by Bill Byrne | Jul 24, 2014 | Uncategorized
I love the lyrics to that song, but at this time of year our biggest challenge is to keep our purpose foremost when we’re busy, busy, busy! Fruits of the Spirit are harder to live when it’s hot and muggy and there’s always more work than we can get done. It’s been a great summer for people coming to the ranch and experiencing the beauty of God’s nature. We finally received our federal 501 c 3 tax exempt status, and have had our first intern staying on the ranch. Our riding program has been well received and used, and we have interacted and met lots of great people as they stay with us. We have had MANY children help us feed all the animals, and our day camps in June we’re successful with the help of counselors, staff, and volunteers. Soon it’s fall, another beautiful time of year at the ranch, so watch for a little more informative blog as we get caught up.
by Bill Byrne | May 28, 2014 | Uncategorized
…and a time to every purpose under heaven. We’ve entered haying season, and have serviced all our equipment and are waiting for a few days of dry forecasts to start putting up feed for our animals for next winter. We have also planted about an acre of corn [with pumpkins to follow in a month or less] for our fall activities. At this point we wait on nature to supply the needed inputs, knowing all the while that we can’t control those things and people outside ourselves….only the way we feel and how we react to what we’re given. A constant reminder of the serenity prayer “Lord, help me to accept the things I cannot change, give me courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”
by Bill Byrne | Apr 10, 2014 | Uncategorized
Of course, it doesn’t come in gradually. Today is in the mid 80’s, yesterday evening was 27 degrees. We had a family group from the Chicago area at the campground, so now they can say that they are officially below freezing campers! The grass is growing, the birds are singing, forsithia, firebush, serviceberry, and redbud trees are all showing forth their blooms, and the peacock is looking for a mate [along with a lot of our other animals]. We have 15 newborn goats on the ground just starting to jump and run, and the sheep are next. All in all, a great start to a new year.
by Bill Byrne | Mar 16, 2014 | Uncategorized
The bird feeders are thick with finches until a red headed woodpecker barges in and scares them all away. In typical Ozark fashion the weather has gone from 65 degrees yesterday to 30 degrees and falling snow today. The crocus and daffodils are still standing in the snow, as Spring does an about face and heads back toward winter. Even the bird songs are spring songs, and seem a bit out of place in the new fallen snow. Yesterday we set corner posts for new fences, and had our first guests of the season staying at the Lakeside Log Cabin. Today we get to worry about the predicted single digit temperature freezing the water in the shower house! You have to love the Ozarks….if God is all about changes. then He [or She] is certainly all around us.
by Bill Byrne | Mar 3, 2014 | Uncategorized
I put the tractor in the hay barn to keep the ice storm from freezing the doors shut, but there wasn’t any electricity in the barn to plug the engine heater into. My thought was I will move it back to the power area before it got so cold it wouldn’t start. As happens many times, our assumptions and hopes don’t always work with the actual circumstances of life. We need the tractor every day to feed our cows and other animals during the winter. We unroll large half ton bales of hay out for them to eat, and for the young to have a warmer place to lay on. So this morning I sit here in the dark at the start of a new day, knowing i’ll have to head out in 15 below wind chills [in March yet!] to start a generator [that may not want to start either] so I can plug in the tractor engine heater and a battery charger, and let it all run for many hours to hopefully start the tractor. Ahhh…life and hope spring eternal! Have a great day and appreciate all you have, not what is missing. Personally, its now March and most of the winter is behind us, we still have electricity, and there is a beauty in the stillness of the very cold winter weather.
