Lil' Patch

Chicks Moved Out

The chicks are very happy in their new home.  Three of them are 7 weeks old and the other two are 5 weeks old.  I set them up a spot in the storage side of the chicken coop, separate from the adults.  They have about 20 square feet in there.  I hooked up a light for them with a 60 watt bulb - mostly for light, but the heat will help at night when it gets cooler.  The temperature outside today was about 64 degrees, so they didn't really need the extra heat during the day.  That side of the coop only gets light through the little window in the door, so the extra light will be good.

Making progress on the fence for the chickens.  Yesterday I dug two holes and today I dug 1 1/2 holes.  That leaves just 4 1/2 holes left.  I bought all the lumber for the fence and began staining it today too.  I will feel good when the fence is finished - see all those big rocks I've been digging out?!

Canning This Week

We bought 8 sockeye this week and I picked them up Thursday.  I filleted them that night and stuck them in the fridge.  Total filet weight was 44 pounds - average of 5.5 pounds per fish.  Yesterday, I canned up 14 pints (used just a bit more than 3 fish), vacuum sealed the other filets and froze them.  Aren't they pretty?!?  :o)

Daily Devotion 187

July 5

When Things Go Wrong

And not only so, but we glory in tribulation also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience.

Romans 5:3

Most of us are acquainted with adversity. And most of us don’t appreciate it. We regard it as an enemy as old as Job, who lamented, “Man that is born of woman is of few days and full of trouble” (Job 14:1).

There is, however, a positive side to trouble. It was Thomas Edison, standing in the ashes of the fire that destroyed his laboratory, who spoke these inspiring words, “Wonderful! All our mistakes have been burned up and we can start over.”

Even in nature, life depends on resistance. A fish, without the buoyancy of water or the thrust of the current, would be unable to swim. Birds, without the lift provided by the air against their wings, would remain earthbound.

In its metamorphosis from larvae to caterpillar and finally into the beautiful creature we call a swallowtail butterfly, the vital principle of struggle and resistance is striking. In its final stage, there is so much visible effort as the fully developed butterfly struggles to emerge from the chrysalis, that a sympathetic observer is tempted to come to its aid and slit the cocoon open with a sharp knife. This, however, would be a good deed gone awry. Without the benefit of the effort involved, its wings, which were intended for flight, would be mere appendages. The poor little creature, deprived of the life supporting benefit of struggle, would be doomed.

“When things go wrong.” How dare I entertain such a thought? The Word says, “All things work together for good.”

Jerry Yoder, Auburn, KY

Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.

—Psalm 34:19

Bible Reading: Job 5:1–7

One Year Bible Reading Plan:

Acts 13:1–24

Job 31, 32

Used by Permission of Vision Publishers

PO Box 190, Harrisonburg, VA  22803

Phone:  877-488-0901

E-Mail:  [cs@vision-publishers.com]

Daily Devotion 186