The Spirituality of...Goat Birth...

While I no longer have my goats, I thought I'd share this throwback story from 2010 when my first goat was about to have her first baby.  Hope you enjoy...

God just blows my mind!

May 24, 2010 at 7:04pm

Yesterday morning I noticed "Tinker" might be showing signs of labor...

Tinker's in labor...

So, I went in to do my devotions after letting the goats out, milking them and feeding them and the chickens. I asked God in my prayer journal (I write out my prayers cuz I'm blonde and easily get lost) if He would let Caleb and I get to see Tinker have her baby. I threw in at the last minute, "and it'd be great if it was during Ben's nap!" with a smiley face after.

I checked on Tinker every couple of hours and went about my business, determined to play with the 2 youngest ones (sons) while the two oldest ones were golfing with dad and the middle one was with friends at a birthday party. I was also very tempted to go to a fundraiser where there were pedicures occurring with many of my favorite friends, but wasn't sure what to do with the little guys.

After playing Where's Waldo with Caleb and watching two episodes of The Pond with Ben and Caleb, I was really getting sleepy. I looked at the clock and noticed it was nap time. I fed Ben some pizza and got him down for a nap and went to check on Tinker.

Are you sure you don't wanna go in the big goat house that I can walk in where I've already laid down towels for you? Are you sure? Well...okay...

Although I really wanted a nap I decided to stay out with her (after I grabbed some towels and my camera-oh, and Caleb!)

 Oh, I felt for her! She was really hurting!

She started letting out some loud bleats so I knew she was getting near her time of delivery...

I was secretly wondering if we should crawl inside the little enclosure with her so we could see the baby come out...

Every time she would bleat (or Ma-a-ah, as Caleb calls it), Caleb would cover his ears cuz she was loud (by the way, I think the word-people should cave and put "cuz" in the dictionary "cuz" no one wants to spell out "because"-just a side note...:)

I was a little bummed that we weren't facing the right direction to see when the baby came out but figured making sure Tinker and the baby were okay was more important. Just then, she got up, turned around and faced the other direction giving us a perfect vantage point!

Caleb and I were really praying for her cuz I didn't know how to help her if the baby wasn't facing the right direction or something that shouldn't present itself first (feed, bottom)...did.

She started really grunting and pushing and a black thing bulged out...Caleb and I couldn't even begin to tell what it was...

A foot I could recognize and a nose was what I wanted to see but this...was...unrecognizable!

After a few more pushes it became clearer to me that this was her bag of waters.

It burst and a little nose was protruding slightly! We were so relieved that in this instance at least, we wouldn't hafta intervene! (I also think we should give up on "have to" and make it a smoother flowing "hafta"...sorry, another bunny trail...)

I just kept thinking of the scene from "City Slickers" where the guy has to help deliver the baby cow, reaches inside and then proclaims that he's lost his watch!...anyway...

A couple more pushes and a whole, living, tiny goat came out and we were elated! Both Caleb and I teared up! I was surprised cuz I thought only girls did that but teared up again when I realized how excited my 7-year-old was to have witnessed a miracle. He said "Man, my eyes are watering!"...I asked if it made him cry a little and he said "yeah..." (oh melter of hearts!)

My tears only lasted a second cuz I noticed Tinker wasn't getting up right away to clear the baby's nose and mouth so it could breath so I jumped in to do at least that much...

I went to call my goat guru, Karen, and while I was on the phone with her, another one plopped out after Tinker stood up and bellowed again. Both Caleb and I jumped! Neither one of us was expecting that! This was technically her first pregnancy but they can sometimes have twins anyway. 

I think Tinker was surprised too, cuz she jumped and then stepped on the baby accidentally. It bleated and she moved and started cleaning the first one. The second one had even more energy than the first and was not hardly cleaned off but was trying to get up and get mom's attention!

Caleb intently watching the whole thing go down...

Here's the little girl...

The babies kept coming to us and we had to redirect them to their mommy...

She's kissing him and he's kissing his sister...

Caleb helping wipe off the little girl...Tinker's wondering what he's doing..

Tim wants to see the babies...

Well, it was glorious! 

After the boys got home and saw them and we ate dinner (Bryan wisely foresaw ahead and brought home pizza), we weighed them. They weigh about 5 lbs ea.

Trev helps keep 'em warm while I weigh them...

Ben is fully delighted with the babies!

Bryan scopes out these two little creatures about the size of tennis shoes...

All done, I'm worn out from no nap and all the excitement!

I looked back on the day and realized God answered my prayers exactly! Ben was totally asleep thru the whole thing and Caleb and I got to watch her have her babies!

...sigh...

It's Not the Place, it's the Grace!

I was tempted to entitle this "I Figured it Out" but that was pretty misleading...

I didn't want people to think that I ...well,...had it all figured out...or at least thought I did!

That's a lot to live up to, after all...

But I came to one small conclusion yesterday...

"It's Not the Place, it's the Grace!"

