Wanted and Unwanted House Guests

As kids we had quite a few rules around the house.  No dating until you were 16; you were only allowed to talk for 10 minutes on the house phone; no jumping on the beds; no singing at the table (I'm pretty sure Dad made this one up out of sheer annoyance); and no animals in the house.  I distinctly remember sneaking a kitten in under my shirt one time as a little girl, but I was afraid I would get caught so after maybe 30 seconds to a minute, I took it back outside.
However there was one exception - any baby farm animal (calves or pigs at our house) was allowed on the back porch in extreme emergencies.  Once in a while a calf would be born in really bad, cold weather, and we would bring it onto the porch to warm it up so it didn't freeze to death.

These same rules for animals apply in my house, too, and before Christmas my back porch met it's first baby calf.  Taylor and I have some heifers out on cornstalks near the house, and of course two decided to calve the day a snowstorm came through.  The first one was born early in the day, several hours before the snow hit, so it was up and going well by the time the weather turned bad.
The other one was born only a couple hours before it started snowing, and the weather was hitting it hard.  Taylor and I went out to check on the heifers and their calves right after it started snowing.  At that point the wind was blowing pretty hard, but the snow was still fairly light.  We drove the two miles to the field and found the newest calf.
I should preface that heifers are not always the smartest when it comes to having a calf.  It's their first baby, and some of them just don't know what to do to take good care of it, but this heifer seemed to be doing alright.  She had cleaned her baby off, and was laying next to it, blocking it from the wind.  Unfortunately the calf never had the chance to get completely dry before the really cold and wet conditions hit, and he was suffering.  We tried to stand him up and dry him off some more, but he hadn't yet gotten up on his own, and his legs were so cold he couldn't straighten them properly.  To make it worse, since he hadn't stood up, he hadn't nursed, and he was quickly getting weaker. We decided we would have to take him back to the house, or he would never make it in the storm.

Before we left with him we wanted to check on the other baby.  We weren't as concerned about this one.  It had gotten fully dried off, eaten and had been up and going.  But as we started to drive to find this other calf, the snow started coming with a vengeance.  It was pretty much whiteout conditions.  We got about half way across the field before we realized we wouldn't be able to see the second calf in this weather, and if we didn't hurry up and get back to the other calf, we might not be able to find it.  We had to use the fence as our guideline just to make it back to the general area of the first calf.  We drove past it the first time without seeing it, but luckily as we turned around and drove back, we could just barely make the cow out in the blowing snow.  We got the calf, loaded it in the truck and started heading back to the house.  The two mile trip took longer than we hoped.  It was at this point Taylor's truck heater quit working, the windshield started frosting over, and I ended up sticking my head out the window to watch the white line so I could tell Taylor where he was at on the road. Finally we made it back.
At home we dried off the calf (who we dubbed "Frosty"), laid out some plastic on the back porch and brought him inside. My hair dryer came in handy to help warm him up more quickly.  It took a little bit, but after we got some milk in his belly and his body warmed up, he started recovering quickly.  After maybe an hour he was working to get up on his own and start walking.  At that point we were able to move him back out to our garage.  The next morning we took him back out to his mom.  She was a  little confused as to whether the calf was hers or not and it took her most of the day for her to start acting like Frosty's mom again.  But he's done well ever since.

I did have a few other unwanted visitors in my house while Taylor and I were gone over Christmas weekend.  Apparently our house has shifted a little and our front door isn't closing as tightly as it should. When we left, we must not have got the door shut properly and the strong wind that started blowing Christmas morning blew our door open.  Our cats took advantage of the situation.  Thankfully Taylor's dad stopped by that morning, saw the door was open and got the cats out. Although we had to wipe a few things down, they didn't make too much of a mess and they didn't leave any surprises anywhere! :) 

Even with the cats jaunt in the house, it was a wonderful Christmas.  Taylor and I were blessed to get some very nice gifts, but more importantly we had a wonderful time with our families!

This was one of my favorite pictures from Christmas with my family.  My sister is such a goof, and I love her for it!

