Continuing down the negative spiral…

How much can change in two months?

For us, a lot. My last post was all about finding peace and having wisdom during frustrating times. I honestly had to return to that post over and over again the past month.
It all started with my husband and I getting into a car wreck on the way home from a funeral. It was for a family member and was out of town.
No one was hurt, but my husband’s paid for car was declared a total loss.
The entire process was a nightmare. Our insurance company could not send a tow truck in time, and then they didn’t pick up the car or contact us for two weeks. It put us with one car (again!) when our rental car period ran out.

We had to go through the entire process of shopping for a new car all over again.

I might go further into detail there, but for now, just know that it was an overwhelming season.

We also had to cull our rooster, Freddy.

I was devastated. He has been a steady part of farm life and chicken ownership over the last few months. He has been reliable and steady, and did so many jobs well.

Other than one.

He attacked a hen severely. The injury was horrible (he scalped her), and she is currently recovering in our basement. We still are not sure if she is going to make it.

It was a really hard decision - on one hand, we didn’t want Freddy to have to go. He does so many jobs so well, and meets so many of our needs. On the other, it is our responsibility to have a rooster that protects hens - and doesn’t put them in harm’s way.

To say the process was gruesome is an understatement. To all farmers that eat their own chickens, we definitely know that the process is not for the weak.

Everything has lead to a season of high emotion. What do you do, when you feel like you are doing everything correctly but still experiencing setbacks?

What do you do, when your life brings you several steps forward but then several steps back?

I’m trying to have peace (like last month), but I’m also nervous about the future?

If you are a fellow person of faith, let me just encourage you now that there are so many lessons to be learned in every season. All setbacks might not have served a purpose, but what you do with them always will.

Your attitude and the action steps you take will always help you see a way forward.

I would never tell people to be ignorantly positive, but I will always tell people to be open to opportunity. Are your bad circumstances a setback to your plans? Or are they communicating to you to take a break and make sure your plans are exactly the way you should go?

Sit and breathe. Be of sound mind. Know that where you are can serve a higher and better purpose in the grand scheme of things.

You might be asking what we get to learn from culling our rooster -

We honestly learned what we are capable of. We are capable of pride, mercy, and respect for all living things. We learned the purpose of animals on a farm, and how our pride is not to be traded for the compromise of safety of animals that have been put into our care. We cannot avoid doing the hard thing simply because ‘we don’t want to’. We owe all of our other hens a stress free and safe life - as long as they are in our care.

It might not seem like a huge lesson now, but years down the road when our animal numbers have grown significantly, we will know what to prioritize for the sake of safety.

Again, if you look around, what can be gleaned from your circumstances? Are bad things happening TO you, or are they happening FOR you?

I’m holding onto that thought this week, alongside holding on to my peace.

Thanks for being here, I appreciate all of you.

XOXO,

Windham