Challenges and Bumps

Last night after dinner, Tim and Kellen loaded up the cattle rack to the farm truck, and I loaded the kids into the family van. We were off to look at some pigs, and hoping to bring home one to be our new poppa pig, and possibly more if we liked what we saw. We headed down the highway toward our destination. About half way there the farm truck starting spewing white smoke out the exhaust; transmission fluid.

Apparently, we have some sort of transmission curse on us. It is unbelievable how many transmission problems we've had with different vehicles since we moved here. Luckily, the whole thing didn't go out, and we were near the exit for the repair shop. We got the truck to the shop, and left it with the cattle rack parked on the street in downtown Huntington.

We decided to head onto our destination to check out the pigs. We hoped we would be able to pay for them, and the farm would hold them until we were able to pick them up.

When we got there we discovered that they only had one pig left! But it was a boar. He looked good, and the price was right. So, we paid for him. Then the guy asks, "Why don't you just back your van down? I bet he'd fit right in the hatch." And he did.

We laid some old feed bags down in the back, and the farmer hoisted up the pig in his arms, carried him out to our van. Did I mention that this is a very tame pig? And back toward home we went with six people, and a pig in the family van.

And because that just isn't enough excitement for one night. . .

We wrecked our van on the way home. More precisely, a deer wrecked our van on the way home.

We were driving up Big Seven Mile. Tim slowed down at a spot where the deer normally hang out to eat in the evening. The deer were there. There was one in the road, and Tim honked the horn while driving slowly. The one in the road jumped out of the way, but it wasn't the only one to move. The stupid deer on the side of the road started running into the road. One of them ran right into the van.

It wasn't hurt. It bounced off my van, and went running back into the woods. Quite honestly, I wish it had been hurt, and was now sitting in my freezer. If you're going to bang up my car, I'd like a little something in return. Banging out a dent, just add it to the to do list.

These are the times that are frustrating to me, and overwhelming to Tim. We are learning though that these are just part of the journey of this life. The to do lists are never ending. The likely hood of a plan going off with out a hitch is small. This is part of life. It just seems amplified when you're farming, especially when you're tired from working your paying job, and making trips out of state for medical treatments.

So, we take a deep breath. We adjust. We do what we can while addressing the most pressing items on the to do list. We realize that in the big picture very little on that list is all that important. We enjoy the process, and our family while while dealing with life's challenges and bumps. We rest in the knowledge that our life really is found in Christ, and that the challenges and bumps of life in this world don't change who we are or what we have in Him.