Loss

We lost a friend this weekend.

The Lord took her home out of this life of pain & sickness.

For that I am immensely grateful.

But the being left behind part?

That part sucks.

She was a friend

She was a sister in Christ.

She was fun.

She was generous.

She was creative.

She was a sailor.

She was a world traveler.

She was an adventurer.

She was a lover of pumpkin roll.

She was a master Christmas cookie baker.

She was a story teller.

She was everybody's Aunt. Because she loved them.

She was a seamstress.

She was dedicated & determined.

She was a college graduate after 48 years of working towards it.

She was kind.

She was a fighter.

She was an encourager.

She was my friend. And I will miss her.

Goodbye Jeanene.

Blessings.

Sexism vs. Reality

I received an e-mail regarding a petition to exhort a company to provide equal paid paternity leave for all of their employees.

The e-mail stated that birth moms were eligible for up to 12 weeks PAID leave but that fathers were only eligible for 3 weeks PAID leave...

The e-mail suggested that this was unfair & anti-family & EVERYONE should receive 12 weeks PAID leave for the birth or adoption of a child.

That sounds reasonable right?

In fact it sounds fabulous.

3 full months of paid vacation to enjoy your new child.

But here's the thing...

While you are off having 3 months paid vacation WHO is doing your job?

And how is your employer supposed to pay & train them & you at the same time?

And just about the time they get trained & are competently doing the job -guess what?

You want it back!

This type of entitlement thinking is a big part of what is dragging our country down.

The thought process that any business owner obviously is wealthy & undeserving & they obviously can afford to pay you- while you don't work- and someone else who is working- at the same time & that it is the governments JOB to force them to do so is why companies bail out of this country lock, stock & barrel.

It's why Detroit is a ghost town instead of the hotbed of American manufacturing it once was.

It's why companies hire 2 employees to work PART-TIME instead of one employee full time because the government forces them to provide pie-in-the-sky unaffordable benefits & mandated leave.

This is what happens when a people & a workforce get so far removed from what it takes to run a business & are only willing to see how something effects THEM.

It's sad.

And it has taken years of brain washing to reach this point.

But we are there.

It goes hand in hand with the 'feminism' movement & the fallacies of women being paid less & the so-called "glass ceiling".

Today's world wants there to be no difference between men & women. They, in fact, are attempting to do away with gender in any form.

But the truth is women have babies. Men do not.

Women of certain ages are very likely to be pregnant one or more time is the course of their career.

They are very likely to take maternity leave. I believe the norm is still 6 weeks. Not anywhere near enough time to recover from creating & birthing a human being & learning how to care for them but the standard amount none the less.

And a lengthy amount of time for an employer to hold the bag waiting for that employee to come back.

Which leads to my next point; that women are very likely to NOT come back after 6 weeks because they have fallen in love with the little human they have created & they don't want to leave them.

Rightly so.

But this means it's very common for there to be gaps of anywhere from 1 to 20 years in many women's careers.

Is it possible that these gaps are responsible for the so called "Gender Gap"?

That maybe it isn't pure sexism but the fact that gaps exist in many women's careers? Gaps which stall their careers by a certain number & correlate with however much 'less' they are making than the man on the same track who did not take time off to have babies?

Now many folks would have flames coming out of their ears about now screeching how unfair this is & it's just plain sexist inequality.

How about: it's just the way it is?

Men are different from women.

Women are different from men.

And from the beginning of time it has been the mothers role to care for the children.

We birth them, we nurse them, we care for them.

I find it kind of silly that because in the last 50 years or less people have decided to abandon these traditional roles that they expect biology to comply with their whims.

How about instead of expecting to be treated "the same" (when we clearly are not) we revel in being different (which we clearly are).

I, for one, thinking being able to create humans is a way better deal than getting paid more.

I, for one, think staying home caring for my children is a way better deal than being sent off to war (although, in the name of "fairness" women are being sent off to do that too. Talk about biting off your nose to spite your face).

I am not a man.

I do not want to be treated like a man.

I don't really care if I'm paid the same as a man because honestly most men couldn't do what I do so there isn't a pay scale for that anyway...

So lets not freak out here.

If you get a job & some guy gets a job & you have the EXACT same experience & credentials then of course you should - and most likely will - get paid exactly the same.

