Reasons for praise

I apologize to anyone who may be following along on this humble blog, but for a while, I just could not drum up the emotional energy to take the time at the end of the day to sit down and write out the events of the day. And that is really a big shame-on-me, because the Lord has been doing so much in our lives here, recently, that it’s irresponsible of me not to take time to praise Him for all the little things that are happening around us. 

As we have helped Victoria pray through buying a house in Florida over the past six or eight weeks, she has finally found one that she would like to pursue and has been approved to do so. We will see how that works out in the weeks to come, but the prospective closing should be the end of this month. So, by the first week of May, we may be making a trip to Florida to help Victoria move into her home. That’s a huge praise the Lord. 

Also, I have been able to work for my old employer, Energy Worldnet, and do some classroom training for them. That has worked out extremely well. They have been very gracious in getting me set up with the computer and programming I need to make that happen and paying me a very fair rate to do so. I’m not sure how long this will last but I will take it as far as they’ll let me and will hopefully put some money in the bank based on that. 

We have now had our third kidding on the farm. All of the kids (baby goats) that have been born to the three nannies on our farm in the past two weeks have been the progeny of Little Boy Blue. His coloring is coming through in phenomenal ways on those little kids that he fathered. Two of our goats that kidded first were two that we had bought as rescue animals and we have had them for a year, but finally were able successfully to get them bred. We did not know that Blue Boy was the father of those offspring because he was only with them for a couple of days. The rest of the time they were in the presence of one of our male goats they were with Midas, but he never got to do his work on them because Blue Boy beat him to it. Blue Boy, we are finding out, is an extremely amorous little Billy goat. The person who sold him to us, told us that she was having trouble keeping weight on Blue Boy, because he had nothing on his mind, but getting in with the feamles and creating offspring. He has done so extremely well for us. 

It’s hard for me to remember since the last time I wrote in the blog a lot of the little things that God has done in our lives that just worked out miraculously, but one of those things that I do not want to take for granted is the fact that in every project we have begun lately, I have not had to buy any material for any of those projects. I had all the materials required for those projects just laying around the farm. The metal that I needed to redo the duck pen roof and sides. The fencing that I needed for the redo of the yard with that duck pen. The metal that I will now need for the new pen that I have built for Midas and his two ladies to stay in for a couple of months. Even the siding for the little shelter that I am building for them. All of those are materials we have laying around the farm or have been brought here by Norman. 

So, in spite of the diversity of materials needed, we have been able to do we have without needing to buy anything to get all of that done. It’s a real blessing when God works things out that way. When I was installing the fencing for a new lot we need for breeding, I was able to use two pieces of fencing that had been cut to section off the goat barn the last time we did this. One of those two pieces fit the length with about six inches to spare. The other section of fence fit with about sixteen inches of overlap. You may now think that is anything special, but it is. When we have exactly what we need when we need it, that is God’s way of showing us He is always supplying our needs ahead of time. We just have to be willing to look carefully at what we already have that can meet the need.

We took two hogs to be butchered and at the same time we lost our upright freezer. So, Mama gave away a good bit of meat and vegetables that we had in different freezers to pare down the contents of the chest freezer we have out in the well house. We recently bought a small upright freezer that has nothing but drawers in it. It is small enough to fit in our chef’s pantry. I wasn’t thrilled about that purchase when Norman and Grandpa brought it home. But it turned out to be an extremely good purchase for us. When Mama picked up the meat from our hogs, everything fit with room to spare. It’s just little things like that that add up to real blessings in our lives. 

Also, in reconnecting with my old employer, it has been neat to see the impact God let me have on my coworkers and other people associated with the company. It is nice to know that my witness for the Lord really had an impact on those around me at work. Nothing we do as we live for the Lord is done in vain. With that thought in mind, we need to be careful to do our very best in all we do so our witness in not tarnished as we are being watched. 

Norman has been struggling for several weeks to find a way to make money. Mama and I have had to cover a couple expenses on his behalf, but he has repaid us in spades for the little bit of money that we spent on him. I say a little bit of money because it has not been a significant amount, but at the same time it does take away from what Mama and I need to do, adding to our overall financial burden. What he has been able to do for us, either in repairing the vehicles that he’s worked on or in fixing up the property that he and Grandpa have worked on has more than compensated for what we have been able to do to help him keep his insurance current, or to help him keep his bank account solvent, or to help him to keep fuel in his truck. We’ve tried to be an encouragement to him without being a source for him. It has made an impact, but he still needs some type of full-time employment so that he can begin to cover all of these expenses on his own. 

Grandpa over the past few days has had some days where he was hurting a little bit more than normal, but he has always forced himself outside onto the tractor, walked around the property, hoed or watered the garden, pulled up weeds, taken care of flowerbeds, etc. Just anything to keep himself moving. Everything he does in that respect is a blessing to me and Mama. So, the fact that Mama and I are supporting three families right now on a fixed income is a little bit challenging, but at the same time we are managing to get a whole lot more done that I had anticipated. 

So, I just wanted to say, praise the Lord!