For The Birds

Sitting here in the living room when I raise my eyes I see a row of birds (obviously not real ones) on the mantlepiece.  A friend once commented that I have birds all over my house.  It wasn't an intentional theme and I was surprised to realize the truth of her statement.  I do have birds all over my house!  I think the birds slowly snuck into my life while we lived on the farm and have been with me ever since, the flock growing every year.  Birds are just ubiquitous out in nature and I'm very thankful they are.  They add so much to our world.  In honor of the birds past and present in my life and home, here's an old Xanga post from May of 2006...

“Fully lined”

This spring when we started brushing the horse and dogs to get their winter coats off them, the
white fur was flying all over the pasture.  We collected buckets of it.   I predicted to Becca that
every bird’s nest on the farm would be lined with horse or dog hair this year.
The other day I was out mowing the lawn after a storm.  Under a tree I found a tiny nest that 
had blown down in the storm:

This year’s model is fully lined with horse-hair upholstery.  The
chassis is delicately woven out of grass with a bit of orange baling
twine thrown in for accent.  

Old pictures...

...can make your heart ache.  Haven't seen this photo in years but it made me long for home.

Farm stories

A couple weeks ago on a Saturday evening we had a young couple over for dinner and an evening of talk.  Pete and I usually enjoy asking questions and digging deeper into our guests' minds and hearts.  That night, however, for whatever reason, Pete and I ended up talking a blue streak all night.  At one point we started telling funny stories about things that had happened on the farm in our twenty years there.  And when we once get going on that topic, it's hard to shut us up.  Afterwards I felt kind of bad but it was just one of those "I'm talking and I can't shut up" moments I guess.  

When we got a thank you note for the evening from our guests, they mentioned that they had so enjoyed hearing all funny farm stories.  It made me think that maybe I should repost some things I posted years ago on my old Xanga blog, just to remind myself (and my kids who experienced it with us) of those things, funny, poignant, or just homey.  So here's one from August 6, 2006 about one of our critters.  

Ozzie's Praise

You can hear it as soon as you walk in the barn – a low rumble coming from somewhere amidst the hay and buckets.  If you wait a few seconds, the source of the rumble, a small orange tom-kitten named Ozzie, will come out to greet you.  Most kittens purr when you pet them, pick them up or cuddle them.  Ozzie purrs almost all the time, whether anyone is there or not, whether someone is petting him or not.  He just purrs because he’s happy with life. 

It makes me smile to hear him purring.  I care about my animals and it makes me happy when they are happy.  His purring tells me that he thinks he’s got a pretty great life here in our barn, as part of our “family”. 

God must feel that way about us.  The book of Hebrews draws to a close with these words:  “Through Him, then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name.”  Continually offering up a sacrifice of praise to God is, in effect, sort of like purring – letting God know I’m happy with the life He’s chosen for me, the redemption He’s given me.   Recognizing Him as the source of my contentment, the wellspring of my unquenchable joy, no matter what my circumstances.

I think God smiles when He hears Ozzie purring.  “All His creatures praise Him…”