A Week In Our Life

I keep trying to find time to write this post but our week has been jammed packed folks.

On Tuesday we woke up and my Mom said, "Let's butcher fifty of our chickens today!" My brother and I jumped up and down saying "Yeah, butchering day!" ....some of you are beginning to really wonder about us now...well o.k. it did not go quite like that, well actually not at all like that.

It went more like this:

Friday the 1st my Mom says, "The chickens are so big now, I think we need to plan on butchering on Tuesday"

Silence.

We try to take in this unwelcome, though expected, news.

Then a few weak smiles are displayed as we pump ourselves up for this yearly task.

Plans are made, butchering implements prepared, buckets made ready, makeshift table set up. By Monday night all is ready.

Tuesday morning my Mom runs to the local feed store to rent the feather plucker, she returns and we begin.

Three and a half hours later we have fifteen done.

Something is wrong, this is way too slow. The feathers won't come off well, the pin feathers are terrible.

Then a discovery is made...we have been turning the feather plucker on in the wrong direction! Oh what joy now, as the feathers fly off and pin feather picking becomes minimal.

It took us all day to butcher those fifty chickens and most of the day Wednesday to package them. We were wiped out by then... but wait, the week is not over yet.

Thursday rolled around, my Mom and brother headed for town to do some pro-life work, while I stayed home to care for the some-what neglected garden. There were tons of weeds to pull and I picked our first green beans this year and lots of broccoli. I know it is late for these things but we had a very cold spring and had to plant almost four weeks late. We keep praying that God will provide us with the produce we need and he is doing just that! I am so thankful.

Our "Eastern garden" as it is called around here.

Our "Western garden"

Broccoli!

Friday we woke up around 5:00 a.m., did our various chores and headed for Duluth MN where we arrived at the abortion clinic in time to begin Sidewalk Counseling. We try to be there every time they are committing abortions so that we can plead with the mothers not to kill their precious little ones. It is heart wrenching to see those mothers going into that place, in order to destroy the lives of their children. Most hurry past us and though they hear what we say to them, they will not stop but quicken their steps. It reminds me of the verse that says:

Their feet run to evil, and they are swift to shed innocent blood; their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; desolation and destruction are in their highways. (Isaiah 59:7)

We know that only God can open up their eyes to understand the wickedness of their ways, we pray that He will show them and they will spare the life of their little one.

As we stood on the sidewalk on Friday, praying and singing songs to God, my Mom began talking to one lady she thought was going for an abortion. The lady said "I don't want you to talk to me." We usually keep talking when they say that, because their baby has no voice yet and God has put us there as the last voice of reason they will hear before going into the building. So when this woman said that, my Mom kept talking. Then out of the building came a woman who volunteers to; 'help' the woman into the building, where they will kill their child and to be a "legal observer" to make sure we follow the law, (kind of ironic isn't it? who are the ones killing people?). So, this woman by the name of Mrs. Katz started yelling at my Mom. She yelled and yelled, then went and stood in my Mom's face continuing to yell at her for talking to that other lady. My Mom told her that she has a right to talk to those other ladies, but Mrs. Katz would not listen, so finally my brother told her "You are breaking the injunction, you are not supposed to talk to us." (There is a court injunction that says we cannot come within 25 feet of the door or gate and that they cannot talk to us or interfere with our work). She soon went back to the building after that, but we were told later that the woman my Mom had originally been talking to, was part of a Union and the Union had filed a complaint against my Mom, very interesting, we'll see where this goes.

Please do pray for us, that: babies lives will be spared, souls will be saved and that we will keep close to and praising our Lord Jesus Christ. The spiritual battle going on is intense, we need your prayers.

That all happened in the morning so we went home and babysat three children for eight hours, washed laundry and took turns taking much needed naps.

Saturday we butchered forty-five chickens. It went more quickly this time and not just because there were five less to do! Still we did not finish until 6:00 p.m. Praise God for sermons, books on tape and dramatized audio! On Tuesday we listened to "God's Smuggler" by Brother Andrew and a dramatized version of John Bunyun's, Pilgrims Progress: part two, Christiana. We have read and heard these many times before but they continue to speak to us. On Saturday we listened to sermons from Vision Forum by Douglas Philips and Voddie Baucham...and a sermon by Paul Washer on Courtship. What a blessing!

Today is Sunday, I must remind myself you see, because we have been packing chickens most of the day. But now....now, they are done. Did you hear that? DONE!

Only there is one small problem, there are a hundred more of those meat birds in our barn.

At the moment they are cheeping little chicks but in six or seven short weeks they will also need to be butchered.

.

.

Ya know what? I am just not going to think about that right now.

Tomorrow I need to get up early, (read 5:00 a.m.) and go to town where I will act as the Nanny for five children between the ages of two and thirteen. This I am supposed to do all week. I love those children, I really do. I miss them when I can't see them but...tonight I need to get to bed early.

So now you know!

(By the way, I actually love farming, I love growing our own food and all, I really, really do. Just so ya know. : )