"Mighty Fine"

Ted Schick, my double second cousin, my Brother in Christ, and my friend passed peacefully into eternity early this morning.

I have always hoped that I will hear something similar to the following when I meet my Savior someday.

His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. (Matthew 25:21)

But I can't help but wonder when Ted met Christ, if he didn't hear a "Mighty Fine"!
And I wonder if Ted turned to the Heavenly Choir and asked them to sing verses 7 & 8 yet!

Some thoughts and memories:
I remember the games we played at the two monthly potlucks our families were in together. And some of the trouble we got into. His short wrestling career. Morton Sunday School. Falling over the second floor stair railing in the middle of the night. The Sunday afternoon accident that changed his (and our) life forever. Months in a coma. Groups of friends and relatives "patterning" Ted on the big table in the Schick's basement. Young group activities and trips. His stubborn determination to be independent helped him lead a relatively normal life despite his handicap. At times he frustrated us, but mostly he inspired us. The time he tried to cross the Boy Scout rope bridge over a river (despite our protests) just to prove he could. Bringing strangers to church. His Poems. Shaving in the church bathroom because he was running late at home. His fervent prayers. Being able to consume huge amounts of food apparently without getting full or gaining weight. When he would charge across the fellowship area, his mind walking faster than his legs. Seemingly, everyone everywhere knew him. His steadfast faith, despite his trials, that not only carried him to the end, but moved the rest of us along the way.

I can almost imagine Ted with his unblemished, glorified body.

And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God.
Acts 3:8

Change

I hope the price of corn, soybeans, and hogs goes up soon . . .
I now have a wedding to pay for!
My eldest daughter announced her engagement on Sunday.

Twenty-four years ago I cradled a cute little baby girl in my arms, not knowing the blessings that were ahead. I prayed for her, changed diapers, rocked her, walked her, cleaned up vomit, sang to her, watched her get on the big yellow school bus, marveled at the straight A report cards, endured and paid for a broken arm and braces, spent many hours on hard bleachers at choral and band concerts, beamed at her Valedictorian speech, was humbled by her repentance and conversion, was impressed by her steadfastness in the face of college peer pressure, was unable to help her attain her chemistry degree (academically or financially), helped her pick out her dream car, pulled her out of snowbanks, and teased her about her government job. I have a lot invested in her - including a large part of my heart.

And now a smart, good looking young gentleman (who she likes very much) is going to take the old farmer's daughter away.
Thankfully, not very far away.
We tried to raise her to be a mature, productive, Christian adult. And with a lot of help and support from God and many others (and an easy subject), we have succeeded. It is time for her to leave Father and Mother . . .

Congratulations and God Bless you, Jenny and Bob!

Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
Genesis 2:24

Reprieve

We had a few days break from the bitter cold. An opportunity to catch up on some of the work we were unable to do in the cold. Including finish fixing waterers. This morning the last frozen pipe finally thawed and we were able to stop carrying buckets of water to that pen of pigs. Our loader tractor came back from the shop, and the rental skid steer left. We have a clean hoop building with fresh bedding waiting for a new batch of pigs. We fixed two hog feeders this afternoon, so they are ready to be put back into service. I ground and mixed a lot of feed today in preparation for the weekend.
It sounds like the cold is going to return.

And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season.
Luke 4:13

Balmy

After Friday morning's -21 degrees, Saturday afternoon's 30 degrees seemed positively balmy. We still have two frozen hog waterers, but it is much easier to work on them in this weather.
Most of our sows are housed in open front sheds and bedded with straw. One of the pens was flooded Saturday afternoon. We discovered a pipe that burst from the freezing and feverishly worked to fix it and still make it to Church rotating potluck. We jerry-rigged a patch and rebedded the pen, and were only a half hour late to potluck.

This evening we had a late family "Christmas" potluck at the Old Sourdough Ranch. At one point in the evening the poetry recitation began. My favorites included Robert Service and Baxter Black poems. And we had a good dose of Uncle Bill jokes.

Cold Again

It was -15 degrees this morning when I went out to do chores! That's cold! For the second day in a row School and the Ag Lab were closed. First because of the snow and wind, and then because of the extreme cold. School is canceled again tomorrow. Nobody cancelled chores or snow removal for me. Farmers are like the Postal service - neither wind or rain or hail or snow . . . . We had a hog waterer freeze up a couple of days ago, but we had a spare lot to move the pigs to so they had access to water. Today we had two more waterers freeze up. Fortunately I was able to thaw out the pipes coming up out of the ground with a heat gun. I can handle the cold pretty well until I have to take my gloves off to do repair work. This is definitely face mask and heavy duty mitten weather.
Saturday, I stood outside for five hours at a farm machinery auction. What did I buy? My usual; lunch. Monday was the Corn & Soybean Classic in Bloomington all day, so that was an indoor day. Our loader tractor is finally in the shop getting the clutch replaced. We have an old rental skid steer to use around the farm while it is gone. I've been using it to clear snow, but it is a very cold activity.
The cold ,stark, winter landscape can be beautiful though. Especially early in the morning watching the sunrise, and in the evening when the sun sets. While winter has its challenges, I do enjoy living in a climate with four seasons.

And it may be that I will abide, yea, and winter with you, that ye may bring me on my journey whithersoever I go.

I Corinthians 16:6

Presents

So, what kind of gifts entered our household this Christmas?
Numerous CD's received resulted in music coming from various parts of the house this past week. Strains of Libera, Celtic Woman, Andy Gullahorn, "German Folk and Drinking Music", and "Roots" music could be heard.
Piano sheet music resulted in songs such as "Farewell to Stromness", "Prayer for the Children", and others coming from the piano.
The total number of books we all received was over 30! One, a book of poetry has resulted in random poems shared and recited at random times. Poems such as Kubla Khan, The Raven, The Jabberwocky, The Highwayman, Gunga Din, and others were heard.
I received a set of Louis L'Amour books on CD, "Classics of the Christian Faith" CD set, Hannah Montana stickers, and a pig terrarium.
Yes, a pig terrarium! When I was single I had a large glass pig-shaped jar with a model farm inside. I bought terrarium plants to look like trees, shrubs, and crops around the farmstead. It remained an important fixture in the house after I married. Unfortunately, it met a fateful end at the hands of the new cleaning lady. My daughter found one on ebay, so we will soon be back in business.
I have already read two of the new books and am reading two others off and on. Reading is a good thing to do on winter nights.

If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?
Matthew 7:11