Stuck and Stitched
Ever feel like the fabric of your life gets ripped apart, in need of mending? I do. Ever feel like your own goals get side-tracked by the unexpected and, WHAM, you’re stuck again? Me too! Welcome to my weekend on the farm. Last Saturday, I woke at 5 AM to make breakfast for Zach, our […]
Horse Healer
I sat Ollie’s trot yesterday. On the back of this statuesque Arab/Welsh Cob cross, I worked to keep hands still and seat in saddle. My fingers hurt from the 15 degree cold. But I kept riding his trot, getting to know this new horse. I concentrated hard on my task—keeping steady rhythm, hands down, back […]
Greedy for Grace
As we end the year and wake to a new, I am reflecting on how I’ve grown. And the answer is I’ve grown into a person greedy for grace. I’ve become a person more comfortable with the reality that I’m not as self-sufficient as I thought and that, really, I’m really dependent. The hard knocks […]
Holy Hope
Thanksgiving has passed and the pumpkins are shriveled, ready for the compost pile that will feed next year’s crop. We’re waiting for snow here. It’s December in Wisconsin and we love white blanketed farm fields and the still quiet that comes in winter. Yes, we’re waiting for stillness and quiet and white. The whole world’s […]
Is Jesus Enough?
Is Jesus really all we need? This weekend, my husband and I are stepping out with nothing clothing our hearts but hope and faith and love. Because sometimes the best thing is the hardest thing. Sometimes what’s best stings when hot tears roll down wrinkled face paths and we cry, “This, Lord?” I’m shaking on […]
Dry and Rattled
Is dry and rattled ever a good thing? Around here it is. Our south field is full of soybeans waiting. Dried up and rattling with the wind blowing through, plant leaves have gone from green to gold to brown, all in a season. And the beans are about ready for harvest. Am I? I have […]
Opening Clams
I was enamored by the many sea otters I saw up close while in Alaska. They swim effortlessly, diving sleekly into ocean water depths in pursuit of shelled creatures—mussels and clams. Once they capture a closed shell, they bring it to the surface, turn onto their backs, open the shell, and float nonchalantly while enjoying […]
Bear and Fish, Fear and Trust
The bush plane descends and the pilot directs our attention to the ground through the right windows. “Those black dots down there are bears,” Glen tells the three of us traveling to Geographic Harbor, a remote spot on the coast of Alaska. We learn that people come from all around the globe to this exact […]
Zucchini God
That’s right. Here on the farm, we have a zucchini God. The day before, we had a visit from the corn God. Now before anybody gets freaked out and thinks I’ve gone AWOL on the one and only triune God, read on. In all my years, I have never seen a longer spring or a […]
Remember the Corn
Dear Little Faith, Remember last spring when you wrote that piece about corn? Remember how you photographed fields of weeds by your house and said how the farmers weren’t able to plant because of the cold and the wet? Remember how you said everyone was wondering if they’d ever be able to seed the ground […]
Fired
Being fired is good. Last Friday, my birthday, a dear friend took me to meet a wife and her husband—a potter and an iron man. Their home and its grounds are a glorious work of art. Perennials abound, interspersed with ceramic birdhouses in shapes of whimsical flying pigs. Bubbling rock fountains. Feeders hanging elegant from […]
Leap of Faith
On my 54th birthday this past Friday, five barn swallow babies too big for their nest took a leap of faith. Their first flight, from front porch nest to front porch railing, was short but successful. Wings worked. And there they perched, waiting for parent to come and feed, then gobbling up the nutritious offerings. The […]