Hey Friends and Welcome back to my little corner of the internet.
If you've been following this blog for any length of time you know how dedicated I am to my faith and how I portray that in my writing. I am also a mother, wife and homesteader. So apart from being surrounded by diapers, apple sauce and goldfish, I also am surrounded by 4 loudmouth roosters, 16 clucking hens, 2 huskies and 2 rabbits. As crowded as you would like to imagine I never expected to be taught biblical lessons.
Life on the homestead has a way of turning ordinary everyday life into life's teachable moments, maybe even parables. Jesus did it with a small mustard seed, I reckon I'll do it with some loudmouth birds, rambunctious huskies, fuzzy bunnies and a curious toddler.
Here are just a few of those parables whispered in my ear about Life's Lessons...
1.) God's compassion never fails and is renewed every morning. Lamentations 3:22-23
Every morning, I wake up, climb out of bed and head for the coffee pot. I get Little up and ready for the day, we have breakfast, story time, snacks, play time and then it's time for his nap. But that just means some days Little helps with the yard chores or I do those alone. The chickens I handle alone. I've had some bad roosters in the past and Little is too small to take on a full-size rooster. So, in I go with my walking stick and my bucket for collecting eggs. Henry is my road island red; he's the biggest boy I've got. He sometimes forgets that I'm the one who feeds him and his life is literally in my hands. But it's also his space and his ladies. He's a good boy most days. Like the Father, I have to have compassion because ole Henry is just doing his job. Compassion...
2.) God provides our needs daily. Matthew 6:26
Every afternoon when I've laid Little down for naptime my chickens hear me in the tool shed and start their yammering. They hear the lady with the bucket and know dinner is on the way. They don't worry about whether or not they'll eat that day. They definitely don't worry about whether or not their feathers match their beaks and toenails. They don't worry about if the sun will shine or the sky will fall. They just know the lady with the bucket will be here soon.
3.) God renews our spirit. 2 Corinthians 4:16
Each day my hens lay an egg. Sometimes early in the morning sometimes in the late evening, but every day like clockwork my girls climb into the nest house, scratch around and lay another egg. It takes them 24 hours to cook a new one. Their energy could be depleted, and they may tire and need some rest but every day they do it again.
The Lord always sees our faithfulness, whether that's the mounds of laundry, dirty dishes, or the prayers we whisper over our Little's as we tuck them safely in for the night. Just small obedience's the world never sees but our God does.
4.) He always completes His good works. Philippians 1:6
I've raised quite a few in an incubator and I can tell you the waiting for the eggs to crack and hatch takes days of patience and preparation. Not only as the homesteader but for the baby chicken as well. They have to make it out of that hard eggshell, and then grow big and strong so they can alert the morning or lay an egg.
But what God starts He always finishes.
Final Thought:
Needless to say, life on the homestead can teach you things you never expected. I never expected to see God in the small animals running past my feet to get to the scrapes I throw out. but every day I do. God speaks through His scriptures, but He speaks through the everyday things too. Whether that be the garden, toddlers running, homestead chores or quiet moments alone. He's always there.
Thanks, friend, for sitting with me today. I hope your week is full of small lessons, gentle reminders and the kind of piece that comes from knowing you are cared for, even more tenderly than life here on the homestead.
Stay Blessed,
-FASP
Scriptures in the blog: I encourage you to highlight these in your bible and meditate on God's word daily.
Lamentations 3:22-23
Matthew 6:26
2 Corinthians 4:16
Philippians 1:6