Spring is Springing!

A week ago if anyone would have told me that most of the snow would be gone I wouldn’t have believed them in the slightest. But its almost history around here. Just some deep banks left and in the yard the snow piles are melting down that the Bobcat piled up over the long winter. I was even able to roll out a big round bale today on the gravel knob in the calving pasture and as of this evening I see the entire cowherd is resting over there on that gravel nob because its about the only dry and firm place on the farm as of this moment. Its about an acre in size right now and it will expand rapidly as things firm up. Some spots will take weeks to firm up, but as long as a person gains some ground for the cattle to eat and rest on things go pretty good. Heard my first killdeer last evening and this evening while cutting some slab wood up for the outdoor boiler I heard my first Sandhill cranes about a mile away. Took me by  surprise hearing them, hearing them above the robins tweeting like robins do in the back yard, and above the noise of the geese down at the flooded creek a couple hundred yards to our west. Things are changing here fast!

Well, today I had the rarest of days, I had three hours off this afternoon, or should I say I literally forced myself to have some time off, first time in a long, long time and a good friend of mine from church took me to the city thirty five miles southeast of here and we went shopping for a rifle. The last twenty years every time I went to a sporting goods store or even a super store that sells rifles ol’ Tom is always known to be checking out the lever action 30-30s. Never could bring myself to buy one even though they are fairly affordable. Twenty years of looking every time, but today I found one that I had to take home. A used Marlin 30-30, lever action. Simple rifle but a durn good one to have around this place. Have it leaning up here in the office as I write. In fact I do believe I’ll use it more than all my rifles combined and only that old double barrel 12 gage seems to get more use around here.

Another thing we were doing today was looking around in this huge sporting goods store, (its always funny how a country boy can feel at home in a place like that), we were looking at targets, clay pigeons and other things for some things we are planning come the warm season. A few days ago we started talking about this , how some summer get togethers for the guys around here would be a great thing to do this summer, and in this neck of the woods that usually means guns. Shotgun, rifle, pistol, and black powder. This might cause some city slickers to go into shock, but things are different here, and much better if you ask me. Already as the little bit of news goes out I have heard that some folks who really don’t trust churches would like to come to this, full knowing this is a Christian thing. Well, if stiff and dry church won’t get em, do something that will, and have a good time doing it as well. Fathers, single guys, youth, whoever are welcome! So this is in the works and I can’t see it being stopped, its to much in the men’s blood around here.

Oh Lord, things are happening fast around here! The fast melt that I never expected, church stuff is picking up the pace again with the resuming of preaching for yours truly starting this next weekend after more than a month off of my own asking. Plus preach a little Sunday and immediately when its over take over the Children’s Church as a Sunday fill in teacher. So this coming Sunday should go by like a whirl! No big deal! And being that it’ll be double duty I figure I might as well do the same message in both churches, Hebrews 13:8. “Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and today and forever!” Been teaching that for over a month in Children’s Church and I see no sign of letting up with it. A rock solid base for the kids, the base that Jesus is not just a yesterday God, nor just a future God, but that He’s our right now God and He does what He did back then, and that nothing has changed one single bit! Amen! That’s the rock solid thing a feller don’t even need notes for in either church! I’ve written about it several times here because its so durn important in the life of all Christians. And I believe that without this simple fact that this verse presents a Christian’s life will not have the victory that God intends for His children to have.

Yep, a good outlook when spring comes knocking at the door around here.There was plenty of cabin fever around these parts this winter, the long winter that never had much change to it. But people are waking up, there’s smiles on people’s faces everywhere a person goes. Finally its breaking! Minnesota nice has become much nicer this past week! But there’s work to do around here both on the farm and in the field that Jesus has commanded us to work for Him.