Uzziah Loved the Soil

"He also built towers in the wilderness and carved out many cisterns, for he had much livestock, both in the lowland and in the plain. He also had plowmen and vinedressers in the hill country and the fertile fields, for he loved the soil."  - 2 Chronicles 26:10

Uzziah is mentioned in Isaiah 6:1-8 at the commencement of Isaiah's ministry.  To learn more about Uzziah, you must flip backward in your Bible to 2 Chronicles 26.  In that chapter we learn that Uzziah was a king who was 16 years old when he became king.  We learn that he was a GOOD king.  We learn that he is mighty in battle and has built a formidable war machine, including inventing catapults to aid him in overtaking walled cities.  We learn that he was famous.  We also learn, importantly, that he is a husbandman - a keeper of livestock, a farmer!

He "loved the soil."  He farmed not from necessity.  He was king and had all he needed.  No, he farmed because he loved it.  I admire Uzziah for his love for things agricultural.  I think God put that desire in many people and that it hearkens back to him placing Adam in the Garden to keep it.

I have many fond memories of loving the soil and farming from early childhood.  I have told the story before, but a can recall pushing my chair back from the table as a toddler and running outside with my fruit cocktail and planting it.  Sadly, I can report that the germination was 0%.  I remember planting green beans in Dixie Cups in elementary school, watching the progress of growth day by day.  It was magical, mesmerizing!

Loving the soil is something that doesn't come without hard work.  I recall clearing land to be planted for the first time.  It was bottomland off of Carrier Road in Oberlin.  Our goal was to plant this land.  My Dad said it was "rested land" and would yield like crazy.  As the hot, summer sun beat down, we pulled a flatbed wagon across the cleared land with an old John Deere 4020 tractor.  We tossed pine knots onto the trailer as we criss-crossed  the land.  When the pile of pine knots was tall and threatened to fall off the trailer, we unloaded them in a pile against the fence row.  We pulled a disk across the newly cleared land and picked up more pine knots.  After a rain, you could walk across the land and find antique bottles and old-fashioned marbles and wonder about the lives that those folks lived a generation or two before - those tied to the soil like you.

It is a strong pull - the love for the land.  Once the land was cleared, as the sun set, we leaned against the old wagon with sweat-drenched clothes.  The muscles ached, the back protested, and we didn't smell too good, but we had pride in what we had accomplished.  The first harvest from this 'new' land was special.  In our own small way, we had tamed the land and converted formerly useless land into useful and productive land.  

In some sense, the taming of the land is metaphorical of what the Lord does to the untamed human heart.  If we yield to Him, believing in the finished work of His Son, He transforms the hardened soil of our hearts to fertile soil, productive and wholesome, yielding a bountiful harvest.  Praise Be to God!

A Day for Moms

“Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: ‘Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.’” – Proverbs 31:28-31

Sunday was Mother's Day - a great day to honor our Moms.  God created the perfect day for it with beautiful skies, gorgeous weather, and cool, comfortable weather.  We had church again outside and then rushed home to begin preparing the meal.  Here is my beautiful wife and mother of my children enjoying together time with the other men in her life.

Tricia and her boys (Russ on the left, Benjamin on the right)

The menu for the day was barbecued chicken and smoked sausage po-boys with sides of dirty rice, fresh green beans and squash, onions with sauteed mushrooms.  They were all cooked on the fire pit in the back yard. 

We honored three mothers - Tricia, my Mom, and Jenny, my sister.  They are all great Moms, for sure.  We spent the whole afternoon visiting, laughing, telling stories and remembering funny things from the past.  It is always fun to get together and just enjoy each other's company.

Patricia, My mom, and Jenny

Here is a photo of my mom and me!

My Mom and Me

Whether it is your mom or the mother of your children, I truly am blessed to have such amazing women in my life, and I am so thankful to God for His benevolence in allowing me to be associated with mothers of this quality.  Happy Mother's Day!

Ain't no fence strong enough...