I was trying to figure out why we're so blessed in our new home in Ohio.  I know that it's not that Ohio is magical because if it were, millions would be flocking here.  And I must confess that I wasn't thrilled with Ohio when we underwent our first tornado watch 3 days into living here!  I was ready to move back to Arizona!  We actually prayed that night as we slept upstairs all bold and in-your-face believing that nothing was going to happen that God didn't want to (well, Bryan believed that, I was a tad scared...to death!  Trying not to be, but kinda was.) that if it was His will that we moved here, that nothing would happen to the house that night.

We were concerned that we had just earlier that day put up a brand new trampoline for the kids which in no way had we secured before heading to bed.  It resides next to a sunroom of all windows.  We thought for sure that if nothing else, it was gonna go through the windows and cause a lot of expensive damage.

It did not.

God keeps confirming that we're supposed to be here.  And that blesses our souls.

We gave up a lot to come here.  We felt led by God to be part of Alistair Begg's church.

We seriously reconsidered the day we left when the entire family, aside from Trevor (who was at school), was bawling their eyes out in leaving Tim behind.  Trevor was already settled in college in California and we'd had more time to detach from him in healthy ways but Tim...Tim had just graduated and it felt like we were abandoning him.

So fast forward to my revelation yesterday.  "It's Not the Place, it's the Grace!"...Sometimes I worry that in all my postings on Facebook, I'm trying to validate something...like we're happier than we are, I'm a better mom than I am or something.  So, I'm posting all these new pics in Ohio: the trampoline, the treehouse, the swing set, the dogs and kids running wild and free...

It's not because of Ohio.

It's because we were led to take a chance, take the spiritual "Nestea Plunge" and trust God by moving here and His Grace is what keeps blessing us over and over!

My cup is truly running over!

No, Bryan doesn't have a job yet.

Yes, we're way behind in homeschool.

No, we're not over abandoning Tim yet.

Yes, we miss Trevor like crazy too.  We didn't see him that often but every 6 weeks is better than once or twice a year.

But there's a huge blessing taking place in our hearts and spirits as we've obeyed the calling we've felt He's placed in our lives.

So, once again: "It's Not the Place, it's the Grace!" of God...

Have a nice Friday...
:)

The Hard Stuff

Yesterday my 18-yr-old son pointed out to me that a certain NBA player had been in town and several of his friends met him and got pics with him.  He was obviously miffed and I shared his disappointment in the fact that, had he not had a back injury, he may have made the local high school's basketball team again and gotten to meet the player.  Who knows, the player might have even been down here to scout for colleges and he could've gotten a scholarship to the school he so badly wants to attend and play for U of A.

I went in my room and cried for a minute or two but couldn't for very long as I was on my way out the door for church.  Just did my makeup.  Didn't wanna redo it or explain why my eyes were red. I tried not to give into the pity I felt for him because that could cripple his and my walks with God.

 Desperately groping for a way to give thanks in the disappointment, I remembered something I heard recently: "Sometimes God says 'yes', sometimes He says 'no' and sometimes He says 'I have something better in mind'."  That made me feel a little better.  Even though he's missing his Senior year of sports, God has something better for him in the future.  I'm believing the best because God has proven Himself over and over in our lives.  Why doubt him and sin so deeply?

I just finished a book this morning: "1,000 gifts-A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are"-Ann Voskamp.  It changed my way of viewing daily, mundane life.  Now I see blessings in soap suds, mounds of laundry and the people who wear it, and the joy of scrubbing pots for my family.  I also can bring myself to recognize the blessings and grace in the hurts of life.  I couldn't do that before.  And for that, I'm truly thankful.

Kristen

I FEEL SO RELIEVED!!!

I was reading Morning and Evening this morning and decided to go back a day and read yesterday's morning devotional that I had missed.  I found a sweet treasure...

Spurgeon was talking about how we tend to see the apostles and other figures from the Bible as super saints and not subject to the same temptations and weaknesses we are.

"Yet in doing so, we forget this truth, that the nearer a man lives to God, the more intensely he has to mourn over his own evil heart; and the more his Master honors him in his service, the more the evil of the flesh vexes and teases him, day by day."

I. FEEL. SOOOOO. RELIEVED!

There are days I feel like I wish I could operate in "Ignorance is Bliss" mode because I hate seeing my failures and shortcomings.  The more I want to be a saint worthy of her calling, the farther I seem to be from it!  

I'm so excited to know that the closer I walk to the Light, the more obvious the problems in my heart are going to appear...they have no choice but to show up!

And...the enemy of my soul and my own wicked flesh is going to vex and tease me the more I want to be like Jesus.  

This is apparently how it should be.  As long as I am walking on this earth, it's how it will be.  

So, when I'm feeling like a failure, let's hope it's just because I'm walking close with Jesus, and everything shows up better in the "Light"...and He loves me too much to let me remain in darkness...

ahh...

Alphabet Soup and End Times

Last night I had a dream.

I had a few dreams.

Actually, I dreamt a lot which is unusual for me when I take that much magnesium, I usually sleep really hard.

Anyway-

This dream left me with a wonderful sense of peace.

