farm life

Grafted

/ bekoepke / Leave a comment
Oreo and little orphan Buck

If this image looks a little strange to you, it’s because it is. We raise a breed of goats that are called Boer (they are the ones with white bodies and red heads typically). However, we also have a handful of Lamancha dairy goats that we inherited with some of the Boers that we purchased a few years ago. Lamanchas are an interesting breed of goat because they are some of the most gentle, even tempered goats you will ever meet. The drawback is that they are ugly as sin because they have no ears and they are not really a market animal (which is what we are in the business for). Well, this particular black and white Lamancha, Oreo, is such a sweetheart. Unfortunately, she had a hard time giving birth to her very first baby last weekend and ended up delivering a stillborn, that my husband had to help pull. Rather than her finding out that her kid didn’t make it, I quickly grabbed my little bottle baby, Buck, so that we could try to graft him onto her.

Little Buck couldn’t even stand up for over a week after he was born

Let me give you a little back story. Buck was born a little over a month ago and was the runt of a set of triplets. He was not able to stand up and his mother really didn’t tend to him. After trying throughout the day, unsuccessfully, to get her to tend to him and get him to stand up, we finally decided to get him inside and get him warmed up and fed. Since that time he has been my little bottle baby. He lived in a small water trough inside our house for about 3 weeks so that I could feed him (forcefully to begin with) and treat a nasty eye infection. Over time he healed and started standing, walking, running, and finally got well enough that we couldn’t even keep him in his little makeshift pen because he would just jump out. So we moved him to a little pen out in the barn with the other goats.

Buck in his new home in the barn when we moved him out of the house

My goal has always been to get him a real goat mom, but I was unsuccessful trying to get his actual mom to take him back. Goats are funny about that. Once they abandon a kid, they will not take them back. So I went along just feeding him several times a day. That all changed a week ago when I finally had a mom that needed a baby.

It has taken the full week but the picture at the top was the very first time she was letting him nurse without me having to be in there with her. It is an amazing feeling (even if it is a goat) to see an orphan gain a mom. And that got me to thinking about a few things.

I realized that every single person who calls themselves a Christian is also an orphan that has been grafted into a new family. “But some of these branches from Abraham’s tree—some of the people of Israel—have been broken off. And you Gentiles, who were branches from a wild olive tree, have been grafted in. So now you also receive the blessing God has promised Abraham and his children, sharing in the rich nourishment from the root of God’s special olive tree.” Romans 11:17 NLT

Grafting is an interesting process in the plant world. It is essentially taking part of one plant and putting it with another to make it grow as one. As time goes on in the process, the plant being grafted on (called the cutting or scion) takes on the characteristics of the one it is being grafted too (called the rootstock). Grafting is not a simple, or painless, process. As a matter of fact it involves cutting, bandaging, and a lot of time. This is often done when a plant has rooted poorly, or not all, and would die otherwise.

WOW! Isn’t that an analogy for us? Our process of grafting into the family of God is not necessarily a painless one. Sometimes there are things that need to be cut away and lots of time for healing past wounds. Nonetheless, we are called Sons and Daughters of God. We have been adopted, but we are chosen as heirs to the very kingdom of God. “And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering.” Romans 8:17 NLT

Did you catch that last little part? Yes, we are His children, but we are also not immune to suffering on this earth. So, while you go through the pains and frustrations that can come with your own grafting process, I want to encourage you with this: as you heal and are fully grafted, you will also grow closer to the source of life and with that you will also start to take on the characteristics of the rootstock. So no matter what you are going though, push through the pain and remember that you are already grafted and accepted just as you are.

But also remember this: just because you are accepted exactly as you are, that doesn’t mean God is going to leave you that way!

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you.” Psalm 51:10-12 ESV

Tough Days

/ bekoepke / Leave a comment

Frazzled Mom Cartoon Clipart | Tired mom, Frazzled mom, Busy mom

We are living in a very strange time right now. I have to admit, I am a little bit of a hermit in my normal life (as much as is possible as a public school teacher surrounded by people all day). I cherish the moments I get alone with no one demanding of me, whether it is a high schooler needing help on a math problem, or my own 3 children. However, this is different. This “social distancing” isolation thing is not the same as me shutting my classroom door during the lunch period to get work done and have a few moments alone to listen to my podcasts. No, this world that we are in proves what God himself said in the very beginning, “It is not good (beneficial) for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper [one who balances him- a counterpart who is] suitable and complementary for him.” Genesis 2:18 AMP

As humans, we need each other. We thrive when we are together and able to interact. On the other hand, when we are alone we tend to struggle. That is when depression and discouragement take hold. We need others to build us up.