Ain't no mountain high enough, aah

Ain't no valley low enough

Ain't no river wide enough

To keep me from you

Yes, those were Diana Ross' words in one of her famous songs.  Barriers are no obstacle at all when the love bug bites.  We learned this just this past week.  We had noticed that Rosie (our oldest Jersey cow) had come into heat.  It becomes evident because all of the cows begin jumping on one another.  Hormones are running high at this time and it is a good thing that we keep our bull, Astro, in what we call the bull pen.

We keep him away from the momma cows because we don't want him breeding them.  We are keeping him until the end of the summer and we'll bring him to the butcher shop to replenish our freezer with fresh grass fed beef.  This pen we keep him in borders the pasture and is largely made of hog wire topped with a strand of barbed wire.  It is strong and an effective barrier.

There is one area we call the 'chute' that connects the bull pen to the barn and corral.  It is made up of cattle panels that are stapled into 4 x 4 posts and reinforced with t-posts in the middle of the 16 foot span.  It is strong, too.  

A while back Tricia told me that Buckwheat, the buck, had been rubbing on the cattle panels.  Goats are notorious for rubbing themselves on fences.  Tricia mentioned that the goat's rubbing had loosened the panel from the 4 x 4s.  I meant to fix it.  I really did.  But I was distracted and never quite got around to it.

Well last week we were about to do chores and I looked out at the cows in the pasture with their calves.  Something seemed out of place.  There were too many animals out there!  I asked Tricia, "Does it look to you like Astro, the bull, is with the other cows?"  The answer was "yes."  Oh no!  I ran out to the pasture and watched with dismay as Astro mounted Rosie.  Not good.  After closer inspection, I could see that Astro had pushed open the panel where the goat had previously loosened it and squeezed on out to join the ladies.

I led Rosie into the bull pen with Astro closely following behind.  Then I led her out, leaving Astro in the bullpen.  He is getting to be a big fellow, and there was no fence high enough to keep him from his love.

I got a hammer and some more staples and fixed the fence.  I should have done that weeks ago.  Sometimes due to competing priorities, pressing jobs get pushed back until it's time (or past time) to get them done.  Do you ever do that?  It didn't take long to fix.  I may even come back and reinforce it further with some tie wire.  But that reminds me of the old quote about "closing the barn door after the horse is already out."

If what we observed did indeed take place, Rosie may be calving again in March 2020.  Astro is not her calf and he is A2/A2, so it is not the end of the world, but we were trying to introduce some new genetics into our little herd.  We've marked the date and will watch Rosie to see if she comes back into heat in about 21 days.  We will keep you posted on Rosie and if she's pregnant.

As I think of the power of love, I think of another song about barriers being insufficient in keeping love apart.  This one a duet by Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn:

Hey, Louisiana woman, Mississippi man

We get together every time we can.

The Mississippi River can't keep us apart

There's too much love in the Mississippi heart.

Too much love in this Louisiana heart.

The power of love can make one leap over fences or rivers or mountains.  Speaking of leaping, we made a leap in this blog post - from Motown to Classic Country.  

The Good Old Days

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"I wish there was a way to know you were in the good old days before you actually left them" - Andy Bernard from The Office

We don't watch a whole lot of television at our house.  We don't have cable and I'm not interested in most of the stuff on network TV.  I must admit, however, that we have Netflix and binge watch certain programs on there.  We've recently watched all 9 seasons of "The Office."  The Office was a quirky show about employees at a paper company in Scranton, Pennsylvania.  The writers were so skilled and the show was light-hearted and the characters kept us laughing out loud frequently - more so than any other show.

Last night we watched the show's finale and it was an emotional show.  The characters were all going their separate ways and Andy Bernard said the quote, "I wish there was a way to know you were in the good old days before you actually left them."  To me, that was probably the best quote of the entire show.  That's saying a lot, because the show was filled with noteworthy and funny quotes.

Isn't that quote accurate, though?  I'm a very nostalgic person - always remembering the past, reminiscing about "the good old days."  I was just looking through some old photos tonight, like the one below of our family taken in January 2009.  My, how things have changed in only ten years.

I look back at that photo and think, "Those were the good old days."  The kids were young, all living at home.  We were younger.  I looked at more photos.

