What a great evening yesterday. The weather was perfect, warm, breezy/windy (always a little tornado-like up here). It was my husband's favourite time of the year.... when the farrier comes to give the horses their "hoof-icure". The two we "horse-sat" over the winter have to go back to work today (camp) and they needed to go back looking good and cared for.
My husband has discovered that he loves large animals. There is something about man-handling these beasts that he just eats up. One of our horses is a little wild and definitely takes two to handle. I can hardly watch it as the farrier has one leg and my husband has the other, the horse trying to buck the whole time. The little horse doesn't know he's a mini. He barely comes up to my husband's waist, yet he acts like he's a thoroughbred race horse (short horse syndrome....)
This farrier is awesome. He knows my oldest son, who is now 16, is hopefully going to be a vet, at least is making steps towards it by working in a clinic each day, so he gives him opportunities to help or learn a new skill each time he comes. Yesterday was great as he actually came over and showed my son how to pick up the horse's leg, put it between his own legs and dig out all the stuff that was stuck in the hoof (sounds disgusting, but it is necessary!). It was hard work for him and he will have sore muscles today, but it was a great learning experience.
I don't usually come down to watch, but this time, I did. RM wanted me to see what was going on and I wanted the younger kids, especially the younger boys, to get an appetite for this kind of thing. Who knows if they'll ever have a farm or animals, but I wanted them to have an understanding of what is involved and the amount of work it takes. I also like having them see the older boys work hard as they'll always think it is normal if they see their siblings doing it.
Just as I arrived, my husband was talking to the farrier about his family, how many kids he had, etc. I love these types of conversations! So I jumped right in. He started talking about how they have two and his wife wants more, but he says, "No way, I'm done." I couldn't resist teasing him, so I said, "You don't want to have your wife hang around me then.... I'll just tell her to keep going." I thought he would have left it at that, but then he kept the conversation going, asking all sorts of questions, running past us all his doubts, why he thinks more kids would be nuts, etc. By this point, we were all kind of engaged in the conversation, including the kids, telling them how everyone helps out and how it gets easier with each one. I asked him, "It's financial, isn't it? Is that why you don't want more?" "Oh yeah." He had just stated that his daughter had gotten baptized on the weekend, so I asked him, "If you just baptized your daughter on the weekend, you must be people of faith." "For sure." I said, "We are, too, and having more children has just strengthened our faith as we trust God to provide. We are no longer able to pat ourselves on the back and say, 'Look what we've done. Look what we can do.' It's not an easier life, but much more fulfilling.....". He seemed reflective.
Again, I stopped. I didn't want to go on, but he kept bringing up more arguments and how basically he and his wife have many quiet nights as they clearly disagree and I think he ends up on the couch. He wanted to know if our girls were as helpful as our boys (as they weren't around). I said, "Yes! They run my house!" Then, he gave us the ultimate compliment, which I just praise God for, as he said, "I see joy when I'm here." How does he see that? It was a special thing to hear. He talked about how this conversation just keeps coming up over and over with his wife. She seems relentless. I understood and explained how I had been the same way, and told him why, at least in my opinion, why that is by telling him my observations on the animal kingdom. My favourite story.... where Mrs. Fox goes up to Mr. Fox and tells him, "I think I want more fox babies....." "Uh, no, Mrs. Fox, I think we have enough pups. We should really wait and space them out a bit. I'd like you to go back to work catching beavers and I'll think about it, but definitely not now. We can't afford it." I explained to him how obviously that would never happen in the animal kingdom. All the animals do is have babies! Because it is natural! It is what they are created to do! Yet, somehow, human beings can be self-focused or fearful or influenced by the world that they refuse the natural gift of having children. He was speechless. He had never thought of it like that, you could tell. He told me again how many quiet nights there are as his wife is so jealous of others having babies. Again, I told him how she is sad! She is being denied what she was created to be, a mother.... who longs for more, a God-created desire. I wouldn't have gone on, but he wouldn't drop it! He was working on the horse the whole time. Finally, he was done. He got up, came over to me and shook my hand and said, "It was really nice to meet you. No, really. It was really nice to meet you." I hope he meant it! I think he did. I'm sure his wife was thrilled he'd talked to me! I hope they didn't have another quiet night.
Being on the farm day in and day out doesn't seem to give me lots of opportunities to meet people. I long to share my faith. But then, God brings people to me, like the farrier, not everyday, but just when He seems to think is the right time. I try to make the most of every opportunity. I ask for His wisdom. In the meantime I share my faith with my kids, knowing they are the ones that need discipling the most.
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