Our Hattie-girl decided to give us an anniversary present one day early! On May 22nd, she meandered her way to the field and gave birth to one huge, stocky buckling with all the yellow blooms nearby. I’m so glad we were there for the birth. Not only because it’s special to watch birth unfold, but also because Hattie needed a little extra help since her one kid was so big.
We named him Maverick, but we like to call him Little Mav. He’s so curious about everything. When we let him roam around the yard, Hattie and I have to try to keep up! Hattie and Little Mav are the best of pals. Hattie is fiercely protective and very aware of him. I wasn’t sure how she would be as a mother, but I’ve loved watching her become one.
Chester is growing into quite the spirited buck! For the first few weeks, he was more like a puppy than a goat. He’d cuddle with me, curl up for a nap on my lap, and climb all over me. I have loved every minute and don’t plan on our little friendship dying out any time soon!
Roxanne keeps us on our toes. She’s quick, bold, and always moving! She sits with me more willingly now, but she’s always had places to be and has no qualms to make it known. I love how spirited and agile she is. . . so different from both the spring bucklings.
The spring wildflowers have been admired and plucked. They’ve graced my kitchen counter and my living room windowsill. They’ve brought sunshine into the house, steadily being the beautiful work of God’s hands. I love wildflower season!
The flowers we planted in early spring are coming up in green shoots and I’m so glad I was brave enough to put the tiny seeds in soil! We’ve added hanging flowers to the Porch Garden and I love watching all that began so small spread wide and far. . . an accurate likeness of my heart and soul these last several years!
I’ve really enjoyed Psalm 104 this spring. This Scripture is filled to the brim with all God creates and sustains. I love knowing that I get to be a part of His work. I love that He’s given me (and all of us!) a responsibility to care for the life around us, and I love that He desires us to be a part of His intricate and purposeful creation.
I reflect the image of God when I tend to the goats and flowers in my care. This tending to life glorifies God. Simply enjoying the life around me and the life I get to live delights the One who made it all! Living can be wholehearted worship!
Whether you eat or drink, or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God! (I Corinthians 10:13)
It’s not complicated. Live this life. Enjoy this life. Delight in the One who made it. Offer your life up to God and nurture the life He’s made around you. And in all of this. . . rest and rejoice in the steadfast love of God which is better than life!
This has been a spring infused with life. While there have been stretches of pain and undercurrents of difficulty, life has multiplied and expanded with new flowers, new goats kids, and deeper knowledge of God as Father!
We’ve laughed and learned and laughed some more. We’ve celebrated four years of life together, and we stand here in the beginning of our fifth year with hands open to our present responsibilities and the hundreds of God-gifts surrounding us.
I am learning to pray to God without resignation. I am learning to be unafraid of the love and delight my Father God has for me. I am learning to become thanksgiving with my thoughts and my actions. I am learning to hope in God alone. I am learning to nurture the life around me just as God does in Psalm 104.
I am beginning to know the joy of God that pushes through my heart and breaks down my barriers and expectations. This joy of God keeps pushing deeper still and stretching farther than I ever imagined it could.
Spring 2019 has been rooted in the faithfulness of God and bathed in the delightful work of His hands. And I am invited to know Him more and share in the life He’s made. I sit on the brink of summer, beginning to learn what it means to receive.
I’m full of anticipation.
Here we go.
Sierra V. Fedorko 