We are all delighted by the appearance of the sun these last days... Reflecting back on the 4 months that Maria and her two little ones lived with us, starting just after Thanksgiving until about 3 weeks ago... we were homebound due to the brutal weather outside! I go to her blog now and see the 3 year old Therese and the 15 month old David having the times of their lives outside on the play equipment and walking around the duck and goose pond... it must be heavenly for them!
Ruth's kids are also staying out as much as they can after facing the same winter just 3 miles from us. They come over to watch mommy take care of Oliver with the sore front legs and go from adventure to adventure!
Davey found a new friend... it had just been born a day before so it is NEW! They named him Blackie, and he was a soft support...
Then when he stood up... he found Lilly the dog to be a good stand in... Older sister, Mary, kept trying to get Lilly to leave the barn, as she makes the cows nervous when she is licking their calves... Lilly didn't respond to Mary's gentle.."Get out, Lilly!" No wonder with the kind of love and tender snuggles that Davey was giving her. I am seeing first hand what Ruth says about Davey being her "snuggler." All that soft fur must be special against your face...we just won't think where Lilly's has been.
Just so you can see how close the mother cow is to all of this... but there is a strong fence between her and the kids.. Pat was busy milking a bottle out of her to feed another calf... the kids thought that was interesting. No lack of adventures and lessons on the farm!
Mary's daddy helped her through the mud to see Snowball as Grandpa was feeding them a bale of hay. Snowball was preoccupied by being hungry, so the encounter was brief... Mary just likes to look into Snowball's eyes and they have a bond between them. It is nice that she chose a special one that stands out in the bunch and also one that is gentle and friendly... Snowball is Mary's most special "pet calf." She even took a collage of pictures of the two of them over the last 9 months to preschool to show them all her Snowball... the thought of 20 preschoolers coming to actually see her through all this mud can give me hives! Pictures are by far the prerferred way!
Simon joined Mary on the stage in the oasis of mud... they danced and ran and talked and pondered the mud... parents were needed to get them to dry? land or surer footing...Family fun time at the farm this time of year - you had better have a good pair of high rubber boots and walk carefully so that you don't step out of them and leave them in the sticky mud... I say this from experience!
Paul assisted Ruth this time and we were absolutely shocked to see how much healing had taken place in 24 hours! We are sure lucky to have a resident wound care nurse and so is Oliver Twist! There is never a lack of need for those that are willing and able to care for the animals in our care, as well as the members of our families! Sometimes I wonder how families do without having a resident nurse - our family now has 2 - Ruth and I - and we get many questions from sisters, brother and their families. A lot of times we say that they should check with their doctor, but there are times that we can give them useful advise. 
Ruth also helps out her sisters with anything related to fertility and pregnancy as she is a certified Creighton Model instructor. She wears many hats and this one is very wonderful in that it allows women to follow the wise teachings of the Church and to do what is natural for having a family, understanding their bodies, and also for spacing their family if there is a need for that. Such a gift to give to women in this day and age of taking things into your own hands, and the free and encouraged use of the pill and other artificial means of birth control - things that do harm to women! I have seen young beautiful women stroked out in the ICU - vegetables - after using oral contraceptives! Just listen to the warnings on TV to the nuva ring or other things that they have come up with these days... stroke and heart attack are warned as possible! Why would you allow that to be possible?
Behind the clouds of this life... the sun is always there! From the morning hymn from morning prayer - see http://www.magnificat.com/ "Part the clouds that keep us from you, Rend the heavens and come down, Show us your love at work among us." 
Lord, there is so much deception going on in this world. May we make a difference and bring the Truth to Light! May the Son shine down on all of us and reveal all that is keeping us from you as the sun does in the light of day. The clouds of life can be beautiful and stunning and look like something that they are not... may they part and evaporate so that we may come to you broken and wounded... He will carry us close to His heart burning with love for us, and we can give all our burdens over to Him... Jesus, show us your Way, Your Truth, and Your Life! John 14:6... we are hungry, stuck in the mud and the clouds are keeping us from seeing your Sonlight and basking in your love and forgiveness. Jesus, we trust in you! Amen and Halleluia!
Bless-bless, Barb
"I finally had rest. Considering the mystical body of the Church, I had not recognized myself in any of the members described by St Paul, or rather I desired to see myself in all of them. Charity gave me the key to my vocation. I understood that if the Church had a body composed of diffenent members, the most necessary and most noble of all could not be lacking to it, and so I understood that the Church has a Heart and that this Heart was BURNING WITH LOVE. I understood it was Love alone that made the Church's members act, and that if Love ever became extinct, apostles would not preach the Gospel and martyrs would not shed their blood. I understood that LOVE COMPRISED ALL VOCATIONS, THAT LOVE WAS EVERYTHING, THAT IT EMBRACED ALL TIMES AND ALL PLACES.... IN A WORD, THAT IT WAS ETERNAL!
Then in the excess of my delirious joy, I cried out: O Jesus, my love... my vocation, at last I have found it....MY VOCATION IS LOVE!
Yes, I have found my place in the Church and it is You, O my God, who have given me this place; in the heart of the Church, my Mother, I shall be LOVE. Thus I shall be everything, and thus my dream will be realized." ST Therese of Lisseux from her book - The Story of a Soul
"Against the temptation to take you for granted:
-protect us, O Lord!
Lord, we seek your face!"
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