Today was one of those tough days for me. I am fortunately not alone in my “social distancing”, I have my husband and 3 girls who keep me on my toes. However, I do miss the “outside” world. I miss my rare date nights going out with my husband. I miss having coworkers to talk to and joke around with without staring at a computer screen to do it. I miss going to the grocery store without feeling like you are in a war zone because everyone around you is wearing masks.

Today was one of those days where I looked around the house that I have cleaned 3 or 4 times already this week that looks like an explosion of crumbs, toys, shoes, and dirty laundry…again. It was a day that I have already done two loads of dishes, and probably need to do another. Today was a day where I should have been at church hugging friends and instead, I was stuck in the messy house staring at a screen pretending like it is the same thing. We all know it isn’t.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I am so thankful for the technology we do have to be able to interact virtually. As a matter of fact, I have loved getting to “attend” other churches in neighboring towns because of the fact that everyone is now live streaming their services. I have really enjoyed that. I also appreciate that I have the means to text or call someone. But like I said, it’s not the same.

So what’s the solution?

I have no idea. To be honest with you, I am only writing this because I felt like I am probably not the only one feeling the same way. I think that we all now realize how much we have taken human interaction for granted. I never valued the interruptions I had when I was trying to get work done at school like I do now. I also never valued how good it felt to go to a grocery store or restaurant without feeling like I may just be swimming in a sea of germs (even though we always have been, just never thought about it).

If nothing else, I hope that we all come out of this appreciating each other a little bit more. I know that even though my kiddos are messy, I do appreciate the fact that I get to experience more little moments with them, like today when my sweet 4 year old finally mastered pedalling a bike. I have also loved seeing them learn more about reptiles because of the lizard, horny toad, and frogs they have found while playing outside. There are definitely blessings coming out of this pandemic.

My prayer right now is for every lonely person whether they are surrounded by family or don’t have anyone else around. I pray for the depressed and the discouraged. Know that even in your loneliest moment, God is there.

“For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39

A Matter of Trust

/ bekoepke / Leave a comment

The world has gone mad. I have go to be honest, what’s going on before our very eyes feels slightly like the vibe before Y2K mixed with the market crash in 2008…only amplified. Fear has taken hold and the world has gone a bit off the rails. Honestly, it kind of breaks my heart to see how quickly people have become selfish and panicked.

Is selfishness a sin?

No one should seek their own good, but the good of others.

1 Corinthians 10:24 NIV

I was thinking about how many things we take for granted today, and it really humbled me. People are buying every item off a grocery store shelf, when just 2 weeks ago we took for granted how easy it was to get practically anything you wanted or needed at a big box store, or even with the click of a button on your phone app. Now the one item we probably all took for granted the most, toilet paper, has disappeared off the shelves and people have turned into hoarders overnight. I think it would be a great idea to take a deep breath and just think through all the things that we enjoy in this country. Is it inconvenient, absolutely. The uncertainty of what is to come over the next few days, weeks, and months can be a little unnerving if you sit and think about it too much.

One of my favorite verses during stressful times is Matthew 6:25-27 “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?”

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These birds don’t worry about a thing

I love the thought of that. Birds don’t worry, they just live one day at a time.

At our house we have quite a few animals running around. I can attest to the fact that they don’t worry about their future. They focus on right now. Their mode of operation never includes fretting about the upcoming winter or having the latest in ear tag fashion. No, instead they are focused on right now. I think we could learn a lot about a better way to live by observing the creatures around us. Prepare for the seasons ahead of us, but don’t fret about them.

With all this panic about a new virus floating around, and the massive damage it is doing to our economy, it is so easy to get pulled into fear and dread about the future. However, we have to remember: through it all God is still in control. I love the childlike faith of my girls. They don’t panic about the future. They dream of what could be. They talk about how they want to be teachers, singers, or doctors. They play pretend and have no fear of what is going on. They know that their mom and dad are going to take care of them, so they don’t have to worry. We need to be more like that. If God can create us out of nothing and uniquely gift each and every one of us, then nothing is too big for him, not even this virus.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.

