Is This What It Will Be Like?

 

You know... that glorious feeling when you finally pull into your driveway (or crunchy gravel road) and realize that you're back home... after days away and miles gone by...

 

 

 

You roll down the windows and breathe it in.  The fragrance that tickles your nose...and draws a smile.

 

 

 

 

The happy pups who delight in your arrival!

 

 

 

 

 

The soul sighs with content even as the muscles protest the long, cramped ride!  But what bliss to walk the farm, savoring the sights, the smells, the sounds... unpacking can wait as we discover all we've missed...

 

And as if on cue, we hear baby bleats from the stable!

 

 

Born just hours after we arrived home!  Our farm-sitter was one nervous girl keeping nanny watch!

 

 

 

 

Twin Girls, Healthy and Sound, Silky and Sweet

Delightful Welcome Home Gift!

 

And then as dusk lulls the babies to sleep, these tired travelers finally fall into bed... Our own bed!

A scrumptious feeling to slide between cool sheets and sink into our own comfy mattress, with pillows plumped just so...

 

 

We melted into sleep, that kind of hazy, drifting away on waves of content...

and somewhere between wake and sleep, a thought floated gentle, and I wondered

if this is what it will be like when we finish this earthly Journey

and finally arrive Home...

 

A Heavenly Home that will feel as glorious to our senses as coming home to the farm...

walking down the lane to a fragrance familiar

to be greeted with welcome that wraps us in happy

and find unexpected delight in Gifts He has prepared just for us.

 

To Fall into Rest so Perfect and Complete

we can't help but sink into Peace

 

It will be Grace Amazing

in so many ways.

 

Grateful Always for His Tender Mercies in

bringing us home safely thus far,

Filled with Hope for the Journey and HomeComing

that is yet to come,

 

In Graced Assurance,

                      Jane

 

 

Babies in the Barn...

 

 

Our newest additions...Triplets born this week!

 

Hard to tell where one baby ends and the other begins.  It's a jumble of kids!  And, oh, so sweet...

 

 

From the top of their downy heads and silky ears

 

 

to the tips of their darlin' little hooves!

 

It's my favorite time of year.  Kidding Season.  Well, to be honest, most every season begs to be favorite.  But our baby goat season is the best!  It is new life.  Hope birthed in innocence.  Crazy, happy goat-kids leaping and bounding around the pasture.  And piles of soft, silken kid babies napping in the straw under mama's watchful eye.   

 

And in the midst of the happy, the phone's ring shatters the bliss  Stacatto message. Heart beats urgent..

 

Father-in-law... pneumonia... breathing labored .... lips tinged with blue... hospital rush.... 

 

We are on our way.  Heading north, racing the ice storm.  Praying, praying as we breath, let the oxygen flow in, sustain life... 

 

Be merciful...  

 

  

Would you believe?

Triplets!!!

 

Oh. My. Goodness...

 

Our stable was rejoicing today with the sound of baby bleats in triplicate!  Fuzzy heads crowned with white stars all three...curious noses of black...and a trio of happy wagging tails...

 

 

A Thanksgiving Gift for this Still-Tender Heart...

 

Tomorrow beckons with turkey and pie, laughter and hugs, football games and afternoon hikes.  Mom would have loved every minute...

 

Choosing Gratitude has been a lesson in perseverance. Making that deliberate choice to see goodness despite the grief has been a work in progress... I started small..

 

Autumn Leaves tinting landscape with brilliance...

Cats sunning lazy in pool of afternoon sun...

Smoky rich smell of logs crackling in woodstove...

 

Then realized the Gratitude fell easier as I practiced.

 

Farm truck tires crunching in the gravel as we Sunday drove...

Giggles of granddaughters playing ageless game of tickle-me...

Chili-making with Husband-chef, kitchen warmth, melting heart...

 

Each moment captured from a God-Father who showers endless Good Gifts if we but look up from the grief valley.  And then, this...today...

