actually get done. Mama is planning on setting up a table or two outside of Tractor Supply tomorrow. She will be attempting to sell both her Color Street products and her crafts. Honestly, she has done better with the crafts lately than with the nail appliques, but Color Street remains the long-term business plan. Though people in general may not have realized it fully yet, inflation is causing our economy to tighten and as that pressure grows money will less easily parted with for feel-good items. We are already starting to see that as Mama plies her wares, hence the multifaceted approach to marketing multiple types of wares to attract buyers. Regardless of how tight money gets, people are always looking for items that give them joy. Mama has many such to offer.

I will stay and work as I am able at the farm tomorrow. Hopefully, neither of us will spend too much money and at least one of us will make a little money. Time will tell.

Classes, being thankful

The class yesterday went very well. Interested listeners. Willing participants. A good group of men. I had to quickly move from the HQ house to the office before class because the internet at the house was not working. That added a bit of frustration to the morning. Because I was broadcasting from a conference room at the office, I had to rob a charge cord from my assigned workstation in the office to make sure my computer had power to make it through the seven-hour class. The relocation and setup of the new location happened in about twenty minutes as I was moving quickly to get ready. But it all worked out well enough and perhaps sitting in a regular chair at a conference table versus perching on the stool I use at the house while stationing my computer on a raised desk saved me a little of the back pain I tend to accumulate during the classes. It was encouraging to get great reviews after the class. I will be teaching again tomorrow. Time will tell what location I will need to use.

I was not much good through the evening yesterday after getting home. I was feeling wiped out and nauseated but I paced through getting the animals fed and watered, setting out feed at the locations that needed it and tending to several unnoticed little things before I came in and sat down. I forced myself to get up and walk to the end of our road and back just to get the exercise and closed up the coops for the night upon my return to the farm just as it was getting full dark. When all that was done, I sat outside and listened to a book on my Audio program while Mama attended her meetings via phone. When I finally went inside it was only 8 pm. Too early to go to bed so I did the next best thing and stretched out on my recliner. Mama woke me at 9:15 to urge me to change and go to bed. I slowly complied.

I do not feel much better this morning, but I am trying to eat regularly in spite of the constant nausea. Fortunately, there are times of relief. I find that if I sit still and am careful what I drink, I can avoid the nausea for an hour or so. However, as soon as I move around and soon after I eat, regardless of what I eat, the cramping and nausea returns. Often with a vengeance. Oh, well. This too shall pass.

With all the nonsense going on around us and the fact that I do not feel well, it is hard to stay positive. At least to stay more positive than negative, so every day, several times a day, I try to rehearse God’s goodness to me and Mama. Every time one of our children call Mama to update her on events happening in their lives and the lives of our grandchildren, I thank God for my wife, our children and our grandchildren. Every time there is a positive bit of news concerning the health or recovery of someone we have been praying for, I thank God. Every time I get to teach a class for my current employer, I thank God. Every time I look out the window from my workstation at my father’s antique desk sitting our bedroom at the farm, I thank God for where we live and what He has blessed us with. Every sound from the goats, the chickens, the birds around us, or the barking of our working dogs, I have a reason to thank God. Every service we are able to attend with our church family, to sing, to listen to the preaching of God’s word, to share our prayer requests and to hear the requests of others, I thank God.

I am grateful past the groaning. I am hopeful in spite of the discouraging happenstances about us. I am walking more in faith than in fear despite the cumulative efforts of the world to keep us in fear. I see a prosperous abundance in my life regardless of the shortages the country is now experiencing. I see God’s wonderful will being done in our lives and it is more than enough to praise Him for. We have a hope that is steadfast and sure in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I am His and He is mine. I have the eternal promise that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day. He is the keeper by His promise and power. I have committed my life, my walk, my way unto Him. Whether I meet Him in the air or meet Him through death, I will surely meet Him one day. Sooner now rather than later. We have much to be thankful for.

