Wasted Energy

Our cows have a bad habit.  When I push the chicken tractor forward so that the chickens can eat fresh grass everyday, the cows see that as snack time.  They run to the spot where the chicken tractor was and look for spilled feed or rice to eat.  I DON'T like them doing that, because when cows eat close to the ground like that, they can pick up parasites.  That's why we use rotational grazing to constantly move them to fresh grass so that they don't eat close to ground level.

In order to stop that bad behavior, I enlisted Benjamin's help to run the electric poly wire fence around the chicken tractor so that the cows couldn't get to it.  It sounded like a good plan and we got busy.  We are always careful when reeling up the electric fence because the solar charger really packs a punch.  If you touch the poly wire, it will pop you and you will scream.  Invariably, I'll get a little careless and get popped.  Of course it would be less painful if I was to turn the charger off first, but I was in a rush - like usual.  As I was reeling up the poly-wire, it touched my arm and... didn't shock me.  There was no electricity running through it.

That can be caused by one of several things.  First, the charger could be off.  We checked it. Nope, it was on. Second, the charger battery could be dead or the charger broken, but I could distinctly hear it pulsing. So I knew what the problem was.  The hot wire that runs along the perimeter of two sides of our fence was grounding out somewhere.  I'm not an electrician, but I know that electricity seeks the path of least resistance and likes to go to the ground.  Somewhere, our hot wire was touching something (a conductor) that was carrying our electricity into the ground instead of through the perimeter wire, through our "jump wire" and into the poly-wire cross fences.

Now all we had to do was find it.  Easy enough.  Benjamin and I began walking on one end of the perimeter wire and hadn't walked twenty feed before we found it.  In the picture below, about 1/3 of the way up from the bottom, you can see a wire running almost horizontally.  That is the hot wire. We notice that it was touching the hog wire fence which was conducting all the electricity to the ground.

Grounded out!

The bull uses his head to bang things around in the pasture and had pushed an empty water trough into the hot wire.  The hot wire got wrapped around the hog wire in the process, causing the problem. All we had to do was unravel the wire. Benjamin said, "Isn't it going to shock you when it is off of the fence, Dad?"  I answered, "YES! It will." as it popped the fool out of me.  Then I got some tie wire and pulled the fence tight where the bull had bent it, so it wouldn't lean in and touch the hot wire and our job was done. We got the tester and tested the fence in numerous locations and all five lights on the tester lit up, letting us know that the charger was sending electricity through the fence just fine now.

A little tie wire keeps the fence from touching the hot wire

Sometimes I think God uses things in His Creation to speak to us and I began to realize that this was one of those times.  I struggle sometimes when I think about precious time and energy that I waste in doing things that I'm not passionate about.  As the head of my household, it is my responsibility to provide for my family and that requires going to a job Monday through Friday that keeps me away from my passion from 6:30 am to 5:30 pm every day, which is my family and our little farm.

That can be a source of discouragement for me and I'm sure others might struggle with that, too. Like the hot wire story above, there are times when my energy seems to be "wrapped around and/or tangled up" by this and it saps my energy, leaving me feeling lethargic, depressed, discouraged and sometimes feeling more deflated than Tom Brady's football. What to do?  Well, I think God was trying to tell me that I needed to "untangle my wires."

Let the power flow!

The Source of Power can give you power, if you ask.  Where were my wires tangled? Well, first I untwisted a wire off of selfishness.  And I found another wire that was ensnared with self pity and lack of a grateful spirit that was grounding me out. Once I got those off and a few more, I began to have more energy and got a 'pep back in my step.'  Trouble is, at least with me, is that I continually have to "walk my perimeter fence," looking for those areas in my life that sap my energy, drain my power, and ground me out.  It seems just as soon as I untangle one, another gets wrapped up somewhere else!

28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth Does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable. 29 He gives strength to the weary, And to him who lacks might He increases power. 30 Though youths grow weary and tired, And vigorous young men stumble badly, 31 Yet those who wait for the LORD Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary.  Isaiah 40: 28-31