That is what I was, absolutely mortified!
I had gone down to the chicken coop to check on the eggs around noon and saw a nice brown egg in one of the nesting boxes. I bent down to pick it up and stood up when something dropped on my head. The ceiling plastic that held in the insulation had given way and it poured something down over top of me.
I stood there and realized that the chipmunks had made a nest in the insulation in the roof and it had given way, raining down chipmunk poop, and grain they had stolen from the chickens, all over me. I ran a hand over my hair to find chunks, I was wearing a hoodie and knew that the hood itself now held a nice bit of treasure.
I ran out of the coop and whipped off my shirt and ran for the house. EEEEEEEWWWWW!!!
That was absolutely revolting.
I hopped into the shower and began scrubbing, hard!
We have now made a chipmunk catching trap, we had one up the other day and caught a couple. I had not seen any and thought, very foolishly, oh good we got them and did not think another thing until today. Nope, one of those creatures must have been up there when I was walking underneath. So, I set that trap back up and it is there now. Chipmunks and squirrels can wreck a lot of stuff in a short amount of time. My hanging insulation attests to that.
It had turned into one of those days….and this was all before noon:
Covered in chipmunk doo-doo.
The dishwasher no longer cleaned the dishes, they were coming out dirty.
The washing machine was leaving a film of white gunk all over our clothes.
The dogs had dug a hole under the house and exposing a 2 foot area open to more “chipmunks and squirrels” – I noticed it when I was running for the house. Those puppies got a talking to and the hole is gone!
It started to rain so I had to dash out to the meat birds to move their feeders under shelter so it would not waste the food, those birds “eat” a lot, so not wanting to waste any. As I ran for the meat chickens I kept repeating, “Thank you God for the farm”, “Thank you God for the rain to water my lawn seed.” “Thank you for the farm.”
I had bought a sign, the one at the top of the page, that I put up on the wall right by where I have to put my shoes and boots on. I read it on my way out to grab the food from the rain and it made me think and become “thankful” especially when I am not!
Seriously, life could be a whole lot worse than chipmunk feces. (Okay maybe that is not all that true in my head yet, it is coming, but it really is true).
I have a list of prayer requests and all I need to do is go through my list to know that my world is a heck of a lot better than some others. I do not have to live through chemo or radiation. I have not recently lost anyone, we have work, I have energy to run to the chickens and grab the feeders. I have a warm house, surrounded by breathtaking scenery. 2 wonderful dog companions! A hard working husband; food to eat, gas in my car, diesel in my generator and water in my water tank….. life is okay.
The afternoon got better, Brian ended up coming home for the afternoon, a very rare occurrence and we got a few things done and accomplished. The dishwasher is working, the laundry is on, the chickens are fine. Gord and the boys came out for a wonderful little visit. While they were here we made the rounds checking out the egg chickens and found an egg, visited with the meat chickens, saw the greenhouse and the garden, watched a blue jay trapped in the chicken pen get out to freedom, we played with the dogs and laughed and giggled, it was great medicine.
The day did not end quite as wonderful as the afternoon.... I went to put the meat birds in and found a decapitated chicken in the pen. I again was stunned and not sure what had done this, and my head swivelled around like a bobble head doll. I could not see any animals, Mocha was not growling at the bush. I had to dispose of the headless bird, that was yucky! I am amazed at what I find myself having to do. I certainly did not ever forsee these kind of adventures in my life. But here we are. In all honesty, I am surprising myself but I remember the scripture: I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me. (silly me thinking it is me doing it on my own) Phillipians 4:13
I believe I am learning to say, maybe I am a farmer and smile. I am learning to be thankful inspite of these grotesque moments as I realize I am being stretched and molded.
The next morning as I headed down the pen, I found a hawk flying out of the coop and knew exactly what kind of animal had attacked our chickens. There is now netting over top of the area to protect the birds.
There are certain “keys” to life, I believe that “Thankfulness” is one of the keys to contentment. It is the one I am trying to practice at the moment. The apostle Paul, although he suffered a great deal in his life: shipwrecked, imprisoned, flogged, beaten, chased, said that he had learned how to be content in every situation. You read his list and think how on earth did he do that?
That’s the trick, Paul did not put his hope in the earth, his hope was only found in God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit and he considered it a privilege to be able to talk about God wherever he went, including jail. God had met Paul, in a miraculous encounter, talked with him personally and left him blind for a while as a sign that something extraordinary had happened. Paul could not deny that something had talked to him and touched his eyes and left him blind.
He was blind until God sent a man from another city over to him to touch his eyes and heal him. When Paul received his sight back, the whole world was new! God had done a make over in the heart and eyes of this man Paul. This Jewish man who used to hunt down and kill Christians now proclaimed Jesus as the way to salvation to anyone who would listen. He had met Him. He was thankful.
Paul went on to write more books in the New Testament than anyone else and won converts everywhere he went. Nothing and nobody would stop him from talking about God. He was content and thankful for being able to be used by God. When he was put in prison, he rejoiced and sang and told all the other prisoners about Jesus. (Acts 16) In 1 Thessalonians 5:12-23 Paul says, “be thankful in all circumstances.”
It can be hard to do this. But like today, which started out badly, and ended sadly, after sitting and contemplating how much I have been given, I am thankful to God for His care, concern and salvation. I do not have to walk around wondering how to do it all myself, I can ask Him for help, I can talk to Him anytime, He will not walk away and leave me, I know that I am deeply loved. My heart is content at the thought of these things. It is enough and when I am doubting, I read my sign, sometimes twice.
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