Proverbs 3:5-6 NLT

Not For The Faint Of Heart

/ bekoepke

I remember when I was a newlywed and I would see kids acting up in public or moms frazzled and stressed, I thought to myself that if I had kids it would be different. I mean I had babysat before, how hard could it really be?

Oh boy, have I been humbled.

I absolutely love my girls. They are so smart and seem to learn something new everyday. They never cease to amaze me with their unique personalities and creativity. That being said, this mom gig is the hardest job I have ever had in my life. Every time you start to get confident and feel like you have got this motherhood thing down, something changes.

These last two week have been quite the experience in my world. All of the fun started last Wednesday. My redneck girls love to play outside and are definitely not afraid to get dirty. For several days, these crazy girls had spent hours digging a hole in a dirt pile that we have looking for lizards. Mind you, it is too cold to find lizards, but that did not deter them. Unfortunately, my oldest was focused on her digging game and did not notice her sister was behind her, right in the path of the shovel. As expected, that encounter did not end well. My middle child got a tooth knocked out of place and a small chip off another tooth. Nothing in any parent book can prepare you for something like that!

Not really that big of a deal, you might be thinking to yourself. Lots of kids get teeth knocked out of place or chipped. Inconvenient, yes, earth shattering, no. Well, as Paul Harvey used to say, let me give you the “rest of the story”.

Over the next two days we juggled schedules (not an easy task this time of year) and got her to the dentist just to check everything out. Fortunately she is 5 1/2 years old, so we are probably within 12 months of losing those teeth anyway, so he said just to keep an eye on them, no special treatment (and no expensive dental procedures).

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Crisis averted! Well, for another day anyway. Sadly, the next crisis was only a day away. Saturday was a gorgeous day and we are within days of a good majority of our goats having babies (yay!!!). We worked all day long outside; moving goats, cleaning up, setting up a pen inside for them to kid, and moving cows and our billy goat to different pens. We had a lot to accomplish and got a ton done.

The girls were all outside helping when they could, and playing when they couldn’t. My oldest (once again) was tasked with moving a board and that is when crisis #2 happened. Without her realizing it, my youngest was right behind her and when she stepped back. She knocked both her sister and herself over. That’s when it happened. Head of oldest child hit, you guessed it, youngest child’s head. More specifically, youngest child’s teeth. As a matter of fact, it was the exact same tooth and knocked back in the exact same way as her older sister.

There is no category for something like that. Two children, the same tooth on each, in a 4 day span. Of course, it was on a Saturday so we just had to wait until Monday when I hauled the second child to the dentist for the exact same thing. I would be lying if I told you that I wasn’t afraid of CPS being called on me. However, the dentist laughed and decided to send us to a pediatric dentist because she is a lot younger. So, we wait for a verdict for my youngest child until we go see a specialist (always a cheap prospect).

There is nothing in this world that can prepare you for all the unique challenges of motherhood. You could read every motherhood book ever written and still be completely clueless because kids are not predictable. However, to all the other mommas out there in my same boat, know that you are not alone. We are in this together and will get to the other side.

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My crazy injured-tooth girls

This parenting thing is not for the faint of heart. We need to remember that. Show grace for the other moms out there. We are all doing our best, even if that doesn’t look the same for every person. Give yourself grace, it isn’t easy raising little humans. God is on our side and He is there when it gets stressful and seems impossible.

I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.

John 16:33 NIV

A Dozen Years Later…

/ bekoepke

I am going to take a moment and brag on my husband for a little while. I blog a lot about my kiddos, motherhood, and faith, but I don’t blog a whole lot about my husband. He really is an amazing man, so I thought it was about time to share a little about him as well as a bit of our backstory.

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Just as a little background, we grew up 19 miles apart. Our lives were intertwined in so many ways, but we never actually met until we were 3 hours and a state away from home in college at the University of Wyoming (Go Pokes!!!). We met for the first time briefly during my Junior year of college. I didn’t cross paths with him again until the next school year when we were reintroduced on the university shotgun team (oh yeah, I don’t know if I ever mentioned how much I love to shoot). I looked forward to each week when we would go shoot, because he often had to buy me a meal afterward when he lost a bet thinking he could out shoot me.