I may not feel great physically and we may be challenged at the moment financially, but Spiritually I am doing quite well. Mama and I are continually thankful. Philippians 4:6-8 states ⁶ Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. ⁸ Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

Good advice. Wonderful promise.

Weekend updates

Mama and I had a wonderful weekend. The weather was beautiful. The temperatures perfect – cool morning and very mild afternoon. I sent a good deal of time cleaning the roofs of our sheds and the house. I do not like to get on the roof when the weather is warm because of the damage that can be done to the shingles, but in the cool of the morning, I was not concerned about causing any undue damage. On the garden shed, I removed two wheelbarrow loads of twigs and dirt that I had been able to remove from the shed roof. That accumulation has been happening for a number of years. It was good to get that swept away. The roof looks clean and cared for. I also installed some drip edge on the wellhouse roof above the point where the shed roof is attached. That will keep the rain from dripping down onto items stored beneath the shed. Getting the dirt and twigs off the roof will let the rainwater run off without interference. Hopefully, that will keep the roof clean.

That drip edge proved far more difficult to install than I had thought it would be. I had to lay on my belly and work the ten-foot piece of metal under the edge of the shingles. Sounds easy. It was not, but I eventually got two such pieces of metal slipped in place and attached. We will not have to wait long to see if that addition keeps water out of the shed. My shoulders were aching that night from hanging over the downward edge of the roof coaxing the metal pieces into place.

Later that morning, because the windows were opened and because she had wanted to do so for some time, Mama and I began cleaning the windows. The sills were very dirty, and the screens needed to be cleared of spider webs. I worked from the outside while Mama worked from the inside. I managed to get all the way around the house, while Mama got the dining room and kitchen done. The other windows will have to wait for a bit longer, but they are far cleaner than what we started with. Since we will be opening the windows more often over the next few weeks, it made sense to take the time to get that project started. Besides, it is always nice to look out through clean windows.

Mama and I also rearranged the living room furniture taking the couch away from the windows to the left of the fireplace and putting it lengthwise stretching away from my living room desk area. We moved the two recliners onto the East wall of the living room which opened up the windows that had been blocked by the couch. The room looks very bright now. Mama and I both are liking the new setup. Although it limits a portion of the approach to the living room from the kitchen and dining room, it makes for a more comfortable sitting arrangement for me and Mama. Plus, it gives us full access to the windows that had been blocked by the couch. Those windows are opened most often on these pleasant mornings.

I spent a lot of time trying to burn out a stump in the grassy area between our driveway and the backyard fence. I have hesitated or procrastinated rather in renting a stump grinder to remove that stump along with four others that could be dealt with and got the notion that I should just burn it up versus grinding it up. I stared a fire in the stump early in the morning. It took all day and a good bit of scrap wood and deadfall but I pretty much succeeded. As of last night, there was only a very small portion of the stump left that had not been consumed. Feeling as badly as I did all weekend, that was a project I could do with minimal physical effort. It afforded me a small campfire to sit beside Saturday evening as I enjoyed the cooling of the air at nightfall. Such fires are a nice little benefit of where we live.

As for my appointment for a medical exam this morning, after refusing the test based on the assessed payment required, I was contacted by the scheduling department for the hospital and informed that the test had been postponed until insurance had been contacted regarding their portion of payment for the test. That had not been done yet. I am not convinced that will make a difference in the charge, but it certainly should have been completed first rather than after the fact. So, that test may still be in the offing. Time will tell, but the discomfort is getting worse day by day and at some point, I will need outside help. Fortunately, my portion of an Emergency Room visit is limited to $300. That is far more reasonable than $1,120.

I will be teaching a class tomorrow. After a week’s break from teaching any classes, I am looking forward to the class.

Disappointing news, weekend plans

As I was planning the time off for the medical test that is scheduled to be done Monday morning, I was finally able to connect with the financial advisor to review the cost of the test. My portion of that cost was to be $1,120, which turns out to be the full price. I refused the test. I will not waste one thousand dollars on a hunch. I called the surgeon to update him on my decision and let him know that I would continue as I am until the pain gets to be too much for me to manage, at which time I would go to the Emergency Room. My cost for an Emergency Room visit is only $300. It is a simple matter. When it comes to choosing between a diagnostic test and paying the mortgage it is a simple decision. What is really disappointing is to be paying $500 per month for medical insurance and receive very little discernable benefit from that. To help my body deal with the issue, I will fast for a period of time to rest my body and see if that helps.    

