Not quite a typical day on the farm. On Wednesday ,Christy (Thistletown Farms) and I headed out to North Carolina to bring our 3 Angus Cows and 3 hogs to the processor. We had a
pleasant, albeit long drive. Taking animals to the processor is one of our least favorite things to do. But its all part of the cycle. Paul & I always pray over our animals. We ask that God keep them calm and peaceful as well as thanking them for providing our food asking that all who partake will be blessed. It was a seemingly unevental trip.... We are always grateful
when the animals get off the trailer in a calm,gentle manner. And the folks that take care for them are kind and respect them. The angus gently walked off the trailer into their pen. We breathed a sigh of relief and then headed to the processors to drop off the hogs.
We were running late, so I called and asked that they leave the gate open for us. This was the first time that I was without Paul & I had a sense of what to do, but it was a little unsettling. Christy and I set up the trailer and let the pigs into their pen. They were just sitting in the corner of the trailer seeming to say, 'I'm comfortortable,
there is no way that I'm moving...' Sooooo, after praying for God's guidance I really thought I would have to take them back home. There is no way that I'm going to poke and prod them into compliance. Paul has a way with them and they listen. After about spending about ten minutes just talking to them, the three of them simply got up and strolled into their pen. Christy and I looked at one another and started to cry. I know, you had to be there to grasp the relief that we felt.
Our animals have a wonderful life during their time on Faith Farm and we want them to not be afraid at the end. Not sure if it's silly, but we felt that it was nothing short of a miracle that these hogs who are usually very stubborn just sort of marched into their pen. By this time it was after five with two hours to get home. We turned into a parking lot clipping the corner of a sign, not a good thing. Thankfully the trailer was empty, but the tire was wedged between the sign, not damaging it. If Chris went back or forward it would rip the sign out. We were exhausted, Paul was home and we were tired. I prayed asking God to send someone to help. We didn't want to call for a tow truck and the men that were around were pretty much worthless. Chris knew what needed to be done. So along comes this perky girl with a pick up asking, 'do you guys need help?' She jumps out, pulls out a chain, pops it on the trailer and gives it a gentle nudge. In a matter of seconds we were out of our situation and a sigh of relief came over both of us. Again, another answer to prayer. How much better life would be if we brought everything to God in prayer.