Things seemed so carefree and happy.

The good old days...

But then as I think of it, even with all the smiles and happiness, 10 years ago would we have said it was the good old days?  I don't think so.  We were going through things that we wouldn't have considered "good old days."  The good old days are elusive.

As I think on it, I think Andy Bernard was right about the good old days.  Relish each moment.  Cherish each day.  Live life to the fullest for the good old days are right now.

Writing it on Your Barn

4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord:

5 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:

7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

8 And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.

9 And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.

The Shema is a Jewish Prayer and the first part of it is from Deuteronomy 6:4-9. As Christians we see it as a declaration that the LORD is one and that we should love him with all our hearts.  We should keep these words in the forefront of our lives and always on our minds.  It stresses that fact in that we should even write them on our home and gates, so that we are always focusing on them.

On the way to work the other day, I pulled to the side of the road outside of Crowley, Louisiana, to take a picture of a man who took Deuteronomy 4:9 literally:

Almost.  He painted, "GOD IS LOVE" on the side of his barn with the "O" in Love being a heart. While some paint "See Rock City" on their barns, this gentleman made a more meaningful sign on his barn that conveys an encouraging proclamation to the millions that pass by on Interstate 10.

God definitely is Love... and more and more need to experience that love today. Thank you to the barn painter in Crowley that is spreading words of hope.

Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning?

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September 11, 2001.  A day most will never forget.  Alan Jackson didn't want to forget it and wrote and recorded a song about his emotions on that infamous day. According to THIS ARTICLE:

The song is based on the September 11 attacks, a series of four coordinated terrorist attacks by the Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda on the United States on September 11, 2001. Jackson had finished walking outside and returned indoors to discover news of the attacks on television. He immediately wanted to write a song expressing his thoughts and emotions, but he found it hard to do so for many weeks. "I didn't want to write a patriotic song", Jackson said. "And I didn't want it to be vengeful, either. But I didn't want to forget about how I felt and how I knew other people felt that day." 

Finally, on the Sunday morning of October 28, 2001, he woke up at 4 a.m. with the melody, opening lines and chorus going through his mind. He hastily got out of bed, still in his underwear, and sang them into a hand-held digital recorder so he would not forget them.  Later that morning, when his wife and children had gone to Sunday school, he sat down in his study and completed the lyrics. 

Initially, he felt squeamish about recording it, much less releasing it, because he disliked the idea of capitalizing on a tragedy. But after he played it for his wife Denise and for his producer, Keith Stegall, and it met with their approval, Jackson went into the studio to record "Where Were You" that week. On Stegall's advice, Jackson played the finished track for a group of executives at his record label. "We just kind of looked at one another", RCA Label Group chairman Joe Galante said later. "Nobody spoke for a full minute."

Here are the lyrics to that song:

"Where Were You (When The World Stopped Turning)"

Where were you when the world stopped turning on that September day?
Were you in the yard with your wife and children
Or working on some stage in L.A.?
Did you stand there in shock at the sight of that black smoke
Risin' against that blue sky?
Did you shout out in anger, in fear for your neighbor
Or did you just sit down and cry?

Did you weep for the children who lost their dear loved ones
And pray for the ones who don't know?
Did you rejoice for the people who walked from the rubble
And sob for the ones left below?
Did you burst out with pride for the red, white and blue
And the heroes who died just doin' what they do?
Did you look up to heaven for some kind of answer
And look at yourself and what really matters?

[Chorus:]
I'm just a singer of simple songs
I'm not a real political man
I watch CNN but I'm not sure I can tell
You the difference in Iraq and Iran
But I know Jesus and I talk to God
And I remember this from when I was young
Faith, hope and love are some good things He gave us
And the greatest is love

Where were you when the world stopped turning on that September day?
Were you teaching a class full of innocent children
Or driving down some cold interstate?
Did you feel guilty 'cause you're a survivor
In a crowded room did you feel alone?
Did you call up your mother and tell her you loved her?
Did you dust off that Bible at home?

