Sad news, traveling, transfers, hatchlings

Tuesday afternoon we got a call from Cori. In that brief call Cori related that she had just been told that Jadon Goins, the middle son of Matt and Delita, had been struck by a vehicle and killed. Jadon was trimming a property near the campus of Pensacola Christian College (part of a work program that offset his tuition at the college) when a truck jumped the curb and struck him, killing him instantly. What overwhelmingly horrible news for Matt and Delita! I have to admit that that news stirred up the grief Mama had to deal with when learned about the death of Becky and Bridgette in an automobile accident last September. That grief and loss is still raw in our emotional cortex. So unexpected. So overwhelming. So final. From our point of view that loss seems permanent and irreplaceable, but God does not see things that way. We were not made for this life alone. There is a far better continuation of our eternal existence in the presence of our Lord for those who are saved. Jarod, like Becky and Bridgette, just got there a little earlier than we had expected. We will see them again soon, never to be parted again. But for now, we grieve in that loss. Not as those who have no hope, but as certain in our faith that our reunion is very close at hand. Matt, Delita and Justice ot flights to Pensacola as quickly as they were able and arrived early Wednesday morning.

Mama and I will be traveling tomorrow to Pensacola to be at the funeral and to be there for Matt and Delita should there be anything we can do to help. Cori and Nate desperately want to be there to support their friends but the needs of the ministry in Honduras, which Matt and Deita must needs set aside for the moment, has to be carried forward by someone. That someone is Cori and Nate. So, Mama and I will be there as stand-ins and to show our personal support for them in this very difficult time. We will be two among a thousand serving the same purpose, but we will be there nonetheless. Matt and Delita and their two surviving children will be surrounded by more individuals than they could possible recognize individually but perhaps, being embraced by an overwhelming show of support and love will help spread the burden of their grief among all of us and help them cope going forward. Maybe. The funeral will be difficult, but it will give closure to the event of Jadon’s death. Jadon is already home, but we can honor the life he was allowed to share with us in his brief twenty years.

Cori shared with me and Mama this morning that Grant and Blake had to be taken out of the service last night, sobbing uncontrollably, because they could not contain their grief. Meanwhile, I had been praying for Nate as he was required by default to preach the service last night. A difficult service because of the sudden death of their pastor’s son. Cori said the sorrow of the congregation was palpable. We will need to earnestly pray for Matt, Delita and Justice when they return to Honduras and face their morning congregants. Those are the times that the well-meaning condolences of friends only serve to rake open our own fresh wounds. It will be difficult for some time, but God has abundant grace for circumstances like this. After all, He watched His only Son die in the cruelest of ways.

Meanwhile, life does in fact go on. Tuesday night Mama and I transferred the four nearly grown black ducks from the grow out pen to integrate them with the mature ducks. In our limited experience, ducks are not nearly as aggressive as chickens to newcomers in their enclosure. That went well enough that we moved the four younger Jumbo Pekin ducks to the grown-up pen. The grow out pen is now empty. Next week, I will scrape the residue of duck poop from the little pen and allow it to dry out thoroughly for the next batch of young ducklings. One of which hatched in our incubator this morning.

Mama and I have three incubators going right now. One with ducks, one with chickens and one with quail. We have definite time frames on each incubator. At a certain count of days, different to each type of egg, we stop and remove the egg turner. That day was today for the incubator with the ducks. Within a few hours we heard chirping from that incubator and discovered that the first of our ducks had hatched. It is a Khaki Campbell chick. We have six more eggs to watch. Hopefully, they will also hatch. We have about twenty chicken eggs in a second incubator, and we will stop the egg turner in that incubator tonight. Those eggs, by our count, will begin to hatch by Saturday. Victoria will have her hands full.

Today Mama will be focused on preparing for our trip. It will require more than getting clothing together. We must ensure that all the farm needs will be met, the feed is ample in each area, waterers are filled where that water needs to be carried in five-gallon buckets. Victoria is not yet able to lift anything heavy as she recovers from her surgery. Getting extra help to tend to Grandma and Grandpa is the highest concern, but we have friends who will be available to back up Victoria. Nevertheless, we are going and trusting the Lord to fill in all the details we are most generally responsible for.

It might be better if the trip was for a less sorrowful reason, but we did not get to pick.