At the vet’s office yesterday, Mama found out that one of the two little ones we took to have the horns removed would have to keep is horns. They were too large to be removed except by surgically removing them and that leaves a nasty scar that never seems to be covered over. So, we will have two little horned bucks in our herd. That is not an issue except when it comes to selling them as pure bred Myotonic. The horns are a detriment to sales because horned animals do not show well. It is an interesting dynamic. The horns are removed as soon as possible to make the horned animals appear to be polled (hornless) but the trait is necessary for breeding purposes. A polled animal cannot be bred to another polled animal. The outcomes of that breeding have harmful results, so the horned animals are required for successful breeding while the horns are hidden as much as possible. Strange. For us it is not a problem other than to get a higher price out of the little bucks, one of which is going to be an amazing animal. A true credit to his breed.

Mama and I are not planning much this weekend. She wants to set up a table in front of Tractor Supply to market her Color Street products and perhaps some of her crafts. I am advising her to market the nail appliques as stocking stuffers. At least they are readily available unlike many other products. I will be doing farm related stuff as I am able. I will set up this weekend to pull the frames from the hives that are full of honey, but I will confer with a mentor to see if that is the right path forward. I may not be able to schedule the help this weekend, but with the weather cooling down, I need to go ahead with removing the frames to extract the honey before cold weather sets in.

Mama stopped by Tractor Supply this morning to pick up the dog food for Mocha that the store had ordered for her. In looking around the store she found out that they are having a flash sale on a lot of items. She picked up three bags of fertilizer that normally sells for $75 for $15 a bag. She also picked up five bags of charcoal for $1 per bag. I told her it would keep, and I could use it in a variety of ways around the farm. She bought three blueberry bushes for $3 each. That will give us seven blueberry bushes if they all survive and produce. She also picked up some tools for $1 per set. Those always make good stocking stuffers. She was excited. Mama is always up for a flash sale even if we do not need the items being sold.

I have a meeting at the office this afternoon. My yearly review. It will give me an opportunity to talk to my boss about potentially scheduling some time off next week to go with some men from the church on a men’s retreat in Rosebud, AR. I went last year and thoroughly enjoyed the preaching and the activities. This year, if I can get the time off, I will be prepared for cold evenings. Last year all of us were caught off guard by a blast of cold that came in suddenly on Friday afternoon. None of us had brought jackets to the event and only a few of the men had long sleeved shirts. I had a light jacket, but it was not nearly enough for the services in the open-air pavilion. Those who attend this year will be much better prepared.

Life is always a mixed bag of blessings and challenges. When we learn to appreciate the challenges as much as the blessings, life becomes an enjoyable pilgrimage.

Innocent questions, quickly cooling off

After Mama’s recounting of the story of our meeting and marriage, the young ladies who had so enjoyed that tale approached me last night at church and asked what it was that drew me to Mama when we first me. I told them initially that there were multiple things that attracted my interest, but I would have to think for a few minutes to articulate the answer they were looking for. So, after church was over, I caught up to them and finished the answer to their query. What attracted me to Mama initially was her lack of pretense. Her honesty and straightforwardness. What you saw was what you got. And I liked what I saw. So much so, that Mama and I had to thwart the efforts of some around us to focus on each other rather than other choices among the young ladies in our youth group they saw as potential interests I could, and in their opinion, should have chosen. Now, forty years later, we can see the outcomes of making the right choice.

