Rainy Days

As a dairy farmer, the weather plays a MAJOR role in everyday life. Even though the snow gets annoying in late March, I know it will lead to moisture for the growing season. And now in late April, the rain is here! Surely, there are countless farmers pacing the floors waiting for the puddles to recede. I realize how badly we will need it. There will probably come a day in mid-July or August when we will be praying for any spare inch that the Lord will send our way. The amount of moisture the ground receives dictates many of the prices set for the commodities we feed. In some cases, it depends on whether Iowa, or many other locations, get their share. The price the farmers are currently paid for milk is well below break-even, so I pray for timely weather this growing season.

"Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops." James 5:18

For Earth Day, PBS aired a series of specials on water. They covered everything from the way the pipes run under the streets to the current water crisis. I was glued to it for a while on Sunday afternoon. Truthfully, living in Michigan, I thought the water crisis was a bunch of hooey. Now I realize I'm just spoiled. One show was devoted to explaining how society has worked long and hard to move water from its desired destination to where people want it. I say want because, these places with little water were not meant for large populations. Seriously, there is not enough water in Southwest US, and many other places, to support the crowds and their demands. California, for example, is number one for most agricultural products. Take away its unnatural water supply, and the fields will literally curl up and die. Please be aware of water usage wherever you are. We are in a water crisis.

"He who has compassion on them will guide them and lead them beside springs of water." Isaiah 49:10b

Thank you God, for life-giving water.

Austin Joseph

I have three children: Austin-8, Lydia-3, and Eli-almost 2. They are the light in my days, and require A LOT of hard work.

This is my Austin. He is a freckle-faced, energetic, busy, talkative, loving, little boy. He is my life's turning point. My pregnancy for Austin came when I was single, 19, and was definitely unexpected. I remember crying in the shower thinking that I was never going to be 'one of those girls'. I could play the game and not get caught. I was invincible. Suddenly, the gravity of the situation became very clear-I was about to be responsible for another life! I was so scared. I knew that I was not leading a life that a child could follow. At one point, I talked with someone about adoption. That's as far as it went. For some reason I knew that I needed this child as much as it needed me. With God's help, I ended a very easy pregnancy with a 5lb. 13oz. healthy bundle covered in red fuzz. I cried again, this time for the joy of it. My life immediately did an about-face. I needed to be the best person I could be for him.

Eight years later, I still struggle. After a failed relationship with his father, two years as a single mom, and a dating relationship with my now husband, Austin and I have been through a lot together. Him growing up has been difficult for me. It's easy to smile at a cooing, laughing baby, but harder to be patient with an emotional adolescent. Good or bad, Austin is passionate about everything. His emotions run the full spectrum, sometimes in seconds.

In October, all four of Austin's parents agreed to bring him home for homeschooling. That has added a whole new aspect to our relationship. My sister is a teacher and I give her a lot of credit for what she does, but she gets to send them home! If Austin and I have had a particularly hard day with school, it can spill over into the remainder of our lives. It's not all bad-we spend more time as a family and our time is not regulated by the school day or year. I think this move has been a good choice. Now, I just need to be able to better separate my school teacher persona from mom. It's a work-in-progress.

One of my favorite times of day is Austin's bedtime. Austin brushes his teeth, washes his face, changes his clothes and says 'good night' to everyone but me before going to his room. As soon as he's all snuggled down in bed, I join him under the covers for a bedtime story. We started by having him read simple books to me and both found that frustrating at bedtime, so we moved his reading to earlier in the day. In the last few months, I've been reading to him. Novels. I love it. Reading was so important to me as a child. I would sneak off into some hidden corner in the barn and read until someone caught me. I love to read. Last week we started my favorite book in the world, Little Britches. I know the book by heart and love to watch Austin's expressions as he experiences it for the first time. It's a wonderful world to open for a child while reading. He loves the book as much as I do. After the chapter is finished, we talk about what we read. He can feel free to ask questions about clarification or sometimes the things that scared him. It's so easy to talk to him in those moments. He'll never understand what they mean to me. In the end, we exchange hugs and kisses and 'I love yous.' I always laugh when I leave. As the overhead light goes out, three nightlights shine from their respective corners, and a Great Dane lounges at the foot of his bed.

I love you, Austin. I promise to always do my best for you.

-MOM

FYI on HSUS

The following was sent to me by a Facebook group. I am increasingly wary of the HSUS and its intentions for the agricultural industry.



