Life on the Ranch…Spring is sprung!
Every winter I have the best of intentions and a long list of jobs around the ranch and the houses. However, I seem to cycle like the seasons, and have trouble getting motivated until the springtime arrives. At that time all the hustle and growth of the season inspires me also to start on the new projects for the ranch, to finish some of the old ones, and to do the maintenance necessary to keep everything running and in good shape. Of course the winter didn’t find me totally in hibernation, as all the animals still needed care and feeding, a much larger and time consuming job in cold weather. Through out all the physical demands of the ranch, we work hard at remembering that the ranch is people, not its physical buildings or projects. While wanting to put a “picture frame” around the beauty of Gods nature, we also want to be in the picture ourselves, be it nothing more than giving a smile or a chance to let kids feed the animals, or any other small interaction with the visitors who find themselves at the ranch.Life on the Ranch…Change and Creativity
I was reading words from Elizabeth Sherrill in Guideposts this morning about change. One of the main things that we may see in nature is the constant change in everything around us. If it is living, as in people, plants, and animals, it is constantly growing, never remaining as it was, ever. If the objects are inanimate, they are constantly being broken down, atom by atom, until they return to the building blocks of life again.. Against this very obvious demonstration of God as creativity and change, I find myself wanting to be creative, but then not wanting the change part. I clean up fields, fix fences and buildings, doctor and feed all sorts of animals, and spend much of my energy building my “picture frame” around God’s bounty, but then I don’t want it to change. This desire we all have to “freeze” life when we have it where we like it, where it makes us feel secure and creative, is also of God. God is, always, eternal, and as such never changes while constantly creating and changing. I need to find my desire for “changelessness” not in my surroundings, or circumstances, but right where it’s always been, in God.Life on the Ranch…listen to the birds sing
Listen to the birds sing!…….In times past it used to be that living in the country gave you a little more insulation from the cares and problems of the rest of the world. Before the advent of satellite TV, cell phones, and the internet it was possible to “forget” the rest of the world and live in our own smaller more peaceful one. While the invention of the above has connected us all more closely with each other, and made the world a smaller place [and oneness is good], it has also increased our worry and accelerated the pace of our living to a level that makes us feel out of sync with our lives. May we remember that the beauty and peacefulness of nature still has its effectiveness on us that God intended. As you sit on the deck in the early morning, or walk the trails, listening to the birds and feeling the warmth of the morning sun, there’s a oneness with the symphony of life around us. If only for a short while, this can refresh our batteries and send us back into the “everyday” world with a renewed sense of peace and harmony, and hope for the future. May you find the time to seek a recharge from nature today, be it here on the ranch or in a park, a grove of trees, or your own backyard.
Life on the Ranch…First Day of Spring
I always proclaim December 21st as the “first day of Spring”. I seem to be fairly alone in this assessment, as I am also for not turning my personal clocks back when daylight savings time ends. (I like that extra hour of daylight in the evening) December 21st is when we start having each day with a little more daylight, and each day increases until June 21st. On the ranch, in nature, and in our own lives, the amount of light received each day controls so many areas of growth. Already, our male peacocks are starting to grow back their long spectacular tail feathers. The young turkeys are learning to gobble, and young calves are a bit friskier, even in the really cold temperatures.
Of course, as we all know, most of “springing forth” is still to come. However, more daylight lets me know that we’re growing toward it just a little more every day… just as every day we have the opportunity to grow more as God intended. Nothing like a little “hope” to brighten a winter day.