We loved shooting on our university shotgun team!

Fast forward a few months and I awkwardly asked him if he would take me to my sorority formal over email, because I had no other way of contacting him. I wasn’t even sure if he actually checked his emails because at that time email was something you might look at once a week. Much to my surprise, he called me within the hour and said he would go. Being a good guy, he asked me if he could take me out to dinner the night before the formal. I found out much later that he had been half-heartedly dating another girl in my sorority, and when he got my email he immediately broke off that relationship (that may, or may not have caused a bit of drama within the sorority over the next few months).

All dressed up for my sorority formal

From that first date on, we were absolutely inseparable and the best of friends. The thing that I appreciated and respected so much about him was how honest he was, he was never fake with me. He didn’t try to act like someone he wasn’t. He is still that way. Love him or hate him, people cannot argue with the fact that he is one of the most honest people you will ever meet. Six months after we graduated we were engaged, five months after that we were married. We have now been married for about 12 1/2 years. I have learned so much in that time, I thought I would share some of what I have learned so far.

Something that is vital and that has not ever changed, is the foundation of our relationship. Before we even started dating, we had a very long conversation about our faith and our end goals. I made it very clear to him that I was not like most girls, and that at the stage of life we were both in, I wasn’t interested in just dating to date, after all, I was just about to enter my final semester of my senior year of college. We made a priority of our faith and that has been such a blessing over the years. It has been especially important during the difficult times.

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Our Engagement Photo

When the newlywed stage wears off and real life hits, that foundation is paramount. Faith is all you really have when you hit hard times like job layoffs, tight finances, or just simple exhaustion during the throws of raising children. I can’t imagine trying to raise our children together, if our faith was not the same. I also can’t imagine getting through some of the tough times we have been through without our faith. There have been so many times that all we could do was press in and pray together that God would guide our path. I thank God that we are able to do that together. I am also so thankful that finding someone who shared my faith was always a non-negotiable for me, even as a teenager. As I think back, it took a lot of nerve for me, on our first real date, to lay it all out there and tell him exactly where I was in my faith and that I was not willing to date someone I couldn’t share that with. However, I am so glad I did. I never had to be fake with him. I could be, and still can be, exactly who God made me to be without fear of him not appreciating me following my God-given dreams. I pray all three of my girls will find that same kind of foundation in the young men that they choose to marry someday.

Secondary to being on the same page in our faith, flexibility is extremely important. I remember when we first got married and all the “plans” we made. The 1 year, 5 year, and 10 year plans. None of it has happened exactly like we planned, however, we keep dreaming together. Every decision or investment that we have made has been a group effort, but we have had to learn that it is okay for plans to change. Jobs, have changed, living situations have changed, our family has grown, and we have gotten older. One thing that has never changed, regardless of the season of life we are in is that we make flexible goals together.

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My dear husband is now the Principal of a K-12 school, so we still get to go to prom!

As we have gotten older, we have really been able to have fun with that. We no longer make hard goals with strict deadlines that will likely never happen like we planned. Instead, we changed our plans and goals into dreams. We dream together of what can be. We talk about what steps we can take to make those dreams come true. Now, don’t get me wrong, all of our dreams are not exactly the same. He and I both have separate dreams that have yet to come true. But we are able, through the process, to try our best to support each other in the pursuit of our dreams, in hopes that one day soon, those dreams will actually come to fruition.

Humor is the final piece of the puzzle I want to address. I honestly don’t know how anyone can stay married without it. There is something so valuable about being able to laugh together. My husband has always been the funny guy, and I love that. Even when I am fuming mad, he is always able to bring a little humor in to defuse the situation. In his current job as Principal, he has to be able to laugh, or he might just cry when he has to deal with some of the things that comes across his desk. When life gets hard and you are in the middle of the stinking dirty here and now, that isn’t always rainbows and sunshine, you must be able to smile together.

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Always the funny guy, we had a blast representing our team at the national shooting competition!

I don’t want you to think that every moment of every day is a perfect cinderella story. We have our fair share of frustrations, exhausting moments, and struggles. We fight and gripe at each other. We come to points in our more heated discussions ,where we have to just agree to disagree. We are both stubborn, and strong willed. There are definitely clashes of the titans from time to time. Through it all though, those tough times have made us stronger as a couple.