Listen up, folks! I’ve got a mission for you. Rush Limbaugh recently did a couple Public Service Announcements for the Humane Society of the United States. Here are the links to both of them:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCHXkagrLo4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=654L6ohbnpw

As the most outspoken conservative voice in America, it is very surprising that Rush Limbaugh did not see through HSUS’ motives. That’s where we come in. The time has come to stop talking about what we are going to do and start doing it. It’s easy to say we’re going to take action and then do nothing. We must inform and educate Rush about HSUS. Rush needs to know that HSUS does not represent animal welfare, but animal rights. Take animal off the front of both these expressions and the difference between welfare and rights is very clear. In addition, he needs to be informed that HSUS has no connection to the local shelters. He has a huge following, and whether you agree with his politics or not, he needs to know the truth. His e-mail is ElRushbo@eibnet.com. Please drop him line. For those of you who are regular listeners, PLEASE call in today or tomorrow and express your concerns. In order to be most effective, we need to have large numbers. Be respectful, but present your case. Make sure you tell a little bit about yourself, so he understands your background.Below is a great piece by Center for Consumer Freedom to help aid you. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. If you would like to go even further, drop me an e-mail at krissa.g.thom@gmail.com to let me know you have sent a letter or called. I will tally the numbers and post it on the message board. Good luck!Sincerely, Krissa Thom

Resource:7 Things You Didn't Know About HSUS
by Center for Consumer Freedom
1) The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is a “humane society” in name only, since it doesn’t operate a single pet shelter or pet adoption facility anywhere in the United States. During 2006, HSUS contributed only 4.2 percent of its budget to organizations that operate hands-on dog and cat shelters. In reality, HSUS is a wealthy animal-rights lobbying organization (the largest and richest on earth) that agitates for the same goals as PETA and other radical groups.
2) Beginning on the day of NFL quarterback Michael Vick’s 2007 dogfighting indictment, HSUS raised money online with the false promise that it would “care for the dogs seized in the Michael Vick case.” The New York Times later reported that HSUS wasn’t caring for Vick’s dogs at all. And HSUS president Wayne Pacelle told the Times that his group recommended that government officials “put down” (that is, kill) the dogs rather than adopt them out to suitable homes. HSUS later quietly altered its Internet fundraising pitch.
3) HSUS’s senior management includes a former spokesman for the Animal Liberation Front (ALF), a criminal group designated as “terrorists” by the FBI. HSUS president Wayne Pacelle hired John “J.P.” Goodwin in 1997, the same year Goodwin described himself as “spokesperson for the ALF” while he fielded media calls in the wake of an ALF arson attack at a California veal processing plant. In 1997, when asked by reporters for a reaction to an ALF arson fire at a farmer’s feed co-op in Utah (which nearly killed a family sleeping on the premises), Goodwin replied, “We’re ecstatic.” That same year, Goodwin was arrested at a UC Davis protest celebrating the 10-year anniversary of an ALF arson at the university that caused $5 million in damage. And in 1998, Goodwin described himself publicly as a “former member of ALF.”
4) According to a 2008 Los Angeles Times investigation, less than 12 percent of money raised for HSUS by California telemarketers actually ends up in HSUS’s bank account. The rest is kept by professional fundraisers. And if you exclude two campaigns run for HSUS by the “Build-a-Bear Workshop” retail chain, which consisted of the sale of surplus stuffed animals (not really “fundraising”), HSUS’s yield number shrinks to just 3 percent. Sadly, this appears typical. In 2004, HSUS ran a telemarketing campaign in Connecticut with fundraisers who promised to return a minimum of zero percent of the proceeds. The campaign raised over $1.4 million. Not only did absolutely none of that money go to HSUS, but the group paid $175,000 for the telemarketing work.
5) Research shows that HSUS’s heavily promoted U.S. “boycott” of Canadian seafood—announced in 2005 as a protest against Canada’s annual seal hunt—is a phony exercise in media manipulation. A 2006 investigation found that 78 percent of the restaurants and seafood distributors described by HSUS as “boycotters” weren’t participating at all. Nearly two-thirds of them told surveyors they were completely unaware HSUS was using their names in connection with an international boycott campaign. Canada’s federal government is on record about this deception, saying: “Some animal rights groups have been misleading the public for years … it’s no surprise at all that the richest of them would mislead the public with a phony seafood boycott.”
6) HSUS raised a reported $34 million in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, supposedly to help reunite lost pets with their owners. But comparatively little of that money was spent for its intended purpose. Louisiana’s Attorney General shuttered his 18-month-long investigation into where most of these millions went, shortly after HSUS announced its plan to contribute $600,000 toward the construction of an animal shelter on the grounds of a state prison. Public disclosures of the disposition of the $34 million in Katrina-related donations add up to less than $7 million.
7) After gathering undercover video footage of improper animal handling at a Chino, CA slaughterhouse during November of 2007, HSUS sat on its video evidence for three months, even refusing to share it with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. HSUS’s Dr. Michael Greger testified before Congress that the San Bernardino County (CA) District Attorney’s office asked the group “to hold on to the information while they completed their investigation.” But the District Attorney’s office quickly denied that account, even declaring that HSUS refused to make its undercover spy available to investigators if the USDA were present at those meetings. Ultimately, HSUS chose to release its video footage at a more politically opportune time, as it prepared to launch a livestock-related ballot campaign in California. Meanwhile, meat from the slaughterhouse continued to flow into the U.S. food supply for months.

