Big Pig

BIGGER than Hogzilla!
On Thursday May 3 2007, an 11 year old boy kills 1,051 lb. wild Feral hog. The pig was over 10' 7" long. The hog was taken with a Smith & Wesson customized .50 caliber revolver shooting 350 grain bullets. The 11 year old boy is Jamison Stone. Go to www.monsterpig.com to see the pictures. They had it made into breakfast sausage and the hog is being mounted by a taxidermist. This boar is double the size of our average boar. There is also a CNN interview on YouTube.

Fast

from the Journal Star:

CHARLESTON - Journal Star-area competitors wore out a path toward the medal stand Saturday during the Class A boys track and field state finals at O'Brien Stadium.
The skies might have been overcast, but the day had a golden shine to it as JS-area runners brought home six state titles from the blue track at Eastern Illinois University.
Eureka capped the championship day by backing up its sectional top seed in the 4x400 relay.
The senor trio of Jacob Wyss, Dean Eastman and Crue Hammon put Eureka in position to win. Junior Wes Schmidgall brought it home in a school-record time of 3:23.36 - 1.38 seconds ahead of Westmont's foursome.
"I knew he beat me yesterday (in prelims) and I wasn't going to let him beat me twice," Schmidgall said of Benton, the Westmont anchor. "The whole team ran awesome. I couldn't have done it without them."
The same Eureka quartet had another school record (1:29.93) in placing third in the 4x200, six-tenths of a second behind champion Newton.

Congratulations!

Hawk

While tilling a field last week, it was neat to watch a hawk circling overhead, riding thermals and keeping a sharp eye on the ground. He was waiting for the tractor to scare up a mouse, rabbit, or other small animal. He would then swoop in for the kill, talons first, and fly off with lunch.

I had to think how similar Satan is - eagerly watching for a Christian to expose a weakness or wander somewhere they shouldn't be so he can swoop in and capture us.

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: 1Peter 5:8

Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Ephesians 2:2

Emergence

It was a busy week here on the farm (as opposed to a quiet week in Lake Wobegon). Our last planted corn emerged this week, 6 days after being put in the ground. The stand looks good, and the half inch of rain we received on Tuesday, along with a lot of sunshine, is really helping it grow. The wheat is starting to head out, and it won't be long before that amber wave makes its appearance. We are planting soybeans now, and the Lord and weather willing should be finished by midweek. We moved another batch of sows into the farrowing house this morning that are due to farrow next week. Thus, the cycles continue. The 5:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. days are getting wearing, so I am glad that tomorrow is Sunday.

Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

BWCA Wildfire

The last two trips our family has taken into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, we used Tuscarora Lodge and Outfitters on the Gunflint Trail. They have had a very dry spring up in northern Minn. and a forest fire is currently burning out of control in the Gunflint Trail area. Its called the Ham Lake Fire. It burned past there settlement without much damage, but it keeps flaring up in different areas and the wind shifts and sends it different directions. Some outfitters buildings have sustained major damage and many homes have been burned. The Ahrendt family(owners of Tuscarora) have a blog that they have been updating with info for their customers and anyone who loves the north woods, Gunflint style. http://www.tuscaroranews.blogspot.com/ We have paddled thru some of the areas currently burning. The last trip up there , the Seagull Lake fire was burning. We would see the firefighting planes and helicopters during the day, and smell the smoke at night when the air got heavy and still.
We pray for the safety of all who are involved.

Spring

Spring has definitely arrived here on the farm. The plants are recovering from the late cold snap, and new life is again evident. You wouldn't know its spring by the amount of planting we have accomplished - very little - but we hope to resume planting this week after a long wet layoff. The new baby chicks have arrived and are adjusting to life very well. After all these years, it's still exciting the day they arrive.

Our neighbor's mare Dharma was overdue and finally gave birth to Anna this past week. Anna is gangly, uncoordinated, and all legs. She is very unsure of how to use her legs. She rocks and thrashes when attempting to get them under her to stand up, and when standing she doesn't know how to lay down. So she just kind of lets one leg fold under her and then flops to the ground. But she's doing fine and learning fast.

This weekend we had the joy(no pun intended) to hear two testimonies and witness baptisms in our church. Once again, we were blessed to witness new life in the Spirit of two young souls seeking to serve our creator. Saturday evening after the Testimonies, about 15 young Brothers came out to the farm for a "grain bin" singing. They had Men's Quartet hymn books and stood in a circle inside our empty steel grain bin singing four part harmony. The acoustics and sound resonation was unique, but it sounded beautiful. We whipped up a batch of cookies to feed them, and things wrapped up by midnight. Then it was up at 5:45 Sunday morning for chores, before a 7:30 Bible Class breakfast in town.

I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. John 10:10