But, if some guy in your office has been there 15 years & you've been there 15 years EXCEPT for the combined year or so you had off to have your babies & he has never left & he's making more than you? Rightly so.

Get over it.

Stop expecting employers to pay for our life choices.

Let them pay for some of their OWN life choices which is most likely why they started a business in the first place...

It just seems to me that the world would be a kinder, gentler & fairer place if people would stop expecting others to pay their way & provide for their choices.

If we all provided for ourselves where we can & the kindness of others was there to help us out rather than a government mandate.

Something to think about...

Blessings.

A Day in Klamath

 Today was fun.

It was the biannual Sentry Eagle at Kingsley Field.

They open up the air base to the public & they have planes & tanks & missiles & weaponry you can climb in & on & handle & touch.

And you can get right up next to the tarmac where they are launching the F15s.

It's very cool.

And very loud.

After checking out the Sentry Eagle we went to a Gems game.

The Gems are a Summer Collegiate Team which plays at Kiger Stadium.

We learned something about Kiger Stadium today: it is one of only 2 remaining all wood stadiums in North America.

Pretty cool huh?

And for added fun the boys got a foul ball during the game.

And yes.

I have a sunburn.

See the jet taking off?

And the game totally rocked.

The Gems won 23-4.

Blessings.

Goosey Goosey Gander

Just a ways down the road is a beautiful marsh area that is always just filled with birds.

This time of year there are nests & hatchlings everywhere you look & in particular in the marsh.

Goslings are some of the cutest little guys ever.

And -my personal fave- Sandhill Cranes.

Since we've moved back (almost 3 years ago) I have yet to see a baby crane.

Baby cranes, or colts as they are called, are the cutest bright orange little fluff balls you've ever seen.

In photos they look almost brown but out in the fields they are BRIGHT orange.

And they have been hiding from me!

I haven't seen one since before we moved to California in 2010.

Until this week!

My son called to tell me he caught sight of one out in the marsh & I should drive over to see.

Um, yeah! I did just that & there was this adorable orange little guy with his parents.

And about 12,323,000 goslings.

So yesterday the boys & I got up early & drove over there before chores & took my camera.

We spent a good half an hour, on the side of the road, with the flashers on & me hanging out the sun roof taking pics.

See, I might not have SEEN a baby crane since 2010 but I have never gotten a picture of one.

Before we moved I didn't have a decent camera (and you need a zoom for sure) & I never could get a shot of one.

Until yesterday!

And, I may, have taken, oh I don't know, several ... okay like 60 pictures of this baby crane...

But I really really like cranes! And they are SO pretty! Look!

Some of the geese families going for a swim...

And LOOK! The picture I've been waiting 15 years for! 

We've dubbed them Mr. Crane. Mrs. Crane. And Sandy.

I love how they are all looking in the same direction in this one.

These are cool with their reflections in the water...

Some of the bigger goslings at gosling daycare.

See???

Aren't they lovely?

And you know you wished you lived here with all of this amazing nature!

Blessings.

The Bunny or the Lamb?

I grew up in an atheist home.

Christmas and Easter were all about Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny.

Jesus - whoever He was- didn't feature at all.

I became saved as an adult and for awhile we continued with those traditions because they were what I knew.

But after time it became clear -that for us- to continue in those activities was not God honoring.

Before you decide I'm some kind of legalistic joy-sucker, let me just say if you do those things in your family- good for you. 

If you can do the bunny & still honor Jesus- great!

But for me it became a stumbling block - probably because of the way I was raised. 

So we stopped doing the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus a long time ago. Before my little boys were even born.

And that works for us.

But I didn't want my kids to think we weren't joyful and everything had to be all serious all the time...

Because if Jesus loving us enough to die for us so we can have eternal life isn't a reason to be joyful??? What is???

So we have created our own traditions.

That aren't necessarily linked with anything at all other than they bring us joy.

While many folks do baskets and the bunny we do a family Seder each year during Passover.

No it's not stodgy.

It's fun and it's fascinating and our kids have a real understanding of how the Passover Lamb and all of the elements point to Christ.

On Easter Sunday itself sometimes we make it to sunrise service(but that can be really hard with farm chores) we get all dressed up and it's the one day each year their sister makes all the boys wear ties.