I dreamt that Bryan and I were walking along on a date night and looking up at the stars.  Slowly numbers and letters began to emerge along with the twinkly lights.  We were puzzled but enjoyed the display.  I mentioned it looked like alphabet soup.  Then we noticed a red scorpion in the sky.  It became animated lashing it's a tail around a few times.  Other scorpions came to fight with it.  Every time one of them stung him, he would get more and more powerful. ( I think that has something to do with a constellation called Scorpio?)  I need to mention I hold no beliefs in the sign of the zodiac!

(Please don't be waiting with baited breath for something significant to come out of this...)

I share all the goofiness of my dream because...well, it's funny...but really I'm left with such a sweet sense of peace today reminded that Jesus WILL return and we DO need to be watching and anxious for our Bridegroom.  It will happen nothing like the dream but if I have my theology right, believers will be raptured first in the "twinkling of an eye" like it says in the Bible.  Then the end time events will unfold like it says in Revelation.  It may not happen the way we envision or interpret Revelation but it WILL happen.

Are you excited??

Are you ready?


Kristen

Macaroni Hair Gel?

She went to Sunday School with macaroni in her hair.

I didn't mean for her to.

   It all started with me leaving too late to go to Walmart in time to be home for the Broncos playoff game saturday night.  Caleb was going to the store with me and wanted to watch the game with his dad.  I wanted to watch the game with his dad, too (my hubby).

   But by the time I got home at 6:45, ate a wonderful dinner some friends made for us to thank us for sharing Cardinal's tickets with them, unloaded the car, bathed the first two of the youngest three, it was 9:41pm.  The kids should've been in bed by 9 at the latest.

   I thought I would bath the youngest and hardest (like wrestling a crocodile in her 3/4 body cast-but don't let that fool you, she's a ninja!) the next morning somehow.  I could've stayed up and gotten at least my clothes ready but didn't...I just wanted to be done with all the little voices for the night.  I wanted to read my book and unwind before bed.  I could've just slept.  Unwound by going to bed, but I didn't want to.
   The next morning found me frazzled as Bryan had to call to wake me up so I could get ready in time because I went to bed so late the night before.  Sometimes I wonder why I take on extra things, like goats, chickens, foster children, etc, when I know I can't handle what I do have to be responsible for already...
   Bryan also informed me that he would be skipping church service to come home and help us get ready for church because we had to head to Phoenix directly after to watch Trevor's concert.  For a while I was excited.  He'll be able to hold Destiny while I wash her hair or vice versa.  Instead, he came home, told the kids to brush their teeth and fed all my previous wild hairs (goats, chickens, dogs) and got the car ready and brought portable breakfast for the kids on the way to church. I didn't have the kids all the way ready when he started buckling them in.  I still needed to do the 4-yr-old girl's hair!  I still need to wash the 2-yr old girls hair!

   It didn't go like I planned.  We were late so we had to go.  Ready or not.  Bryan teaches Sunday School and couldn't be late.  We arrived in time, I told him to go ahead and check Ben in.  I did the 4-yr-old girl's hair.  I walked her in and left the 2-yr-old locked in for the 5 minutes it took to hand the 4-yr-old to my friend, Joy and run back out to get 2-yr-old.  I tried to brush her hair.  I sprayed "no more tangles" on the macaroni, it didn't budge.  I brushed around it and took her in anyway.
   I handed her to the supervisor and she said "Oh, she has gummies in her hair" and I replied, "No, it's macaroni"...and she went in like that.  I gave a basic explanation and wondered to myself what kind of mom doesn't give herself enough time to brush the kid's hair before taking them to church of all places?! I answered myself that this will be funny someday and today it kinda is...

That is all...

Surrounded by Greatness...

I've been waiting for just the right thing to start my blog off with and I think I've found it.  This will have to be short and sweet since all of my kids are awake now but it's on my heart so I need to express it.

We caught up with a couple of special friends yesterday.  These people have walked with the Lord for eons and are so much fun.  When Bryan and I were first married, 20 years ago, they let us live with them while we waited for Bryan's aunt to move out of the house we bought from her.  Problem was, she was building a house and had to wait for the completion of the project before she could move into her new home.

We had approached Bob Rurka, from our church,  to see if we could temporarily rent one of his mobiles.  He said "No", and I was slightly disappointed but he quickly offered to let us live with him and his wife.

We prayed about it and said yes.  We weren't sure how it was going to work but thought we'd give it a try. It turned out to be such a blessing!  They sectioned off their living room, put paneling up in the arches to create a studio apartment for us.  Off of the apartment was a 3/4 bath/shower and a little teeny area they turned into a kitchenette.  The put a small counter, some cabinets and a small, dorm-like fridge in there for us to use.  They offered us the use of their kitchen whenever we needed, too.

They were a crazy couple who had probably been married about 30 years by then and were still crazy in love with each other.  What an example they were to us.  We will always appreciate their humor and affection during the first few months of our marriage.

We love you guys.  We think of you as those who are our great cloud of witness (even though you are still here :).

God Bless You,
Kristen