Special services, keeping up, good choices, predictable

Tonight, is the last service in our three days of special services. I hesitate to call it Revival services, because that title is not an honest title, but they have been very good services. Dan Martin has been preaching these services for us starting last Sunday Morning. The focus of the preaching has been meant to encourage us as believers and to give a gently warning, a pointed reminder about the little things we may have allowed to distract us, to discourage us, to give us pause in our Christian life and allow us to justify compromise in our life and witness. Each little compromise increases the potential to not just weaken our testimony but to destroy it altogether. The music we listen to, the shows of movies we watch, the books we read, the friends we choose and the things we meditate upon. I have had to ask myself; what am I devoted to? Where is the center of focus for me? How often do I bathe my decisions in prayer? Am I concerned about my relationship with my Lord and do I put Him first in my life? Do I even know what it means to put Him first? Is my walk different from those around me? I have fallen far short of even those things that I know I need to be doing, losing the fire in my life and certainly losing my focus on the things of God in some areas of my life. It is easier to go-along-to-get-along. Cause no offence to anyone through an expression of my faith. It has been good to begin to see myself from God’s perspective. At least, as much as I am willing to be honest with myself.

I told Mama last night on the way home that I am always greatly encouraged by the extra preaching, but it is a difficult schedule to keep. Keeping up with all the duties of the farm, the daily care for Grandma and Grandpa, which can become both distracting and overwhelming, and the nightly services added to his week has been a bit of the challenge. A good challenge, but a real challenge. Mama and I have had to hurry a bit every evening to get the 5:30 feeding in for the baby goats while sparing enough time to shower and dress for church. I, as always, insist on leaving about 6:20 or earlier each evening so I can make sure things are set up for the song service. Microphones in place and tested, making sure we have a pianist, making sure the songs chosen are familiar to the pianist, ensuring that the person asked to sing a special is ready to do so, making sure I do not need to amend the song service to fit in special singing groups or a missionary, etc. It is nice to have all that done well before the service needs to start. I can assume the musicians feel better knowing that all that is taken care of, and all their concerns are addressed as early as possible. I know it makes me feel better.

Yesterday afternoon, Mama and I introduced the bottle babies to the paddock with the nanny goats. The kids were not necessarily welcomed, but they were not harassed either. Each of the nanny goats and all of the yearlings in the paddock were interested in the tiny ones and came over to smell and otherwise inspect the newcomers, but they were otherwise uninterested. As Mama and I fed bottles to the babies, the youngest goats in the paddock were hard to keep away from the babies, but they had no desire for the milk in the bottles. They just wanted to make sure they were not missing any treats. So, we have left the babies in the paddock to be tended to over the next few weeks as they are fed their bottles of milk as well as being integrated into the herd. Last night Mama and I locked them into the creep feeder in the barn since the babies were not anxious to enter the barn on their own. Having closed them up last night, we let them out of their prison this morning and, once fed, we left them in the paddock hoping they would adopt the barn as shelter from the rain. That turned out to work out well. When we went back out at 10:30 for the second feeding, the three little ones were curled up together in a corner of the barn. A small win for us.

With the new shoots of grass coming up in the year, the chickens are really enjoying the time out. Mama even got to mow last weekend – much to her delight. Cooler weather has kept the grass from growing too quickly, but the eternally predictable process of growth has begun. Soon enough we will see the potato plants push up through the dirt in the rows where they are planted. Though we are not completely free from the prospect of an overnight freeze, we are rapidly coming to that time of the year. The angst of a late season freeze is problematic but if we make it through the next two to three weeks, the trees and berry bushes should be far enough along to survive a few hours of freezing temperatures without any risk to the tree or this year’s fruit.

At least, we hope so.