My dear
friend Sally has dropped off some of her livestock at Kirkhaven to stay for a
few days. She and her husband are making a trip up north for family reasons, so
I have the honor of caring for two beautiful Dexter calves and one veeeery
pregnant Nubian doe. Today my heart and my hands are busy caring for babies.
It's such a
humbling and vulnerable feeling to care for so many "baby" things.
Baby chicks...who need their brooder to maintain the correct temperature, their water to stay fresh, their food to be plentiful and attainable.
Greenhouse seedlings . . . that need the greenhouse to be 70 degrees, their soil to stay moist and warm, and sunlight to bathe their fragile leaves.
Sally’s sweet little "bottle baby" Hush . . . who needs me to milk Jewel & Rebecca so she can have fresh, warm Dexter milk (her tummy cannot tolerate powdered milk replacer). And also needs plenty of neck scratches.
Sally's adorable heifer calf Mo . . . who needs proper care to insure her continued recovery from a recent illness.
6 beautiful Kirkhaven calves . . . who simply need a compassionate, watchful steward to make sure all their needs are being met. And to notice if anything might be awry.
3 heavily pregnant Kirkhaven cows . . . who truly appreciate healthy food and clean water. And a sympathetic farmer to care that they are uncomfortably HUGE. And a warm, freshly-strawed stall to give birth in when the time comes.
It feels like an intimately choreographed dance with The Lord of the Universe. It all depends on my faithfulness as it ALL depends on HIS faithfulness. Every day. The Lord and I caring for growing things. Fellowshipping as we work together. Rejoicing as each new day brings new sprouts or new wing feathers or newborn moos and baaahs.
Maybe this is what it means to "pray without ceasing." For sure, this is what it means to live richly.
One of our adorable Buff Orpington chicks.
Our equally adorable Black Australorp chick.
Our latest calf: Kirkhaven Skye Gazing. Photo courtesy of Sally Coad . . . who was "cow sitting" our pregnant first-time heifer Rainbow at her farm when this little beauty was born.