Their remark to me was that Mama and I are so different. They described Mama as outgoing, funny and easy to approach, while I was described as “quiet”. That was the word they settled on as they searched for an adjective to describe me. Good enough. I have always been an observer and only as required, a participant. Mama is completely the opposite, but she knows after all these years and even somehow back at our original encounter, that there was more stirring in my thoughts and my heart than was obvious from my actions. Observation is more than looking on, it is an active, participatory engagement. When we are actively observing we are analyzing, cataloging, evaluation, learning. Connecting to what is being said and done in a way that incorporates the actions and information into our thoughts and actions. Our little Savanna is a good example of observation in practice. Walter is another. Mama is more about the engagement. Because of that we have made a great team.

But what each of us saw in the other was that we were in the right place doing the right thing to the best of our abilities. We met in church and have had that as the foundation of our marriage for our entire life together. All the successes and blessings of the years we have shared together are because of the Lord being the center of our lives individually and our marriage together. It has been fun for the most part, certainly challenging at times, but altogether delightful. I suppose that opposites really do attract personality wise, and Mama and I are as wholly complimentary as two persons can be. Two have become one.  

Mama is going to be busy this afternoon as she takes three of our little goats to the vet. Two of the three need to have their horns removed. We have been totally shocked at how fast the horns have grown since we made the appointments to have the two disbudded. The third is going to be wethered. He is our tiny little buck and will be going to a very good home as a pet. He will make an excellent pet for small children. We have a third little buck that has horns so long now that there is no good way to remove them without leaving some messy looking scars. He will have to keep his horns, but he is a very gentle little guy and will make a very fine sire. Hopefully, we will be able to sell him as a breeding buck in spite of the horns. Catching the three we need for the vet visit should not be a problem, but we will see how that works out when we actually try to do so.

Tomorrow night is predicted to be just above 40° F. That will be the first very cool night of this Fall. Today will be our last day of the year over 80° F. The temperatures will slowly retreat down the thermometer from this point on until we begin to have to worry about freezing. At that point, I have a lot of work to do around the farm – especially with the water line I have run to the barn. But still, Mama and I look forward to this time of year every year. The over two-and-one-half inches of rain that fell yesterday wet everything down well enough that I will be able to till the garden this weekend to get it broken up before winter sets in. I will repeat the process several times while adding nutrients to the soil in preparation for Spring planting. I enjoy that work.

Something that I cannot do is to cut down two large oak trees very near our pig building. We are witnessing the deadfall from those trees after every storm and the branches that are falling are getting larger and larger. I will need to pay to have those taken down. It is all a matter of where we choose to spend our income and right now, we have very little discretionary income to assign to a project like that. Hopefully we can have that removal done soon because as Winter comes, it ill become more urgent to protect our outbuildings against either of those trees falling onto those outbuildings.

 Soon perhaps we can address that issue, but for now, there is more than enough to keep me busy.

Positive thoughts

There is certainly enough to be negative about with soaring inflation, an invasion at our Southern border, government intrusion into our personal medical decisions and rampant, blatant lying, but that is not all that is happening in the world around us. We still live in the greatest nation in the history of the World. An experiment in self-rule that has survived far longer than those who created had envisioned. It is partly because of the fact that we have an expression of self-rule that we are in the despair that now troubles those of us who care about more than ourselves being gratified in the immediate circumstances. No person who cares about their children and grandchildren would enact legislation that will saddle those future generations with oppressive debt. A debt in which they had no voice.

Those setting the rules, the standards by which we operate, our laws, are making foolish decision for the sole purpose of maintaining their current power. Fortunately for us, there is a remedy. By virtue of our Constitution, they cannot maintain power without our consent – the consent of the governed. We can seek out and elect to office those who we feel would better represent us and our interests. Those who would look ahead to the consequences their decisions impose on their descendants. We have access to such individuals. Some of them are terrified of the wave of pernicious libel that will be leveled against them for simply disagreeing with those now in power and seeking to unseat them from that power. It is up to us to encourage those individuals to stand in the gap for us as we back them up, but we must do so vociferously.