Although it was fun, I would not want to go back to those newlywed days. I love where we are today. I am more comfortable in my own skin that I ever was when I first got married. The scars we have earned through the ups and downs in the last 12 1/2 years of marriage, and 14 years of relationship, have made us who we are today. I use to try so hard to please everyone, only succeeding in making myself miserable and pleasing no one along the way. Now, I realize that if I have to work hard to please people, those people probably don’t really have my best interests at heart. If I have to convince someone to love, appreciate, or be proud of me, their opinion of me really shouldn’t impact how I live my life. Instead, I need to spend more of my energy pleasing God and following his plans for my future, not simply doing what I feel like others expect me to do.

I leave you with the verse we chose for our wedding. I still love this verse today, and think that we could all benefit from living this way.

Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.

1 Peter 4:8

Our family sure has grown over the years!

Take the Challenge

/ bekoepke / 1 Comment

November is often the time of year that people start gearing up for the holidays. Social media often blows up with daily posts of things you are thankful for or countdowns to Thanksgiving or Christmas. It is the time of year that often gets pretty busy. Between school programs, church activities, and family get togethers, we can find ourselves overwhelmed and exhausted. It is also the time of year that things that should bring us joy, often bog us down, cause frustration, or even depression. You find that you can’t please everyone, so your attitude may not be great toward the very people you love enough to try to please.

Maybe this blog post is just for me, however, I have a sneaking suspicion that there are many of you that deal with the same thing I do. There are several of us who find that the magic and joy of the holiday season can sometimes be snuffed out when there are too many things demanded of us. Sure, we love the joy of the holidays and the smiles on our kids’ faces, but we also think about the amount of energy required to clean up that house, shop for the groceries, cook all the needed food, and travel to all the destinations. We also think about the mess after all the fun happens. It can be overwhelming for a busy mom. It can steal our gratitude and joy.

I absolutely don’t have the answers today. Instead, I have a challenge. One of the recurring themes in my current life has been Sabbath rest. I wrote a blog a little while ago dealing with what that means (you can read it here). I have been challenging myself to be better about taking true Sabbath rest. However, I want to add a little bit to that challenge for all of us from now until the New year. Let’s make a goal of focusing on what we are grateful for during that Sabbath time. Maybe that means writing things down, or maybe sending a note to someone. Possibly being grateful could just be making a conscience decision to not complain. Whatever it is, commit to doing that thing for the next month and a half.

There are so many scientific studies that have proven the health benefits of gratitude and positivity. Some of these include better sleep, lower anxiety, increased mood, less feeling of burnout, just to name of few (here is a great article about health benefits). There is also a lot of brain research that shows that when we are grateful, our brain gets a flood of dopamine, that feel good hormone that so many of us nursing moms would experience when we had newborns.

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So, what’s your plan? How are you going to attack this gratitude thing? I think I am going to do a combination of writing down things I am grateful for, along with maybe writing a few well overdue thank you notes. If you have other amazing ideas I would love to hear them! Maybe I will try those out too!

Thank you to everyone who reads these blogs! I pray that the message will be received on fertile soil and that we can all grow in this area together! Let me know what you plan on doing to increase your gratitude.

In every situation [no matter what the circumstances] be thankful and continually give thanks to God; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 Amplified Bible (AMP)

It’s Different For Girls

/ bekoepke / Leave a comment

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It’s been a while since I wrote a more personal blog specifically about my own experiences with motherhood, but after a conversation I had with my husband a while back, I thought it was time.

This particular conversation happened on a date night that, until about the last six months, has been a pretty rare thing. (When you live a ways away from family and have young children, dates are rare luxuries. Fortunately our girls are finally old enough it’s easier to get away for a few hours now). I was explaining to him some of the struggles I have from time to time with feeling lonely in my role as a mom. Now, this loneliness is not because he doesn’t help or isn’t around. Rather, it is more due to the lack of close, intimate, female friendships that I have at this stage of life. I explained that women, especially once we become mothers, have very different life experiences than our male counterparts when it comes to how we relate to each other and even how friendships look. I thought I would share some of the differences I see, in hopes that other mommas out there might find a little relief knowing we are all in this together. As a disclaimer, this is in no means intended to bash on women or children, but rather to explain some of the differences in hopes of shining light in dark areas of our human experience.