We go to church, we have a special meal and then we break out the baseball bats, throwing axes and light sabers and hang up the pinata. 

Yes. A pinata.

That is our Easter tradition.

We take turns with throwing ax, saber and bat.

Eventually somebody deals the final blow, the kids fight over the candy and we call it a day.

Not traditional. No.

Not boring or stodgy. No.

Not legalistic.

Weird. Yes.

But it works for us.

And our kids look forward to it.

And that's why I say: if you don't want to do what the world does GREAT but don't use that as your excuse to never do anything. 

Create your own family traditions and share the Joy with your kids.

Happy Resurrection Sunday.

Our Seder.

Blowing the shofar.

The 4 cups.

Darth Vader pinata. Just screams "Easter" don't you think???

One bub grabbed the head & the other ran off with the candy...

...but not for long!

Dividing up the spoils.

Blessings.

Missionary Heroes?

The kids & I have been reading a series of books about Missionary Heroes of the past.

We've read about George Mueller, Cameron Townsend, and Nate Saint among others.

We just finished reading about David Livingstone.

The famous "Dr. Livingstone I presume?"

He is famous for opening up the interior of Africa.

Discovering & naming Victoria Falls & various other waterways.

He befriended & shared the Gospel with native African tribes deep in the interior of the continent.

He is revered as a hero.

And yet...

His writings & speaking engagements back in England were instrumental in the British extermination of the Boers.

He essentially abandoned his family for years at a time.

Sent his wife & children to Scotland from their native Africa to live with family they had never met.

And then didn't have contact with them for almost 5 years.

He didn't lay eyes on his youngest child until she was 5 years old.

And then spent 1 year with her & never saw her again.

So how do you reconcile the person doing the Lords work with the man who abandoned his family?

How do you admire a missionary for his zeal for sharing the gospel while simultaneously being appalled at how he treated the woman he married & the children he fathered?

You have to ask yourself~ why?

Why did they marry?

Why did they have children?

Why did they commit to a lifestyle they couldn't live out?

Why did they bring children into the world they weren't willing to raise?

It's hard to read these stories & separate the missionary from the man.

It's hard to appreciate the time & effort they put into working for the people they felt they were to 'save' while basically ignoring the people they voluntarily became responsible for.

In the Bible Paul speaks about it being better for men to remain unmarried but if you can't be sure that a husband & wife not deprive one of the other.

Do you think forcefully sending your wife to another continent to live with strangers constitutes depriving?

I want to admire these people for living for the Lord. For being willing to live a life of hardship & deprivation to help others.

But as a wife & mother I just can't get passed how I would feel to be left? To come in second place for whatever people group my husband chose to put into first place?

To raise a family alone & at the mercy of strangers because my husband would rather be somewhere else?

I don't know.

I just don't know.

Do you?

Blessings.

Now concerning the things of which you wrote unto me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman.

Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband.

Let the husband render unto the wife her due: and likewise also the wife unto the husband.

The wife has not power over her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband has not power over his own body, but the wife.

Deprive not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your lack of self-control.

But I speak this by permission, and not of commandment.

For I would that all men were even as I myself. But every man has his proper gift of God, one after this manner, and another after that.

1 Corithians 7:1-7

Broken Hearts Day?

Valentines Day is coming.

Like, in 2 days coming.

Which is fabulous for me because I lllooovvee holidays.

I love any excuse to decorate, make cookies, buy candy & dress up.

Yes, I'm one of those people.

I make surprises for my kids.

I make heart shaped eggs, bacon, pancakes, fruit (you name it. If I can get a cookie cutter around it I'll make it a heart).

It's fun for me.

I know for lots of people tho, Valentines Day is not so fun.

It's pushed as a day for couples & if you aren't part of a couple you feel excluded.

But why?

Why do we buy into the commercialized version & let "them" dictate to us what Valentines Day should be for us?

I am part of a couple but I will be alone on Valentines Day.

Just as I have been alone on Valentines Day for the last 11 years.

The second week in February is always the World Ag Expo in Tulare CA & my husband is always there. It's his job to be there.

Do I pout? Well.. maybe just a little...