We have a job to do. Let’s do it. We are the solution. But first we need to recognize that we have been a part of the problem. We have sat back and allowed our churches to grow soft and lazy when it comes to setting a moral standard for the unsaved population around us. The Apostle Paul admonished his protégé Timothy to “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine.” 2 Timothy 4:2 We need to be positive in our stance on the Truth. Unapologetic, unmovable, well informed, gracious but unyielding. We need to do this. Not just our pastors, those to whom we immediately associate the task of “preaching”. We are the church. We have the message of hope. We need to share that message regardless of the “offence” we may engender. All across the nations our pastors are but thousands in number. We are hundreds of thousands in number. They can be overlooked by our opponents. We cannot be ignored.

I am as guilty as any other in my hesitancy to speak out when my Lord is maligned or His name is taken in vain, but I can see that that has not fostered any tolerance of my beliefs among those I have tried to be “respectful” to. So, why not share my beliefs, my love for the Lord as boldly as those who speak out against my beliefs. I have decided to standup and be counted. Such a bold proclamation is easy to make as I sit here in the privacy of my home; however, it is my desperate desire to let those around me know who I love, what the Bible tells us about our God, that the time is near when God will say “enough” and the open door of salvation will be closed to those who have had the opportunity to receive that salvation at any point in their life.

Let’s tell as many as we can. Let’s share the hope we have in this life and most assuredly in the everlasting life ahead of us.  God is in control. Are we yielded to Him? Do we seek to accomplish His mission in this world – to seek and save those who are lost? Regardless of the present circumstances, we can live in victory. Each of us can do a little and as the hundreds of thousands, the millions of us who hold our faith dear do that little in His name, we become an irresistible force for good.

It will take time. It will take courage, but we have a promise, “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” Galatians 6:10 One promise from God is more powerful than the invisible forces that hold the universe in place.

We have all the power we need to make a lasting difference in the moral, social and Spiritual condition of the world around us. Let’s do our part and watch God do His part.

Little is much when God is in it.

 

More tests, recounting our life

I did not get the results from my ultrasound yesterday because the doctor was not in the office; however, the surgeon’s office called me very early this morning to let me know that the ultrasound was normal. The surgeon wants me to do a HIDA scan. A test that is highly recommended by my daughter Maggie. I do not yet know how much I will be financially responsible for to have this test done, but I am sure it will not be cheap since it is done at the hospital here in Decatur. According to Maggie, this was the only test that revealed that her gallbladder was non-functional. I do not have high expectations at this point, and I am growing frustrated by the amount that each non-conclusive costs me and Mama. I am sure insurance helps, but it is difficult to look at a $500 or $800 invoice representing our portion of the bill, to identify that help. So far, I have been largely disappointed by demonstrably good intentions that are costing us thousands of dollars to satisfy what seems to be no more than sympathetic curiosity. If I agree to the cost of the further testing, it will happen next Monday morning.

On the brighter side, Mama got to spend the day with friends from church. It was an impromptu lady’s day out. The missionary mom and daughters that made up the bulk of the group were on a mission to find suits for the multiple small boys being dressed weekly for deputation meetings that are ongoing. In the day of travel and shopping, Mama got to talk about how she and I met, courted and married. Ours is an unusual story that Mama loves to tell. Parts of that story do not comport with the more cautious courting associations encouraged by the Independent Fundamental Baptist, but those parts were corrected to reflect proper etiquette as Mama told our tale. How you begin a courtship that ends in marriage is always a fun story to tell. How you live that life of love, sacrifice, surrender and service to each other is the real truth of love. Now, almost 40 years later, that is the story we can tell. She had a wonderful time.

When I take time to look back on all the years Mama and I have been together, all the circumstances we have laughed through or cried through, most long ago forgotten, I wonder what the recounting of our lives will look like at that moment in Heaven when all our hours are reviewed with us by the Lord? 23,760 days have elapsed in my life to date. (14,310 of those days have been spent with Mama.) 570,240 hours have flown by in my life. You can do the math for the minutes and seconds if you like, but it all counts to God. I wonder, in the eyes of the Lord, what have been accomplished for him during those hours, those minutes, those seconds? Heaven will tell.

