Friday, January 31, 2014

~*~ Frio and Fria ~*~

The phone rang just before Weldon opened the door to head out for morning chores. He answered it, and I could hear his side of the conversation. When he hung up, I asked, "Was that Pat?"

"Yes."
"A baby calf?"
"Yes."
"Sure am glad it wasn't born yesterday morning! I'll be out shortly." Yesterday morning it was -2°; this morning, by comparison, it's a balmy 20°.

A few minutes later, while I was getting the cat food ready, the phone rang again. "Hi. It's Pat. Get out here as soon as you can. We might need your help. It's twins!"

By the time I got down to the barn, the babies were safely ensconced in the milk parlor and Weldon was busily cleaning them up with warm water from the hose. It was like a sauna bath with steam filling the whole room. He washed while Pat and I dried.



We then carried them to a quilt by the stove, dried them off more thoroughly, and covered them with another quilt. Pat started asking about the French and Spanish words for "cold." It didn't take long before she had them named: Fria (the little heifer, above left) and Frio (the little bull, complete with bull's-eyes, above right).



We then went out to feed the bigger baby calves and I got a picture of the proud momma. Just the night before we had commented on how huge she was. Now we knew why!

Before I headed back to the house, Fria and Frio were still shivering under their quilt. By now (an hour or two later), I bet they're comfy cozy and have a number of cats sitting atop them to ensure they are feeling safe and loved. If you look closely (just above Frio's head), you will see little Minnie already contemplating the possibilities.
So ... how has your morning been? 

Sunday, January 05, 2014

A Surprise Ending

This morning I walked up to the front of the church carrying a "Honey Buns" box filled with the paraphernalia I would need to do the Children's Message. One little guy called out, "Oh, yeah! Honey Buns!" Sorry, buddy, but there are no Honey Buns in the box.

Good morning, children. One of my favorite chapters in the Bible is John 1. I could read the whole thing to you and then read it again. But, instead, I'll just read two verses. First, do you know some other names for Jesus?

"God!" "Lord!" "Mary!"

Uhm, no. Good try, but Mary was the mother of Jesus. I don't think anyone ever called him Mary.

"Savior!" "Emmanuel!"

Good job! Another one of his names is "Light of the World." Now listen to verses 4 and 5 from John, chapter 1. "The life of Jesus gave light to everyone. The light keeps shining in the dark, and darkness can never put it out."

I took Weldon's big, black Mag-Lite from the box and turned it on. Let's see if I can put out this light. I took a white cloth napkin from the box and laid it over the light. Is the light gone?

"No!!"

Okay, let me try this again. Next I doubled the napkin. Is the light gone?

"No!!"

One of the boys said, "Hey, try that black thing," as he pointed to a black woolen scarf in my box. Good idea. I put it over the flashlight asking, Is the light gone? Mmmm. This time they had to look more carefully, so I asked one of the children to come and peek under the scarf.

"Yup! The light is still shining!" He was pretty excited. One by one, the children had moved closer and closer to me.

Next, I wrapped the flashlight in the white cloth and the black scarf, laid it on the floor, and covered it with the box. Okay, someone will have to come and peek under here and see if the light is still shining. One little girl got her face down low and close, and then ALL the kids were huddled around the little 8" by 12" Honey Buns box, trying to get a glimpse of that flashlight.

Slipping my hand under the box, I unwrapped the flashlight. Suddenly, they all lifted their heads (and maybe their hands!) and with one voice cried out, "YAY!!!"

Well, I certainly wasn't expecting that response. Even now, the memory puts a smile on my face. The darkness CANNOT put out the Light ... and that IS something to cheer about!