The implication is pretty clear, work is going to be hard, but worth it. Our struggle is that it is really hard to work your land when you aren't home anymore! RM is gone so much now that things are falling apart around the farm and he is not here to fix them. We have very naughty cows. They broke the fence again and they are starting to get out regularly, especially the little calves. They're actually quite fun to get in. I could send out a toddler and the cows would go running right back in. But still, they aren't supposed to be getting out! But, this is how it is right now. So tonight, despite the fact he'll be tired from being on his feet all day teaching, he already knows that he's working all night on the fence.
This post is definitely a kudos to my husband post. He is such an example to all of us about diligence these days. I really can hardly think of anyone that puts in more hours in a day lately. I used to think he worked hard, but now, it's a whole new level of hard. The college might be striking in the next two weeks and there's a little part of us that won't be upset as he'll get some unwanted/wanted time off!
Wednesday night is our Bible Quizzing practice night. He's the coach, so we start when he gets home. Right before he was supposed to arrive home I got a text from my son saying that the truck had broken down on the side of the road and that they were waiting for a tow truck to bring our truck home. This wasn't a complete surprise to us. We had heard some strange sounds that we didn't like coming from the truck. We had fixed it once, but perhaps it was going again? Also, we have noticed that each week right before quizzing starts, we get some form of spiritual attack that makes us want to stop quizzing. We try to pray now, anticipating, "What will the attack be this week?" When we added up all the verses our kids have memorized in just 4 weeks, it is well over 200, so no surprise that Satan hates us and what we're doing. Not only are the older ones memorizing, but now the little kids are memorizing, too?! He has to do something to stop us each week. This week it was the truck.
A lot of the Dads come out each week to the quiz practice. I love that. They get to see their kids participate and memorize in person. They were all very concerned about RM and wanted to help. Could they pick him up? Would we need to borrow a car? What could they do for us? Very sweet. When RM walked in the door, he grabbed a two second dinner, checked in to see if we were all ok and then said, "Sorry, I got to go fix the truck, I need it for work tomorrow!" Everyone was so confused. How could he fix the truck at night? How did he already have the parts? Was he going to do it himself? As his wife, I knew exactly what he had done without him even telling me, as this has happened more than once. I explained, "Let me take a guess. I'm pretty sure I know what he did. As soon as the truck pulled over to the side of the road, he called CAA. Then he called his parts guy who said, 'Sorry, we'll be closed in a few minutes.' Then, my husband said, 'Let me pay now over the phone and you just leave the part outside the door (small town niceness lets them do that).' Then, he quickly picked up the part and voila, he fixes it tonight." I checked with RM later to see if that was what had happened and he said, "That's exactly what happened!"
Sure enough, he sat with me for a few minutes after everyone left and around 8 pm, he went to work on the truck. It was fixed in less than an hour as he's good at fixing this particular issue. The next day he and my daughter both took their separate vehicles to work and not a single day of work was missed. Amazing. I explained to my kids the next day, "You have to know Dad didn't have to do that. He could have used all sorts of excuses about why he didn't fix it right away. He could have delayed because the parts store was closed. He could have said he was tired and he wouldn't have been lying." I wanted them to see Proverbs worked out in real life and watching their dad was the perfect way to see diligence up close. "In all toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty." Mere talk. What a great phrase. All toil. Profit. Poverty. He made us money by working hard. We didn't have to buy a new car or pay someone else to fix it. He toiled. Thus, we profited. He didn't just talk about fixing it, he did the work. It saved us from poverty. Fixing cars has always been something I noticed about him in the early days of our courtship. Without knowing it, it was a litmus test of his character. I remember watching him run off to fix someone else's car when he could have stayed back to be with me and I remember thinking dreamy thoughts of how manly it made him in my eyes! A great reminder to watch for those types of signs for my children and their future spouses-to-be.....but I digress....
This is a picture of all the junior quizzers. They are amazing. In just a few weeks, some of them have already memorized two whole chapters of 1 Corinthians.
After we picked the grapes, we put them in the grape crusher (also found on the farm). Each boy takes a turn turning the crank. They love doing that. Then, the grapes get put in the fruit press (also found on the farm) and the grapes are pressed until every drop is out. It makes for the sweetest juice I've ever tasted.
One final thing....this weekend I am hosting Thanksgiving. I love Fall decorating and I love the fact that my entire house has been decorated now with things from the farm and all the barns. I gave myself the challenge of making the table completely decorated without buying anything, if possible. I turned to weeds. I love Fall weeds! The only purchase I did make was to buy some super cheap burlap that came from a farm supply store. It's virtually free because it isn't used for decorating. I would have paid so much more if I had bought it in a home decor store. I felt pretty smart about that (and it was on sale!). That makes me really happy. I sent my kids down to the vineyard to get grapes and vines, which they did. I put the burlap down the center of the table and then threw the grape vines down the center of the table, too. The kids and I went to the local farmer and picked up a few gourds and squash (ok, another small purchase, but I can eat them later!) Then we picked up some local apples, also from just down the street (we can also eat those later!) and put those all over the house. I put weeds in some mason jars and the look was complete. I basically took God's decor that He naturally uses outside and just brought it in. He's my inspiration, not some magazine! It looks great and I get to eat most of it later, except for the weeds.....Super cool! I'm thankful already!
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