Such thoughts should sharpen my focus, but the “cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches” quickly choke out that drive to excel in Spiritual matters until I am summoned again to that moment of honest reflection and Spiritual discernment. Thank God, He fully understands our burden of flesh and allows us to make up for lost time in great ways as we take the opportunities to do so. Having your heart pointed toward seeing those opportunities is the key. I Thessalonians 5:16-18 gives us a starting point. Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

Sunday night the Miller family, our missionaries on deputation to go to Mexico, were at church with us. Their seven- or eight-year-old, Joshua is drawn to me and Mama. He is quite a chatter. Before church he asked me, “So, what’s it like to not be able to go fishing anymore?” Referring to the leasing out of the quarry lake properties by the owner of that acreage. I looked and hm and said, “Thanks for depressing my right before the service begins.” His eyes widened in shock and his mouth dropped open. Stammering, he said, “I could lead the singing for you.”

I thought that was hilarious!

Diagnostics, poor returns, bad storms

I had my ultrasound Friday afternoon at a location in Alliance. I went well, I suppose. There is no real way of telling until I get news on the results, which may still be a couple days away. I had hoped to get the results to the surgeon’s office as quickly as I could after the test, but Mama went to the appointment with me, and we ate a late lunch – I had been fasting until then – and spent some time at WinCo and Costco. It was time well spent. I do not regret the delay, if in fact it was a delay. I do know the surgeon’s office will get the written report early this morning, and we will deliver the disk with the images for him to view this morning as well, if they are in the office today. Since today is a banking holiday, I am not sure the surgeon’s office will be open so all our interactions may have to wait until tomorrow. I would sure like some relief, but I dread the cost of receiving that relief.

Saturday, I helped Mama get set up for her day at Trade Day’s. We were there and set up early, well before 8 am.  Mama had a table dedicated to her crafts and a table dedicated to Color Street. Gracie, Cheyenne and Aubrey were there with her. It was a beautiful day. A bit windy and a little warm, but the combination of those two conditions made for a nice day. Mama tells me there were a lot of people there but there were few buyers. Some of the other sellers around her were somewhat upset at the lack of actual buyers among the throng of lookers, but you cannot compel people to buy.

Mama sold a few of her little crafts and a few sets of nails. She got a very good prospect for a party and a potential stylist, but she walked away with less than $40 net for the day. I looked about briefly and noticed some crafters with items similar to Mama’s but the quality of those crafts in both materials and workmanship were very poor compared to Mama’s wares. Based on that short comparison, I am certain now that Mama tends to sell her crafts too cheaply, but she is always afraid to ask more than she does. All in all, we ended up in the negative for the day since a tank of gas we bought for the Sequoia cost us $58.

Sunday was great. We had very good services - especially good song services. Sunday morning, Mama and I were the last ones to leave the church. We dropped the girls off at their grandma’s house so they could meet with a friend that afternoon and we came home to eat. We had a relaxing afternoon, but that night a violent storm rolled through the area. High winds, large hail and heavy rain. Typical for the type of storms this time of year, it was over quickly, but it was a little frightening while it battered us. Since the men were staying at church to play basketball, Mama and I took Alissa and Alysa Burns home. It was on the drive to their house that the storm hit. The winds, which had to be over 50 mph, shifted quickly from the north to the west and then back again as the storm neared. What we could see of the sky when the lightening flashed looked like it could certainly turn more dangerous. Since there were tornado advisories out for our area, Mama offered to take our passengers home with us to wait out the storm.

With that set, Alissa and Alysa got changed at their house and were to follow us to our house so they could leave for home after the storm passed. Mama and I got home and were looking for Alissa when we got the call that she was on our road and a branch had fallen across the road, blocking the entire road. They had to turn around and go back home. So much for staying with us. So, I changed and took the truck and looked at the fallen branch. It was just at the start of our road, not twenty yards off the larger road it intersects. It was far larger than I could do manually. IT was a medium sized tree that had collapsed onto our road. It would require the tractor to get it out of the road and since the rain had stopped, I got on the tractor and did the best I could in the dark to move the fallen tree from the road. I will survey the position of the deadfall this afternoon and see what more I can do to ensure the roadway is fully open, but Victoria got through this morning on her way to work and it is not like we need to accommodate a large amount of traffic on our road. If one vehicle can navigate through the obstruction, that will work temporarily. The blessings of rain overshadowed the minor damage from the storm – at least from our perspective. I am sure there were others that suffered far worse than we did, but we will take what we get.