But then I make special presents for my kids & heart shaped everything & sometimes I even dye their milk pink...

and I wear pink & red & I force them to wear pink & red & we have fun.

And I don't let the greeting card/restaurant/flower industry suck my joy.

Valentines Day is about LOVE. And it doesn't have to be just romantic love.

We can celebrate family love & friendship love & love for our fellow man.

Tell the naysayer 'them'  to take a hike and do something fun & special this Heart day.

I have a friend who is having a formal tea party for the widows in her church. Women who might otherwise spend Valentines Day alone & feeling forgotten.

She sent out invitations & made scones & has fancy linens. The whole 9 yards.

Isn't that a great idea?

So if you are alone this Valentines don't be sad! Take the day back! Wrestle it away from Hallmark & make it your own.

Plan something fun & special with your kids.

Invite a friend to lunch.

Take cookies or cards to a senior center.

Take cookies to your Fire Dept or Police Station.

Buy YOURSELF  flowers!

1 John 4:7 says: Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.

and skipping down to verse 11 it finishes up: Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

See that?

Nothing in there about having to be a part of a couple or paying too much money for a mediocre meal at a crowded restaurant.

Just loving one another.

So this Valentines Day be happy! Have fun! And be LOVED!

Forget all the commercialism & hype & take the day to show Christ's love for us to someone else.

Blessings!

City People ?

I wrote this a while ago & never got around to blogging it so here you go...

When we travel I get a glimpse into how all of you City People live.

And by City People I pretty much mean anybody who doesn't live on a ranch or farm with livestock.

If you don't have to get up every morning & go outside to feed, water, milk or muck anything, you're a City Person.

Even if you live in a cabin in the woods 100 miles from anywhere.

I know it doesn't make sense but that is how my childhood self classified everybody & I'm too old to change now. That &  doorbells & cars with trunks. Don't ask...

So anyway.

Y'all get up in the morning. You can shower & get dressed. You can put on makeup & do your hair.

You're not going to have to go outside & get muddy or poopy.

You can eat breakfast.

Drink coffee.

Maybe read a bit.

Watch cartoons with your kids.

In hotels I can get up. Work out. Shower. Get dressed.

It definitely has it's draw.

There are just certain aspects of non-farm life that are appealing.

I remember once when I was a teen, I had a non-farmy, city-ish friend over to spend the night.

At this time my mom was running a boarding stable on our farm.

We had probably 10 to 12 horses there that were not ours.

We also had a Welsh pony stud who was ours.

That particular night our stud got into a pasture full of other peoples mares.

It was very very important that we quickly remove him from the company of those mares.

So in the middle of the night, in various stages of undress & pajama cladness, my entire family & my city friend were out chasing horses in a 5 acre pasture in the dark.

Good times.

When it was all said & done, my friend proclaimed "that was fun!"

To which I responded with a blank stare.

She had no real understanding of the gravity of the situation & being a town girl had never had to chase animals in the middle of the night.

Up until that moment I had never realized that there were people in this world who had never had to jump out of bed in their PJ's to run outside barefoot & chase or doctor or shoot at, some kind of creature.

Who knew???

That was my world & I lived there.

But truly there are many of you who have never experienced anything of the sort.

And you do not typically exit your homes in the morning until you are fully dressed & leaving the property.

Some days I envy you.

Many days in fact.

Many.

But not enough to become like you...

Not yet anyway.

Blessings.

Snow Storm

We had quite the storm last night. 

Over a foot of snow.

It's normal for us to have a couple feet of snow in the winter BUT we don't normally get it a foot at a time.

So today was pretty muchly spent de-snowing.

We got to hand dig out 4 gates plus the doorways to the shop, pump house, and tack shed.

Plus hauling feed in the sled.

We were able to get the tractor started & spent a few hours plowing the driveway.

...and about an hour pulling the tractor out of the ditch it got stuck in.

I think we may have even liberated the Toyota - no easy task.

We shoveled the snow off the roof of the camp trailer.

We hauled straw & gave everybody extra bedding because it's supposed to get down around 6 below tonight.

My whole body hurts but at least I got to spend the day in the snow :)

Snow kitty on the loose.

Proof.

Snow dogs.

Just keep swimming... just keep swimming...

Annnnddd... there's more snow in the forecast!

Blessings.