 

 

You have changed my sadness into a joyful dance;

you have taken away my sorrow

and surrounded me with joy.

So I will not be silent;

I will sing praise to you.

LORD, you are my God;

I will give you thanks forever.

                        ~Psalm 30:11-12

 

 

Small, babies of fluff, touch my hand, open my heart, surround me with joy. Times three!  With mom's chair empty this year, I was dreading waking up in the morning to this first Thanksgiving without her.  Somewhere today, amidst all the snuggling and baby goat bouncing, I realized that Gratitude was simply spilling over.

 

Mom would have rejoiced with us over our Bounty.  And tomorrow the Thanksgiving festivities will end up in the stable at some point without doubt...Mom won't be there with us, but...we will still feel her presence.  She no longer speaks, but when I close my eyes and wait, my heart hears her laugh...

 

Gratitude follows Grace...And here on the farm we have been Graced with Abundance.  How can the soul not honor such mercies with a Heart full of Thanksgiving?

 

 

May your Thanksgiving, dear ones, be Blessed with Goodness and Grace

Touches of God's Love in Brilliant Display

and Hearts full of Gratitude for the Mercies Tenderly Bestowed,

 

All My Love,

      Jane

 

Scary Sounds in the Goat Barn...

Just when you thought it was safe to go out in the dark...

Dogs bark.  Cats hiss.  Something is rustling in the Goat Barn...

Last night as the Halloween moon waned over the Farm, fearful eyes peered from around trees and under straw beds as moans escaped the corner goat pen and hung on the chilly night air.

Hair raises on my neck and my breath hitches as I open the door...to...find...

 

Our Newest Additions!!!

 

We named them Spooky and Boo!!

 

 

 

This sweet Halloween treat actually began as a "teenage" trick last June!   The teen-ager in question would be Elvis:

 

 

Yes, you!

 

What?!

 

One warm June night, exactly 5 months ago (that would be perfect goat gestational timing), Elvis scaled two fences and slunk into the girl's dormitory for a wild night of partying...Big Time Rebel, Elvis just wouldn't listen to reason and wait until August breeding season began...Oh no, Elvis was in a hormone-induced haze.  He started the party early!  And after all, he snorted, it was just one night...

 

One night is all it takes.  (Now I sound just like my mama!)

 

And do you think those teen-agers listen?  Of course not... they can't see beyond the next feed pail.  Do they even consider the consequences?  More children to feed, the end of sleeping in, not to mention saying good-bye to that girlish figure...

 

So, here we are 5 months later, under a moon-lit night... falling head over heels in love with Spooky and Boo!

 

 

No mistakes here...

 

Elvis, you may have rushed our man-made timing,

but there's nothing rushed with God's Grace-Filled Timing...

 

Gift of soft, warm, cuddly, goat-baby fluff... times two!!

 

A bit of Heaven for this Happy Goat Herder,

Love and Hugs,

            Jane

Just Kiddin' Around

Hi-jinks in the Goat Nursery today!  Sun has broken through the soggy, gray skies and everyone is feeling good.  Ready to bust out of the barn and stretch their legs a bit!

We rolled some old cedar logs in for the "babies" to play on.   Such fun...

A little "King of the Mountain" action...

Older brother, Elvis, looks on with disdain.

"Let me show you how the big boys do it!"  He's so full of himself!!  And he just loves all the attention, especially when the girls start talking...

"Psst... Did you see that Elvis?  He's such a bad boy... "

Good ol' Daisy.  Donkey extra-ordinaire.  You can bet she broke up that teenage love tryst faster than scat!  Trusted chaperone, mommas can sleep safe tonight...

"Hi!  You wanna come play?"

Why, yes, little Gretel, I would love to come play for awhile!

Moments of delight for my soul this afternoon...

May your weekend bring you sunshine and smiles,

 friends and loved ones to touch your spirit,

and pocket-sized bits joy to tuck away for days of gray.

Letting the Grace fall softly this day,

Jane