The 28th of this month will mark 6 months since I lost him.

Simplicity.  Intentionality.  Trending words.  Profound meanings.  These things, if practiced properly, should contribute greatly towards rest and peace, right?  But how exactly are they best practiced in today's busy society is the great question looming in each of our minds.  Sure, you can find helpful  and skillfully written blog posts with amazing tips aimed at decluttering, minimalist organization, quick and easy meal prep ideas...  all great stuff.  I've pored over several of these myself and even implemented a few into my *attempted* daily routine.  But here's a question for you: 

Wait.
Did you know that "wait" is an active verb?  It's conjugated like one.  But so many times in our minds, "wait" tends to be interpreted as only a period of doing nothing.  (Maybe sometimes doing nothing is really okay after all?  Just a question)  In any case, yesterday I was reminded that one of the hardest things to teach an animal to do is wait.  The anticipation of what's to come is just so much more exciting.

"If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land."
-II Chronicles 7:14
People the time for this is now...

This year we've had some adorable babies and a great lambing season thus far.  *Update* all ewes have lambed!  The majority of our lambs were born in February, with the oldest being born at the end of January and the youngest being born April 16.  
We used two unrelated rams for this year's lamb crop.  All of our flock are registered Katahdins; and almost all of our lambs can be registered.  All registered lambs are sired by RR rams.  The one set of commercial twins we have are out of a registered ewe that I know is RR.
We had 20 bred ewes this year.  
Our farm has participated for the last couple of years in the Virginia Tech Southwest AREC ram study.  This is a great program!  I'm so thankful for all the help I've received in learning about sheep improvement through this.   
So here is our 2020 sale catalog!  I'll update it as frequently as I'm able.  Please feel free to contact me for additional information or questions you may have.

Okay yeah this is a terrible picture.  I shot it on my phone and she was moving people.  I'll try and get a better one here but this will just have to do for now.  Made you look though didn't it?  Ruby Sue had these darlings yesterday.  And here's my point:  It made me remember that Pastor Josh preached this past Sunday (Facebook live don't worry) on Psalm 23.  Famous Psalm of course that begins with, "The Lord is my Shepherd..."

Sunflowers.  I took this picture over two months ago.  So why wait till now to post this pic?  Well, to be perfectly honest, I’ve missed a lot of good pictures and posts lately.  Beautiful moments have passed me by and I’ve not captured them or shared because of being in the depths of depression and anxiety.  I’ve struggled with this for years...  but somehow I thought that I could just pray about it and deal...  what is it with Christians like me who think they don’t want to admit that they need this kind of help anyway?  I’ll be okay I told myself.  Turns out I was wrong.  Coming to that conclusion was very painful and humbling for me too.  Sometimes we just need the help of others.  Sometimes His answers to our prayers lie at least in part in the people around us.  So to all of my friends that would have been there for me had I just asked, I’m truly sorry.  And to those of you that have been there for me over the past couple of months as I have fought to get better, thank you.  That’s probably why I chose this picture of sunflowers.  Because not only are they happy, but they were given to me by someone that has been there for me too.  I’m getting help now.  I’m getting better.  I hope to be writing more again soon.  Several of my friends and family had remarked that they missed my posts and pictures.  “Why haven’t you written?  Why haven’t you worked on that book project you told me about,” they would say...  Pain is so weird.  Sometimes when you are up in the middle of it, you just don’t have answers to even the most obvious of questions.  So now I know, and now all of you that have read to this point know too.  I would covet your prayers as I embrace the truth and embark upon a journey of recovery.  I want so much to have true and lasting peace and joy.  

This month my grandmother will turn 99.  She still lives on her own nearby the rest of my family and does quite well.  She is always one of the first to "like" any of our statuses on Facebook, and keeps up on any of the additional goings on in the family through a shared app on her iPad.  She plays "Words with Friends."  Let's just say that if the WiFi goes out at Grandma's house, it's akin to an emergency.  She will call somebody and get that thing fixed in short order.  Some of us grandkids were talking about how awesome she is with technology and my brother informed me that Grandma had explained to him that she wasn't really all that talented, she just had "FOMO."  When I stared at him blankly my brother then explained to me that "FOMO" was an urban text abbreviation for "fear of missing out."  Ha!  So in honor of the birthday of one of the classiest and smartest ladies I am privileged to know, I would like to tell you a bit of her and my grandpa's story...

Emily is one of my best girls.  She is a total sweetheart and an excellent mother.  She has raised me some of the prettiest babies and has earned herself a place in my heart.  Emily had developed a problem though: she was losing stinky green cud all down her chin. 

There is nothing quite like good friends and neighbors.  I am blessed beyond measure to have this sweet couple close by.  Meet local flower farmers John and Vickie Cooper.