Silly Goat

There she is.

She did it and she did it with honors.

There is much to tell about the weekend we just lived through but I'm not quite ready to shape the words. All the images, and all the happenings are tumbling around in my brain and it's just not time. Stay tuned though. It will come and it will be a beautiful story because it was a beautiful weekend.

Let me distract you with the story of this morning.

I got up early. I sat on the couch with my journal and my bible. Before I dug into my reading and writing, I stared out the window at the sunrise and with peaceful contentment absorbed the morning. I planned a workout and thought about supper. I thought about the weekend and tried to get some of my thoughts in my journal.

All too soon I heard the squeak of the upstairs floorboards. Will was awake and getting dressed for school. Lizzy had a late start at school,  so she was still asleep. Kelli well, Kelli is all done with high school and is still sleeping as I sit and type.

Will made it downstairs and as is his recent custom, went he out to the barn to chore his goats. Have I told you he has goats?

Will has goats.

Four of them. Doing their thing in our barn, waiting for their chance to shine at the County Fair.

Will loves his goats. He had been bugging us for a goat since the end of last summer's Fair. Farmer Chad, our neighbor and friend, gave Will some goats.

This is where the story begins.

I'm at the kitchen counter. I'm mixing up a batch of puffins. I'm feeling a little proud of myself thinking how good I am that I got up early, that I read my Bible, that I going to the gym later, that I'm making a home made breakfast for my children. Basically, that I'm all that.

I think there is something in the Bible about being proud. Something like - Pride cometh before a fall.

Will opens the kitchen door and I started to fall.

"Mom there's a goat out in the barn. Can you come out?"

A goat out in the barn? Now? I'm making puffins and feeling proud of my morning. Goats? What am I supposed to do with goats? I'm going to work out later. I read my Bible. I watched the sun rise.

Goats?

I headed out to the barn.

The goat was roaming around, checking out all of our barn things. There were feed bags to nibble and shovels to smell. There was also a pile of stacked feed bags against the pig pen. "Hmm," thought the goat,  "If I climb up this stack I could get into that pig pen. I don't know about pigs."

And that is exactly what the goat did.

"Hmm," said the pigs. " Looks like something to eat. Let's corner it and nibble."

And that is exactly what the pigs did.

The goat had climbed and jumped it's way into our pen of toddler pigs. We call them toddlers because they're not as pig as the mama sows we had, yet bigger than the babies that were recently born. They're toddlers.

They're the Fair pigs. They have pretty behinds and are well muscled. There are six of the little rascals in one pen and by all appearances they are mischievous and hungry.

They had that goat cornered in less than 30 seconds.

I watched for a second, trying to figure out how I was going to swoop in and save the day. Will was counting on me to make everything right.

Toddler pigs started to nibble on goat's legs. Goat started baaing, realizing the error of his prodigal ways. Is the hay always fresher on the other side of the pen?

What was I going to do?

First thing first. I handed the camera to Will and said, "Watch this. Take pictures."

I felt a blog post coming on.

Paul had his thorn in the flesh that he prayed for the Lord to remove. The Lord didn't remove it and in Paul's weakness he came to understand that when he was weak, God was strong.

As I sit here all I smell is pig. I have pig poop smeared across the back of my leg. I have goat hair all over my jacket. Please Lord, please take away the smell of pig.

Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

Oh, how the girl stinks.

Oh, how silly the goat.

Oh, how great the love the Father has lavished on us all.

Amen.