Farming

There's a Super Bowl ad that Aaron showed me tonight that is really touching.  It's an ad for Dodge Ram pick-ups.  It has Paul Harvey's voice telling attributes of farmers--strength, devotion, gentleness, toughness and a willingness to do what has to be done.  Tears ran down my cheeks as I watched it.  It touched a deep part of me that reminded me of all that's good in America and a deep pride that I have for the farmers that came before us.  The fabric of our country is strong because of men and women who have worked hard to make a living and provide for their families.

The boys are often confused when I cry.  I told them it's not because I was sad but because the ad was really beautiful.  It touched my heart in a good way.  It reminded me of the qualities I love the most in Aaron--the ones I pray we'll teach our children.

Saturday night, we had our first birth on our farm.  We have 5 sheep--1 ram and 4 lambs.  The first lamb, Drivers License (named by #1), had a set of twins.  Very, very sweet.  The funny thing is that I felt really personally proud of us.  There is such a beauty and joy in birth. 

Tonight we went to visit the lambs as a family.  While we were there, Spot was timid and didn't want us to pet her.  Aaron caught her and I thought we were all have an "Ah, how sweet" moment with her until Aaron saw that she had a cut on her leg.  I'm still new to this farming thing--it's hard for me to separate that she's not a pet.  She's a baby--a helpless creature and it was hard to see her hurt.  I'm hoping all will be well and I trust Aaron to know how to handle the situation.

Boys had just been complaining that they were hungry and ready for supper.  I told them that when we have animals, we have to take care of them even when we might not want to do it.  They're our responsibility.

It just struck me tonight that we're farmers.  We are responsible for these animals.  The boys are learning that really important lesson.