I Once Was Lost

Last week I shared a wee story at Do Not Depart about Nibbles.  You remember Nibbles? Our orphaned tub-dwelling bottle-baby turned adoptee kid goat?

Well, the very first night that sweet Nibbles was left in the field with his brand new mama, things went awry. In the morning when my fabulous hubby, aka The Bard, went to check on the goats, Nibbles was missing. Gone.

The edge of the sun is just peeking over the horizon when the back door slams.

“I can’t find him,” my husband reports. Happily sleeping with the herd last night, one tiny goat has wandered off and is nowhere to be found.

I pull on my boots and a jacket and head out into the chilly morn. Walking the goat field, I carefully check every hollow and corner. Baby goats frolic near their mothers. It has been a good year for kidding.

But there is no sign of our missing baby. The lump in my throat grows as I open the gate to leave the field.

... read the rest of the story here...

You make me happier than a bountiful tomato harvest! {a paraphrase of Psalm 4}

A rockin' one-day tomato harvest in 2008

As always, I am enjoying the newest bible study from Do Not Depart. The current study is called Run2Him and is based on the Psalms. Last week's topic was "I Cry Out Because He Hears" and was based on Psalm 4.

As part of my reflection on the Psalm, I tried something new, and found it fruitful. I wrote it out in my own words, a paraphrase of sorts. Yesterday at our morning family bible time, my husband read Psalm 4 to us all, then I shared my paraphrase. He thought I should share it with you all, so here it is (remember this is not ME speaking, but the psalmist, lest you think I am boasting about good behavior)...

Psalm 4
Patti's paraphrase

(1) Please listen to me God, because you have before!

(2) People around me, when will you shape up? My good behavior makes you look bad! When are you going to stop loving worthless things and trying deceive?

(3) God has set apart godly people for Himself, and He hears me when I call Him.

(4) You should be afraid! Don't sin! Lie on your bed, silent and still, and think long and hard about your heart.

(5) Offer PROPER sacrifices, and trust in the Lord.

(6) Many are asking who will show them even a little bit of good. Lord, please look at us with your light-filled face.

(7) You have put gladness in my heart, God... YOU! Even more than when the harvest is amazing and there is an abundance of food and wine.

(8) I will lie down and go to sleep peacefully because You, and only You, make me dwell in safety.

Kind of makes me wonder if this is how Eugene Patterson wrote The Message.  :-)

Babies Are the Sweetest Interruption of All

I thought I knew what I was going to do last week.

I had planned a typical week of chores, homeschooling, some writing, and a day of fire relief work, plus a few special meals with my dear aunt who was visiting the area from Boston.

... you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow...
James 4:14

I did not know I would be a goat mama.

My husband came in from chores, a week ago Monday, with a cardboard box, and in that box were two shivering, weak baby goats.

Thus began my ongoing stint as a goat mama, a nanny I suppose you could say.

I filled my tub with pine shavings.

I turned up the heat.

I treated wounds.

I cut umbilical cords.

I researched.

I mixed bottles.

I fed (and snapped pictures while children fed.)

I buried.

I watched a real goat mama, bereaved of her own babies, take interest in the surviving kid as I brought him to bottle feed in the fields.

I watched her come to consider Nibbles - named for his propensity for nibbling the tub faucet - her very own.

And the day little Nibbles got a real mama, Tiny became my new ward.

Eleven days into being a nanny and my plans have become... feed the goat, homeschool, feed the goat, do chores, feed the goat, make dinner, feed the goat. The children like to take a feeding or two, so it really isn't hard at all. We look forward to it. A sweet interruption.

We are hoping that one of the expectant mamas will adopt Tiny when her babies come, but for now, he drinks from a bottle.

And Nibbles is healthy and happy and growing like a goat kid should.

Lessons From the Knitting Chair ~ Sometimes You Just Need to Tink

About eight months into my journey of finally-really-knitting I started thinking about Christmas. Oh the socks I would knit, oh the hats I would create!

So I picked a lace scarf pattern for my sister-in-law and got to work.

Yes, you read that right. A lace pattern. Because I did not have enough time to finish the socks and hats I had already planned. Why not add more?

We've already discussed how lace is not for beginners. Here's the thing: lace is not difficult, per se. It's just that it require focus. As in every stitch focus. You have to know not only what row you are on but which stitch. Or. Else. 

Ever tried to focus with a toddler around?

But I was determined to knit. After a rotten start on the scarf (I seem to recall I had to start from scratch twice) I decided that I had one rule and one rule only.

Don't give up. 

I can assure you that this did not mean don't mess up. Because I did.  A lot. But I didn't give up. And the way I managed to finish that scarf despite all my errors was by tinking.

What is tinking? How do you k-n-i-t backwards? You t-i-n-k!

When I discovered a mistake, I would painstakingly undo each stitch one by one, not by pulling it out, but by knitting (or purling or yarn-overing) backwards. Whenever the pattern looked normal again I would resume knitting normally.

I still tink when it comes to lace, but now I see my mistakes much faster. 

Lace washcloth needing a good tinking

Isn't tinking kind of like life with kids?

We go along and have our little routines, then bump! something is just not working. The pattern is not looking right, but you're not really sure what went wrong.

Usually this is because somebody has grown and changed and needs something different. All of a sudden you're looking at a big hole in your family's life pattern where one does not belong. So you tink. You back out of that misstep and find the thing that works for right now.

All better!

As a homeschooling mom I feel like I get a double dose of this. Not only am I undoing and redoing parenting stuff (oh look, child #2 is old enough to cook... time to change the chore chart!), I am also constantly looking for dropped stitches in each child's educational plan (good grief, this child needs more handwriting practice!)

It's not exactly like tinking, I know, because life's daily pattern is meant to change as time passes. But if the overall goal is a pattern of peace and life-giving in a family, it's not all that different.

All done!

 The bottom line is don't give up.

The scarf that taught me not to give up

Something beautiful is bound to come of it all.