All my classes this week have been cancelled. That is what makes this week a perfect opportunity to have the gallbladder removal surgery if that is the recommended course of action. We will see how all that works out.

Crafting, hay delivery, sales, the weekend

I was very proud of Mama yesterday. She spent the entire day crafting. In doing so, she completed over a dozen items that will be offered for sale tomorrow at Trade Days. Those crafts along with her Color Street nails will be on display. What was kind of funny is that Mama was showing her crafts in Facebook and one of her friends asked to purchase one of the items. Cha-ching!

Today, prior to possibly going to my visit to the imaging center near Costco, she is concentrating on baking some cakes and cookies for sale. That type of product seems to do well at Trade Days. If the baked goods do not sell, we have plenty of friends to give them to so we will not have to consume them. Our Extended Care housed Church member love those type of handouts and we enjoy sharing with them. In fact, if they knew about the possibility of being given the cakes not sold tomorrow, they would probably be praying that those sales would not happen. I have mixed emotions on that. In deference to those individuals, I think I am finding that I have more of a sweet tooth as I grow older. It might just be my imagination because Mama and I have largely eliminated sweet snacks from our diet.

Our neighbor who is going to put calves on our property has not done so to date but he stopped by Tuesday late morning to talk to me. It turns out that Mama had talked to him earlier that day and asked if he had any contacts for Sudan hay. He did and he talked with the seller to negotiate the sale of ten bales for now. I let him know that I would not be available to pick up the hay until Thursday evening, so he went by the seller’s and picked up the hay for us, delivering it at about 5 pm Wednesday evening. I off loaded the hay in the front yard and reimbursed him for the purchase. A very kindly act on his part, but he assured me that he has nothing but time. That hay was put into the barn after work yesterday. It is beautiful hay. I wish we could have gotten ten more bales, but the seller was reluctant to part with too many bales because we have no idea what the winter will require in feeding out our respective herds. As it turns out, Mama has several friends looking for the Sudan hay and we have been able to make two or three contacts with seller’s that are close by and appear to have ample to sell.

Mama also negotiated the sale of tree of the ten little goats we need to sell. Our tiny boy will go to a very good home as a pet. He will make a great pet for a youngster because he will stay small, he is very gentle and extremely tame. In fact, he is constantly underfoot as I work in the enclosure with the goats. Two more, a potential breeding pair, will go to a family at church as a gift for a grandchild. All will have really good homes for the years to come. We were planning to keep only one of the three girls but none of the boys. However, there is one brute of a boy that we would like to see how he turns out. At just a few weeks old he looks like a three-month-old. The issue we have with him is that he is horned, and his horns have sprouted so quickly that we are too late to have them removed without it affecting his looks significantly. The process that we would need to employ now would leave two large knots on his head at the base of the horns. A very visible anomaly affecting our potential to market him and making it impossible, we have been told, for him to be shown. Show goats of this breed do not typically have horns.  Three times Mama knocked it out of the park yesterday. Hopefully, that is a portend of how things will go tomorrow as Mama markets her wares.

Meanwhile, I have been feeling pretty rough. Hopefully, the diagnostic imaging today will lead to a diagnosis that will start me on a path to recovery. Time will tell. I do not have extensive plans for this weekend – setting up Mama at Trade Days, tending to the bees, cleaning the coops and goat barn, organizing in a couple areas and taking the trash removed from those areas to the dump. So far, I have reorganized a couple walls in the shop, cleaned and organized the sunroom, and cleaned and rearranged the wellhouse.

