We made it through week one and now we're into week 2 of formal school. Still trying to be very frugal so I'm stretching meat, making lunches, shopping at thrift stores for clothes. It is waaay easier to buy lunches and shop at stores for new clothes, but I don't mind the challenge. For lunches, I'm trying to pack healthier choices so there's some weightloss (RM enjoyed his summer!) Now that he's stuck at school so long, he has no choice but to eat what I send him!
This year I think the main character goal will be focusing on is "Self-discipline". All of us need it in order to get through school, manage our home, all our work, the many hours we all put in around the farm, etc. To get us on the right path, RM had us listen to an old message from John Macarthur last night for our family worship. It was great. We'll listen to the rest of it tonight. It just immediately reminded me of how easy it is for me to put something off, from simply picking stuff up in the family room, to washing dishes right away, to putting another load in the laundry....After listening to him speak on the importance of it in our lives, I found myself running around the house doing things I should have done earlier on in the day, but had procrastinated on. I give pep talks all the time. It was good for me to hear one, too.
It's funny how God brings certain things or people into our lives to teach us these character traits, or in my daughter's case....goats. Yup, we have goats now. Two of them. We are goat-sitting while our friends are away for 3 months. Seemed like a good idea at the time! My husband is extremely adamant that he is against goats. Thinks they are, uh, of the devil. They escape, look scary, and make awful noises. But, my daughter and I wanted the milk so badly we were willing to try. We wanted to make goat cheese, soap and even try to drink the milk. This has turned into quite the fiasco that the rest of the family did NOT, I repeat, DID NOT, sign up for.
The morning the goats were arriving, my son casually came into the kitchen and said to my unaware husband, "Dad, where should we put the goats when they get here in an hour?" "What? They're coming today?" The next few minutes weren't pretty as he was racing out the door, not able to handle where the goats would be going....He got to work and asked his colleagues, "Does this happen at your home right before you go to work....?" He then went on to explain the funny question he was asked minutes before heading out the door.
My husband has no extra time in his life these days, so goats were not going to be his deal. He told my daughter, "If you are going to have goats, you are going to be in charge of everything about those goats!" "Yes Dad!" And, so the self-discipline training began. First she had to make a pen in the barn for the goats, which fortunately had been mostly made before for the mini horses. Then, she and her goat friend had to muck the barn, for who knows how long. Now that they were in their little enclosure, right on time, it was time for them to start escaping. Sure enough, they did it and have continued to escape every single day. Next, my sleepy daughter, who hates waking up early, now is on a goat milking schedule and is up before dark milking these bleating beasts. Sadly, I haven't quite convinced my kids (no pun intended) to drink the milk, though I'm going to keep at it. I don't love it either, but it's free and so good for you and maybe it is a little "goat-y", but for free?! How can you go wrong? The other kids were glad it wasn't their job to watch these goats, but morning after morning my daughter has run in, yelling, "HELP!!!" Suddenly, more kids are on the self-discipline track, too, helping when they don't want to, serving in a way they never planned. Sorry!
These friends also brought two beautiful white "guard" geese. That caused quite a stir in the chicken coop. Never have I heard so many barnyard noises at once. The roosters were crowing, the chickens were squawking, the geese were honking, the dogs and puppies were barking, the goats were bleating.......oh my goodness.....I couldn't believe how loud it was! I was sure the neighbours were going to call someone on us. Since then, all the animals have settled in....a little less noise.
Meanwhile, the puppies have grown up to be big puppies with big smells. My oldest son is now off to school and has no time to manage his dogs, so I delegated the work while he was away to another son. He'll get paid once the puppies are sold. More self-discipline training going on. He hates this job. It is awful. You have to scrape stuff off the floor, sweep, vacuum, sometimes mop. What a mess, what a smell. We're trying to keep them outdoors all day now in the kennel. That is helping me manage the smell in my house. We won't sell them soon enough, though they are at the cutest stage!
So, I'm grateful for all the tasks we have. I don't love how busy it makes us all feel. I don't love the sense of being overwhelmed, but I love the character it is developing in all of us, through the use of animals, no less. Well, whatever it takes, I guess!
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