What the...

Last month Roger and I donated a December calf to the MI Jersey Club for its annual spring sale. I never realized how scary that could be! The calf is wonderfully pedigreed, sweet, and show age. Austin helped me break her to lead before the sale.

As the winning ticket was picked at the end of the sale, it was a name that only one family knew. They planned to take the calf home and contact the winner to make sure he wanted to keep 'Flora'. We made an offer on the spot and asked them to contact us.

Roger called the husband, Mr. Hillbilly, today. Mr. Hillbilly told my husband that the deal had been settled. The gentleman who had won the calf mistakenly thought he was buying a meat animal not a breeding animal. Mr. Hillbilly, Mrs. Hillbilly, and Granddaughter Hillbilly negotiated a deal to trade the winner a quarter of beef, around $250 worth, for the calf. Roger asked if they wanted to sell her. Mr. Hillbilly said, "Sure, $1000." Roger asked if Mr. Hillbilly would trade a milking Guernsey for the Jersey calf. Mr. Hillbilly said, "We can't afford the feed bill we have now. We're selling some to feed the ones we have. But that little calf is back in a hutch and doing great."

AAAHHHHH!!! I understand that sometimes in business things don't work out in your favor. I also realize that I cannot control how other people run their business. I furthermore realize that when I send an animal through an open sale or raffle, I take the chance that anyone will end up with it. That said-I WANT THAT CALF BACK!!!!!

Easter Wrap-up

What a wonderful weekend!

Egg hunting was so funny. I really don't care for my kids to come home with gobs of candy, so I was happy with only a dozen or so eggs. Goody bags were handed out, and we left. Less than 40 minutes start to finish, including playtime!

Saturday night we went to Holton to have supper with some of Roger's family. After pizza, conversation, and a few belated Christmas presents, we headed home. Things still had to be prepared for the Easter bunny's arrival and church in the morning, so off to WalMart I went at 10pm! It was one of those trips-you need 2 or 3 things. Suddenly, the freedom of being alone overtakes you, and after shelling out $50 you have everything you need plus some. I'm not a good shopper when I don't have children hanging out of the cart making embarrassing noises! When I got home I got church clothes all laid out, baskets ready, breakfast planned, alarm set.

All that planning and we rushed into church with no time to spare! Poor Eli was so upset when we left him in the nursery! No tractor in the world could calm him down. Once I relaxed into a seat, I fully enjoyed the service at First Christian Reformed Church in Fremont. The music was wonderful. I love being there for Easter!

My sister and one brother plus girlfriend joined us at church. I don't think Christy and Henry have been there for a Sunday service since Grandma Breuker's 90th birthday in 2006. Henry was a little nervous about his jeans, but I told him we were happy to have him there no matter how he was dressed!

After church, Henry and Theresa went their way and Christy joined us for dinner at the Deters'. Christy made green beans and dessert. Roger and I took a turkey over that we had bought at the fair. Janet had cooked it perfectly, and with a couple extras, we had a wonderful dinner! The kids got to hunt for eggs again. More candy and trinkets came home with leftover turkey and potatoes.

It was a great day for many reasons. I enjoy Easter because it is a great Christian holiday without all of the secular hype. Christmas can leave a parent empty after shopping and cooking and wrapping. Easter is what you make of it. Our family shared important time together with worship, food, and fun. Also, we make sure our children are very aware of the reason we celebrated this special day. Quoting a hymn from yesterday, "He Arose!! He Arose!! Alleluia, Christ Arose!!"

Easter Weekend

I returned home Wednesday after a relaxing week in Arizona. It was a wonderful, kid-free time for celebration. Now, it's back to life as usual. What a shock to the system!

Life, in the past two days, has been gearing up for Easter. We have read the story of Christ's Death and Resurrection to center us in the reason for celebration. With Aubree's extra hands, we decorated our Veggie Tales eggs.

This morning, I am taking the kids to an Easter Egg Hunt at a friend's house. When we arrive 1000+ eggs peek out from every surface possible. In less than ten minutes, 40 kids have the place ransacked. We come home with all sorts of little toys, coins, and of course, candy. It's a fun, crazy time, and it takes the pressure off me to hide eggs!

Tonight, we are having dinner with my mother-in-law's family. We didn't get to celebrate Christmas together because of a late December blizzard. Rescheduling is a pain, so we ended up in April before we could get together.

In case I don't get back sooner, Have a Blessed Easter!

Getting Started

I never thought I would find myself here, writing a blog. When I first read a blog, I thought, "How presumptuous!! Do people really care to read about some one's life like that?" And yet, here I am. Truthfully, I have started reading a dozen or so blogs very regularly. I still feel like a snoop, but I enjoy being aware of the happenings of my friends and family. So, presumptuously, I begin my own blog. Surely it will consist of everyday life around the Deters' household-my marriage, children, church and farm.