Did you open your eyes, hope it never happened
Close your eyes and not go to sleep?
Did you notice the sunset the first time in ages
Or speak to some stranger on the street?
Did you lay down at night and think of tomorrow
Or go out and buy you a gun?
Did you turn off that violent old movie you're watchin'
And turn on "I Love Lucy" reruns?

Did you go to a church and hold hands with some strangers
Did you stand in line and give your own blood?
Did you just stay home and cling tight to your family
Thank God you had somebody to love?

[Chorus x2]

And the greatest is love.
And the greatest is love.

Where were you when the world stopped turning on that September day?

Alan Jackson asks a good question.  Many people can recall what they were doing when John F. Kennedy was assassinated.  I can't because I wasn't born yet.  Others can recall where they were when we landed a man on the moon.  I can't remember that either because I was not yet 3 years old. But I can remember vividly the day of 9/11.  Can you?

I was farming at the time.  I remember the day was a beautiful one, with brilliant sunshine and a clear blue sky.  We were plowing some land and I had dropped by the shop to pick up the grease gun to grease the bearings on the plow.  We had a television in the shop that was always on during the day, and I stopped in front of it as they were showing images of the World Trade Center. There was smoke coming from one of the buildings and the host of the Today show was talking to reporters about what happened.  News was slow coming in and they were speculating that a small commuter plane had accidentally flown into the side of the building.

Then the second plane hit the other building and everyone knew this was an attack. It was no accident.  All I could do was watch with a sickening emptiness as the camera showed people on the upper floors and the streets below littered with paper. The smoke got thicker and people began jumping out of the building.  Later, with a rumble and billowing clouds of dust, the buildings came tumbling down.  And then news came out about the Pentagon attack and Flight 93 that crashed into a field in rural Pennsylvania.

Part of me wants to say that as a country, we lost our innocence that day, but I know that evil has existed since that fateful day in the Garden.  Sure, America has been attacked before in an ambush 60 years earlier on December 7, 1941 when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, but this was different.  These were innocent civilians in peace time on our shores.  The horror!

The photo below was taken by me in 1987 during a trip to New York City.  I took this picture looking up, craning my neck to see the top of those towers.  I was awestruck.  They were huge and symbolized strength, permanence, and might.  We took the elevators to the observation deck and viewed the panoramic sights from atop the mighty tower.

My pic of the Word Trade Center Towers from 1987

It is hard to imagine that those towers are completely gone.  Something that seemed so permanent was brought down in a matter of 102 minutes one September morning, bringing down with it the hopes and dreams of the victims and those of their families.  The World Trade Center towers, as it turns out, were not permanent.

It is easy, even 14 years later, to succumb to thoughts of anger and bitterness, and I know that is not productive.  I think Alan Jackson summarized the better way to channel my emotions:

I know Jesus and I talk to God
And I remember this from when I was young
Faith, hope and love are some good things He gave us
And the greatest is love.

The twin towers from a distance (Aug 1987)

Love on the Farm

"Something in the way she MOOS,Attracts me like no other lover,Something in the way she woos me, I don't want to leave her now,You know I believe and how." -The Beatles

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I took liberties with the lyrics of the Beatles famous love song, "Something," but you get the picture, it is the Season of Love at our Maker's Acres Family Farm.  Nellie, our Nubian momma goat, has been in milk for a year and a half.  It is time to dry her off and have her bred.  Her daughter, Annie, is a year and a half old and it is time for her to be bred.  The only problem is we don't have a billy goat to breed them.

Tricia made contact with a friend of hers that lives an hour and a half away who has a registered Nubian billy goat that will be more than happy to breed Nellie and Annie. While I was at work, Tricia, Benjamin and my Mom & Dad took our goats on a date and drove them an hour and a half away where we'll leave them for 3 weeks. Hopefully, when we pick them up, they'll both be bred and in about 150 days, we'll have baby goats.

Annie (left) and Nellie (right) ready to go on a trip

Upon arrival, we found that Tricia's friend's farm was right on the river - one of the deepest in Louisiana and one with a very swift current.  The goats walk right down to the river's edge to drink water.  How cool is that? They don't have to worry about water troughs!

