As we begin to prepare for the upcoming livestock shows, we must clean and pack everything that is required to bring a load of animals to a different place.
Today we cleaned the pig barn, moved the grooming chute out into the center aisle, cleaned out old shavings, and began clipping both cows and pigs. They must be groomed prior to the show.
Most people who have never lived on a farm have a rather romantic notion about it all. That’s partly our fault because as farm people, we always focus on the good and the lovely things. However, there are so many early mornings, late nights, sick animals, mud, muck, manure, hauling feed and hay, planting grass, moving livestock around, cleaning stalls, and so much more. I wanted to share a little of the yuck with you all today.
Cows have a special talent for getting nasty. Their manure is loose and they lay in it often. They swish their tails in it. They poop on their calves heads and other body parts. The urinate a river and it splatters everywhere. I got Tiki up today after the deluge of rain we had overnight. This is what her tail looked like before I finished shaving it.
The rest of the family went to the 4-H barn today to help set up and prepare for the upcoming show. I stayed home to catch up on laundry and get everything ready for the clipping to commence.
Genesis chapter 26 talks about Isaac’s wanderings. He was nomadic and traveled where there was food and water for his herds. His servants found water and dug wells. More than once there were people there to dispute the right Isaac had to use the wells. The thing that makes me think is the fact that Isaac didn’t argue. He didn’t point out that his servants had done all the work to dig the well. He simply moved on.
He knew that the absence of peace was the absence of God. He didn’t try to make it happen. He didn’t want to live in strife. He simply recognized that this was not the place God wanted him and moved on to the next place until he found a peaceful home for his entire household.
“At last the LORD has created enough space for us to prosper in this land.” (from vs 22)
Living in peace is a theme throughout the New Testament, so it carries through the entire Bible.
14 Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. 15 See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. – Hebrews 12
I am also an avid reader. Today I finished David Baldacci’s “One Good Deed”. It was excellent. Very well written. I tend to stay away from contemporary fiction because modern day writers don’t seem to have the same character development and writing style as the authors of the classics. This one is set post WWII, so a bit of historical fiction. If you enjoy detective/mystery/historical fiction, I would recommend checking it out!
Blessings!
Dr Vet Sonya 