Freedom

As a mom, especially when children are very little, we often find ourselves not having freedom to just pick up and do whatever we want. When you have a newborn and are nursing a baby, you can’t be away from the baby (or the pump) for more than a couple of hours at a time. You are tethered to that child and no matter how helpful dad is, it isn’t the same as what you as a mom experience. Even after nursing ends, kids have a special bond with their mom, that can make it difficult to have the freedom to get time to yourself or get time to spend with friends. When my girls were really little I couldn’t do anything, including hauling trash outside, without someone tagging along, or having a meltdown if they couldn’t. I have actually had to sneak out of my own house on occasion when I did have to leave the house without my girls. My husband, on the other hand, can come and go as he pleases without inciting a major meltdown.

It’s different for girls.

Having a night out

My husband is really good about being willing to take care of the girls so that I can do what I need to do. During the conversation I mentioned earlier, he even told me that anytime I need a girls’ night with friends, to go for it. However, I explained to him that the problem isn’t so much the freedom to go as it is having people to go with. At this phase of life we are all either in the same boat of chaotic schedules with kids and it’s impossible to get our schedules to line up, or they don’t have kids and are in a completely different realm of life where needing to be home at a decent time doesn’t yet exist. It’s funny watching all the movies with the moms going on a girls’ night out because I know so few moms that actually ever do that. Especially moms like me who moved into town after all the friendship groups were already created.

It’s different for girls.

Walls

Beyond any logistical issues that may arise with friendships in the throws of motherhood, is probably the most difficult barrier to overcome; the walls that we as females put up, and often tend to live behind. I remember when my husband was coaching football and how all the men formed a brotherhood. They were a tight group that could poke at each other and still be best friends. They were all pretty confident guys who, for the most part, never felt the need to impress anyone. They were real with each other. As a coach’s wife, all of us women were together an awful lot as well. Although I always got along with everyone, the dynamics among the women were completely different.

Women are so much more guarded with each other than men are. It is often so hard to get to know another woman on anything more than surface level without years of relationship to slowly tear down those walls. We also tend to feel a sense of competition among each other. As a coach’s wife I often felt like I was looked at as less than when my husband coached at the junior high level, but was more of the group when he moved up to the high school. I know that it was never intentional, but women can be cruel without ever realizing it. We as women also feel like we need to show only our best selves, which hinders real, authentic relationships. Social media has only amplified that problem over the last 10 years. Women like to hide their flaws, while men often make fun of themselves for their flaws

It’s different for girls.

So what can we do? Honestly, I really don’t have an answer for that. I don’t think there is an easy solution. However, I really want to challenge women like me (and including me) to try to let your guard down a little. I know that so many of us have been wounded by friends in the past when we got too real and vulnerable (myself included). Yet, we will never have an authentic relationship if we ourselves can’t be authentic. Get to know those other mommas! Be vulnerable about your struggles and shortcomings. And, for crying out loud, quit competing and comparing and lets start encouraging each other. Motherhood is the hardest, sweetest, most frustrating, rewarding thing I have ever experienced. Find someone to share your experiences with.

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Prepare the Soil

/ bekoepke / Leave a comment

I love my garden. Each year, throughout the summer, I plant a decent size garden and this year was no exception. I absolutely love seeing my hard work come to fruition…literally. My 3 girls love eating the carrots, cucumbers, watermelons, and cantaloupes that they helped to plant. That being said, this has been an off year for my garden.  Not all of my seeds germinated, I had to re-seed some of what I planted, and a few of my plants even died. There are several reasons that this year’s garden has struggled, but I think the main reason was a bad decision we made in the process of preparing to plant. Of course, at the time we thought it was a right decision, boy were we wrong.

In preparation for our garden last year, we put a massive amount of fertilizer in with our soil in the tilling process. Because of how much we put in last year, my garden was a producing machine. I could hardly keep up with the amount of jalapenos, squash, and carrots. I actually wound up freezing or canning a lot of it because we couldn’t consume it fast enough. Fast forward to this year. While we were preparing we decided that we had added so much fertilizer last year that we were going to skip that this year, assuming that the soil was still pretty well fertilized. Big mistake. Now, don’t get me wrong, it has not been a complete failure, but it has definitely not lived up to the plan I had when I was preparing to plant.  It’s amazing how vitally important properly preparing soil is before you plant. Ask any farmer, they never just toss seeds out hoping they will grow an abundant crop.

