This is our journal of what we pray is our sojourn of life (Hebrews 11:8-10) along the narrow way (Matthew 7:14), even the old paths (Jeremiah 6:16), submitting to the Bible as a light unto both (Psalms 119:105). It is our prayer that these documented moments in our earthly time benefit whom God might choose to edify, but ultimately that God glorifies Himself through them.
With moving our billies and nannies together this last autumn, it was kidding time! Interestingly, only one buck’s two females actually got bred this year, and the other four goats with the other buck didn’t get pregnant. Two are old, so we figure that might be expected, but not with the other two young ones, so we don’t really know what happened. Perhaps we didn’t leave them together long enough, or perhaps something’s going on with the male, and so Lord willing we’ll hopefully see what happens next season.
But, the Lord did graciously grant four bucklings! Besides the picture above, here is his brother:
And then, here’s their video. If you’re tired of hearing me on the videos most of the time, you get the full narrative from Sue on this one! 😀
Even though it didn’t turn out as anticipated, we thank God that He graciously granted the ones He did, and we pray they will maybe be a blessing to someone else!
We had a broody hen I believe in the main chicken tractor, so we put her and a bunch of eggs in the mini tractor, and God graciously granted a 2nd round of chicks this 2023!
These are obviously a little older 🙂 :
We just moved them into the pen area the other day too.
Sadly, one has some eye problems, but has made it all this time, and hopefully it will be ok in the pen area.
And here’s their video:
As always, we are grateful to the Lord for His provisions, and we pray for their safety and health!
The Lord has graciously begun to grant new turkey chicks this 2023! We’ve been “collecting” them and putting them in the summer kitchen (which is really just a brooder barn) as they’ve been hatching in the barn, and have rotated a couple of mommies. It’s kind of a bummer “stealing” their youngin’s, but we don’t have a place for every mother hen and her hatchlings. We are thankful though it appears most of the turkey hens have been nesting in the barn so far and not out and about wherever.
And here’s a video of the progress thus far:
We are grateful to God for His kindness in providing these new turkeys, and we pray He might grant continued health and safety for them according to His will!
The Lord has graciously begun to grant new animal life this Spring of 2023, the first here a little chicken chick! I believe it was just hatched out by a mommy or several just randomly in the barn (ie. we didn’t set her aside to hatch any out).
We have quite a few chickens and turkeys doing that this year (we’re thankful they’re choosing the barn!), and so we’ll hopefully see how that continues to go.
Anyway, here it is again:
And here’s a little video:
We always thank God for His continued provisions and His creation in action!
It starts from back in February and finishes with an August update.
It’s been a rough year with one of the worst droughts ever here, and we’ve had to feed hay all Spring and Summer, but the Lord has provided, including the “novel” concept of raking up scattered hay back into piles everyday to conserve it. It seems to work great!…only 16 years to figure that one out. 🙂 But, we’re thankful to God for the idea.
Interesting turns of God’s providential workings in our lives: I mention in the video the several heifers that were supposed to go to a local person who wanted them. But, he was concerned the young ones might be a little small and susceptible to coyote attacks. And so, I thought it would be great to get him the older/larger ones first if possible, since we could only do 2-3 at a time, because we have to get them into our trailer and then do a back-back offload into his trailer.
The evening before we were supposed to try to round them up, I went out to check to see if any were in the corral to maybe trap them the night before. And what do you know but the black one, who is the oldest of the heifers, that doesn’t like range cubes, which is the only real way we have to control/lure the cows anywhere, was in the corral. I figured I was going to have to lure the whole herd through the corral to be able to trap her, but there she was. And so, I nonchalantly walked through the gate and to the open end of the corral, and closed it up! Wow! She was in! And then, it wasn’t much after that to get her into the chute to the back of the trailer, and she went in actually like she wanted to be in there. Excellent!
Later that day, the next oldest I also found in the corral, was able to trap her in there and get her loaded too! Wow again!
And so, the next day, the fellow came here, and we got the heifers to swap trailers, and they were off.
Well, a couple of days later he texts me asking if they had normally jumped fences, because they had his, and they were now both in 2 separate herds of his neighbors. Arg. I said they hadn’t, and that I would have at least told him about that if they had done anything like that with us. In trying to figure out what happened, I guess the black one was giving the second/red one a hassle, and red said, “Gotta go!”, and maybe since other herds were around, she/they were trying to find the herd. Or it was maybe just to be with the other herd. But, we’re still not sure what happened.
Continuing, he then said that he was just going to sell them because they wouldn’t be able to handle that situation. And so, sigh, I said he could bring them back if he wanted. And he did.
I found it a very odd providence of God for bringing the situation where the loading of those 2 heifers went so surprisingly smooth, only to have them back here on the land.
And well, that was that, I thought.
But, a week or more later, he texts back and asks about the other 3 heifers, and that he’d like to try with them. I believe he had done some fence work to try to keep them from going over anymore. Ha! More interesting hand of Providence workings.
And so, we were able to get the other 3 loaded and into the trailer the next day, and he came, and we swapped them into his trailer, and now they were off.
And that’s been a couple of weeks now or so, and things are holding apparently, so it looks like those are going to work for him. He also did mention he might like to come back and get one of the first 2 because he thought she was a pretty one, and given his extra fence work, and I suppose because the other 3 are there, and the black one is not, that it might be different this time. Anyway, we thank the Lord those 3 are working out.
I still don’t know what all the rigamarole was with the first 2 and then them coming back, etc., but may we always trust His dealings with us in our lives.
Proverbs 3:5-6 - "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."
And now, onto the video:
As always, we are thankful to the Lord for His provisions!
The Lord graciously granted our next set of chicks — the 5th for 2022! She hatched out 8 (usually out of 12), and they’re all going strong today, and we are grateful to God!
Besides the picture above, here’s their video:
Once again, we thank the Lord for His graciousness in granting these new provisions!
Well, the results of last year’s goat breeding time are in! 🙂 God graciously granted 4 bucklings and 2 doelings, although there was another doeling, but she was still-born.
Here are some pictures when they were going to the kind gentleman who buys our goats:
Very sadly though, the Lord, as owner of the goats, decided to reclaim Annie, whose two bucklings are these last two pictures. Thankfully they were 7 weeks old when she died, so we didn’t have to bottle feed them.
Annie was also our little orphan from way back. Here’s a video of her and her brother Spot drinking off the bottles!
This is Hassie’s (Annie’s daughter) daughter (in front), which we’re keeping to replace Annie. We’re calling her Annalita, in honor of grandma. 🙂
Goodbye Annie…we’ll miss you…
Lastly, here’s the video of 2022’s kids:
We always thank the Lord for His gracious provisions, and for the milk, and we pray the kids do well for the new owner!
Heb. 11:8-10 - "By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God."
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