For now, things look like we actually take care of our property.

Mostly bad news

I have not written in some days, and I apologize for the lack of time and enthusiasm that spurred that void, but to be brutally honest, the hesitancy to write this blog stemmed from an unjust negativity on my part toward the current stage of my health and of our nation. I do not like to be negative. I am, in large part, a positive person. Often to my detriment because I fail to fully consider the less peasant side of an issue, falling prey to outcomes that are less desirable than I had expected. Lately, I have felt awful, health wise. There is some speculation among several doctors that the malaise is caused by my gallbladder, but no one is certain enough to suggest a remedy. So, I have one more test to do to satisfy the curiosity of the surgeon who I met with Tuesday. That test is an ultrasound or sonogram. I was scheduled to have the ultrasound done early Tuesday morning but refused the test because I was required to front the clinic $518 for my portion of the bill. I felt like that was a ridiculous amount to charge when I have private insurance as well as Medicare. Unfortunately, the surgeon will not consider removing the gallbladder without those test results.

Working with the office staff of the surgeon’s office I have scheduled a sonogram with a facility in Fort Worth for tomorrow afternoon. I was hoping for an earlier appointment, but the afternoon slot was the only opening they had to offer. I will have to be fasting for the appointment but that is typically not an issue regardless of the late time slot. Right not, I have little appetite and dread the nausea that follows eating. I am hoping I can hurry from the testing facility to the surgeon’s office with the report and CD of the test for his consideration before they close tomorrow afternoon. I am not sure that will be possible, but I can try. Otherwise, I will deliver the results of the test Monday morning at the earliest. I am not in high hopes that the test will be definitive, but I do not know what the surgeon looking for, but I at least know there will be some results for him to look over with his diagnosis to follow.

The current COVID confusion is causing our society to wobble in a manner that is quite frightening. Why there is a steadfast refusal by a large portion of the medical community to just treat the illness rather than allow patients to progress into debilitating sickness as a result of catching the virus is disturbing. It really makes no sense other than to force people to unnecessarily fear the virus. To what end we can only guess, but the outcomes of that refusal to promote treatment for an infection versus getting a shot - a vaccine, so called - has resulted in untold, uncounted, unnecessary deaths. Not just from the illness itself, life-saving treatments have been refused to those who are “unvaccinated” and according to VARS, the Vaccine Adverse Reaction Site, thousands have died after taking the shop. Thousands of young men are left to deal with myocarditis, and scores of young ladies have been made infertile by the shot. If the timeframe for adverse reactions is stretched out to 14 days following the shot, the death count is over fifty thousand along with tens of thousands having life-changing medical conditions resulting from just one shot. Those of our population that are able to do so have taken upon themselves to provide their own medical care since easy remedies are readily available to us, further angering the medical community. Eventually, the lies will have to stop, and the truth will prevail, but at what cost.?

We no longer trust our medical doctors. We no longer trust out elected officials. We no longer trust our Federal Law Enforcement agencies who would rather prosecute parents disagreeing with school boards than to prosecute actual criminal behavior. We are at a crossroad and the sobering reality is that we are over a year away from exercising our vote to impose our choice of direction if the current leaders will not now consider our outrage. Things look bad, but they could be far worse. We are not among those that were abandoned in Afghanistan.

We live in the greatest country on Earth. Shame on us if we allow it to be stolen from us. Considering average life expectancy, I do not have much more time in this life, but before my life is through I would like to be among those who are actively trying to turn the tide of the wickedness we now suffer under back to righteousness for the sake of my children and grandchildren. For the sake of those we love that will follow after us we can be silent no longer. We can be “polite” no longer. We have work to do and just like those times in our daily lives when we allow something to go unattended until the mess looks overwhelming, we can answer the call to get involved in the cleanup project that will bring about the changes needed to ensure the representative Republic we call the Unites States of America survives the most successful attempt to ruin it that has even taken place.

Those in charge work for us, the American people. It is time to clean house. Lord help us to find those willing to serve us as leaders rather than serve themselves and their donors.