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This picture was from earlier this summer. Unfortunately, not all my seeds came up this year.

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We did get some pretty delicious melons!

It’s the same with us.  God will never put us in a position we are not properly prepared for. There are so many instances throughout the Bible where men or women were called to do something, but it took years for it to come to fruition. David was told as a teenager that he would be king, but it took decades to come to pass (see 1 Samuel 16). Joseph had dreamed of his future as a leader, and he had to go through the prison to get there (see Genesis 37). Or, like Esther, we may be positioned somewhere without even knowing God placed us there for “just such a time as this” (see Esther 4:14).  It is often puzzling to us how we may feel called somewhere, but a door either won’t open, or perhaps what seems like a strange door does open and we are too fearful to step inside. Little do we know that during these slow, uncomfortable, or scary times, we are being prepared. We are learning during the wait. Just like it takes time to get from a seed to the harvest, we won’t typically be called to something one day, and functioning in that calling the next. Actually, if we make that jump to soon, it likely won’t work out. Just like how some of my plants died for lack of proper fertilizer.

My husband often says, “sometimes you have to pay your dues”, meaning you need to serve at a lower capacity before getting promoted or that you need to experience difficult or frustrating times before you get to the good times. Boy, do I get that. Honestly, I actually appreciate that more now that I have paid some of those dues through life experiences. I am so much more thankful for what I have today because of the things I have experienced and as tough as it is, I am going to trust God during those times when he is “preparing the soil” for the next season in my life!

Life Lessons of a Farm Kid

/ bekoepke / Leave a comment

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When you grow up around livestock, life lessons just come with the territory. Whether it’s the joy of seeing a brand new baby born or the sadness of seeing an animal die, farm kids just learn lessons at a younger age than most other kids. This is no more true for my girls than it was a couple of weeks ago.

The miracle of life will never cease to amaze me. Whether it is my own children (even if they do drive me crazy from time to time), or a newborn animal, it makes you realize how miraculous life really is.  What has been even more of a blessing than anything else is being able to see my girls experience all those things.

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I love watching my girls jump in and start to take responsibility for basic chores as they grow. My oldest daughter loves to check for eggs in the chicken coop (or in their playhouse, whichever the chickens choose to use on any given day). Her two little sisters almost always follow suit, sometimes resulting in a broken egg or two. All three love to help daddy whenever they can, right now it has been building fence. During the spring and summer, all three love to help check for vegetables in the garden, often resulting in some vegetables knocked off the vine or pulled before they are actually ripe.

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Over the last month we have had another new responsibility added, and have had to learn a hard life lesson. During an extreme cold snap last month, several of our boer goats chose to have their babies all within the span of about 36 hours. Through a series of different circumstances, 2 of those babies ended up orphaned and needing to be bottle fed. One was on the verge of dying and ended up living in our house for over a week. She, or Hope as we named her, became a part of the family and after being a house goat for as long as she was, my girls (and I) became quite attached. Once she pulled through we moved her out with the other little orphan into their own pen. She did really well, until one of those hard life lessons hit unexpectedly. Sadly, after being out and doing well for quite a while, I found Hope dead one morning. Although we don’t know for sure what happened to her, it really didn’t matter to 3 little girls (and their mom). We were all devastated at the loss. Whether it is an old dog, a kitten, or a baby goat, that conversation never gets easier. However, my girls showed some sweet resilience. Although it wasn’t a conversation I wanted to have to have, when I broke the news to my oldest we were able to talk about death and heaven. After a good, hard cry, she made a sweet card for Hope and spent some extra time with our other orphan baby, Oliver.

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As a mother, it’s so easy to want to shield our kids from hard things. But those hard things are exactly what builds resilience and can shape their character. This isn’t just the case with the the hard stuff like the death of a pet. It is also true with the daily routine of kids learning to do chores and learning the value of hard work. I am so proud of my girls when I see how they work for their dad. They love to do the little tasks that they are able to do, and my 7 year old is turning into quite the hand.

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“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” James 1:2-4

This verse has always served true in my life, and I know that every hard thing my girls go through will also help them to develop the perseverance they need to reach maturity. My prayer is that their father and I will help them to learn those lessons well.