Farm living is the life for me....

umm, maybe not! Maybe I will take Park Avenue. No, that's just a joke, I just have so much about this farm life to learn. Today was quite a day, I witnessed things I'd never seen before. Travis received a call around 2:30ish and came to the door and said, "I have to go to Thomas' to pull a calf!" I don't know much, but being married to a man that has been around cows his entire life has taught me that this sentence means.... he's going to help deliver a calf for a dear mother cow that is having trouble. Witness a birth?! Of course, I wanted to go. I threw on my shoes, grabbed my camera (you didn't really think I would go without it did you?) and off we went. Five minutes down the road, we arrive and my eyes immediately find the poor mother barely able to walk. I thought to myself, ooh, this is not going to be good I don't think. My camera never made it's way out of the truck.

Travis went into the field and I kept our little Carter on the outside to keep from spooking the mother or annoying her any further. As Travis walked the cow to one of the gates, maybe it was just me, but you could see the exhaustion and concern in her eyes. Yes, all cows have those big lovable eyes but her eyes were tired. The people that were there with her said she had been in this state for almost two hours. I held Carter in hopes of keeping him quiet and still. He was full of questions, "where's the baby", "what's Daddy doing?", "I want to help him!". As they walked the cow closer she almost made it to the gate and she fell. It was time for my 'farmer' husband to jump in there and do what he knew to do. It was a matter of seconds and the baby calf was out! The mother gave a slight moo, but nothing more.

When the calf was delivered, I suppose maybe it was the "mother" in me I teared up. The miracle of birth, human or animal, just a simple reminder of how truly amazing our God is. Travis had helped this poor momma cow, but unfortunately her calf did not make it. That's what got me to thinkin' that this farm living might not be something this girl can handle. I'm such a softy, and again it is most likely that motherly instinct within me but I felt so sorry for this cow who lost her calf. Travis' eyes caught mine and he shook his head in a way to tell me that, no the calf was not alive. I quickly had to turn my head because I truly was about to cry. Then as my three year old grabs ahold of my leg and looks out to his Dad and says, "Momma, what's wrong with that baby?!" Oh my stars in heaven, how do you explain that to him? I just simply answered with, "he's sick baby. Jesus needs him in Heaven". The was enough for him, although he did later ask again, why the baby cow was sick.

My children, and myself have so much to learn. Thankfully, Travis has a mind full of knowledge about this farm stuff! Now, if you are reading this you are probably wondering why on earth would she post about this. Well, because it is a part of life, my husbands life, and I'm sure in a few more years, days like today will just be a part of the norm. The circle of life, right? Today as I watched my husband, it reminded me of his one true passion in life. There is nothing, besides his family, that he loves more then to be surrounded by those big four legged creatures with those big brown eyes. I'm so blessed to have him in my life and to watch him in his own element really does bring me joy. The man may be quiet, and quirky at times but he truly is one amazing person!! I'm sure that I'm not the only one thankful for his good deed today.... I mean you know cows just lay around and think how marvelous us humans must be! ;)
**This is not the cow, just thought I'd throw in a cow pic!**
So here's to the many more births I'll witness on Cow Bird Lane!! Moo, moooooo!

Many moos,
Jen