Western Kansas Fact:  The stars are brighter out here.  It may partially be the higher elevation and/or simply that the sky is so wide open, but you can see a lot more stars out here.  They fill the night skies.

One of my favorite scriptures recently has been:
He gave up his place with God and made himself nothing.  He was born to be a man and became like a servant. Philippians 2:7
I loved this scripture because it reminds me that God, Ruler of the universe, left His throne and came to earth simply because He loves us.  And He didn't come to earth to rule over us, but to serve us and die for us so that we may truly see what love is.  I pray that we may choose to love and serve the Lord, simply because He loved and served us first, even when we didn't deserve it.

Here's wishing 2013 is a wonderful year for every one of you!
Lyndee

Christmas means...

I know I'm not alone in this - but I LOVE CHRISTMAS!!!  I love celebrating the birth of Christ and what his birth meant for the human race; I love making Christmas goodies (well, actually it's a love/hate relationship - I hate the fact that I can't resist them once I've made them, and that they make my pants fit more snugly) :); I love Christmas decorations, especially Christmas lights!; I love watching corny Hallmark Christmas movies and listening to Christmas music nonstop, etc.

This past weekend I went back to Mom and Dad's to help kick off the Christmas season.  My hometown has a Christmas lights parade at the beginning of the Dec.  This year we talked to our friends who own the little coffee shop on the square and asked if we could bring in our sound equipment and do a Christmas show in conjunction with the buffet they were doing the night of the parade. They were happy to let us, so the past couple times I've been home my mom, sisters and our good friend Connie have all gotten together and practiced singing.  I think the practicing is my favorite part.  We all just relax and enjoy making music together.

Us girls had fun putting on fancy dresses and singing to the crowd that night.  My favorite part about singing is when you're able to look out and see smiling faces, and you know the audience is having as much fun as you are.

Mostly I thought last weekend would just be a great way for me to get in the Christmas spirit, but I got more than that.

Several years ago some neighbors, Ray and Sandy, moved in a couple miles from my mom and dad.  We got to be pretty good friends, but my dad was especially close to Ray.  Lately Ray had started having a lot of health issues.  For years he had persistent urinary problems, but hadn't gone to the doctor about them.  Eventually this led to one of his kidneys completely failing and the other was only partially working.  Around the same time he had blood clots in his legs, and they found he had a heart arrhythmia.  Needless to say he wasn't doing well, and he was in a lot of pain. 

On Saturday morning my mom, dad, Katie, Kyle and I were all coming back from my great, great uncle's funeral when Sandy called.  Ray was having a lot of trouble breathing and she wanted to know if we could help get him in the car so she could take him to the emergency room.  When we got there, Mom (who's a nurse) said she wouldn't take the risk of moving him in a personal vehicle because she wouldn't have any equipment to help him if something happened, so we called an ambulance.  Katie, Kyle and I stood outside and directed the ambulance where to go.  After a while they wheeled Ray out and before they loaded him up, he waved to Katie and I who were standing together.  They took him straight to Topeka, and we went home and waited to hear some news.  Right before the show, we got a call.  They said Ray was coding, and dad left to go be with Sandy.  We all decided that we still needed to go perform, so we went ahead and went to the coffee shop.  

Right before the show we got a call that Ray had passed away.  He was only 68.

Mom and Dad stopped by to be with Sandy after the show for a while.  

Sandy told mom that before Ray died, she had been wiping his brow with a washcloth and all of a sudden he said that he couldn't see. She asked him what he meant, and then he said, "I see God."  "Then go to God," Sandy said.  He took one last breath and then went to meet the Lord.

Sandy said Ray believed in God, but didn't have a strong faith.  I thank God that He gave Sandy the peace of knowing where her husband was going.  

And I think this story offers a lot of hope.  

God doesn't expect us to be perfect or to have a perfect faith. Instead He looks at us with all our imperfections and sins, and He loves us still.  He never gives up on us.  Even up to the last moment, He will reach out His hand and invite us to be with Him.  And it all can happen because of Christ's birth.

So I pray this Christmas, we all can understand and appreciate what this season really means.  And please treasure this time with your family, and pray for those who are feeling the absence of their loved ones.

Lyndee