Nellie and Annie getting to know the other goats by the river

They have a Great Pyrenees like us.  I bet their dog doesn't eat chickens, though.  He appears to be a good guardian of the goats.

Learning to drink from the river

The goat pasture is a long, narrow pasture that runs alongside the water.  I like the arched gate.

The River Gate

There are also calves in the pasture.  You can see a bridge in the background.

We were so happy to find someone with a registered Nubian to breed our goats.  As Tricia talked to her friend, she discovered that she had a Jersey cow named Bessie, that she needed bred but didn't have a registered Jersey bull.  Well, we could help! Tricia called me and told me that they were bringing home Bessie for a 3 week date with Bully, our registered Jersey bull.  Funny how that worked out!

Bessie in the trailer ready to come to our house for a visit

We got Bessie home, unloaded her, and put her in the paddock with Bully and a fresh bale of hay. Daisy, Rosie and Amy ran and ran, excited about the new addition to the pasture.  Bessie is taller than our two Jersey cows.  We're milking her in addition to Daisy and Rosie.

Bessie eating hay in the paddock with Bully

Bully has been following Bessie around, but Bessie is not in standing heat yet.  We'll continue to watch her.  In three weeks when we return Bessie to her home and bring Nellie and Annie back home, we hope that all three animals are bred.  Love is indeed in the air.

A Family Legacy

Do you ever stop and think about what type of legacy you'll leave behind?  About what your kids will remember you by once you're gone?  About making memories and a creating a family identity that sets you apart and makes you different?  About what work ethic, values, integrity, and character traits that you've deposited in your children that will hopefully be passed down to theirs.  I think about this stuff a lot.


Benjamin fishing by the bridge at (Cub Scout) Camp Edgewood in Gillis, Louisiana  (One of my favorite pictures!)

I always wonder what steps I can take to instill in my kids timeless virtues and therefore, leave behind something of value that will carry forward those things our family cherishes.  Many of us are standing on the shoulders of our fathers.  Our lives today are shaped greatly by what our fathers gave us - and theirs by their fathers, and so on and so forth.  Our identity, in many cases, was largely determined generations ago.  Likewise, our kids' future is largely dependent on us and what we do.  That's a sobering thought.  It only takes one broken link in the chain and the work of generations of men and women can be brought to a screeching halt.

I'm not saying that it is all up to you, because it's not.  A child, and then a young man or young woman, has free will.  Once they are out from under your roof, they can make their own decisions - good or bad.  Sometimes things go awry despite our best intentions.


Foggy morning fishing

Faith, Hope, and Love.

First off, I want to pass along my Christian faith to my kids, fully aware that I can't make the decision to follow Christ for them.  That decision is theirs alone, but I have a great responsibility in conveying the message.  Just as Moses gave the commandments to the Israelites, we should teach (AND LIVE) the Gospel of Jesus Christ continually.

Deuteronomy 6:6-10
⁶ These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. ⁷ You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. ⁸ You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. ⁹ You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Secondly, as dark as this fallen world is, there is always hope and we should never give up.  There is hope in Christ.  There is hope in our fellow man.  There is hope in justice and that goodness and virtue and honor will prevail over evil.  I want my kids' eyes to be open to the evil that is in the world, but to never give up, never be complacent, never be pessimistic and never be apathetic.

Finally, there is love.  I want my kids to experience the love of Christ and to radiate that love to others in their path.  I want them to be considerate, thoughtful people that genuinely love other people and treat them as they expect to be treated.  Love never dies.

As a post script, I want them to share my love of the land, the smell of dirt, the enjoyment of watching things grow, the challenge of tending for God's creation and experiencing the joys (and sometimes sorrows) of that relationship with the land.  I want them to know how to work with their hands, grow healthy food, and enjoy a standard of living not measured by dollars, possessions, or other luxuries, but measured in love, peace and satisfaction that while they are living out lives of purpose on this earth, their real citizenship is in Heaven.

Our Maker's Acres Dirt!

  What kind of legacy will we leave and what can we do TODAY to shape that legacy?