Christmas Eve in the Country
December 24th, 2006 by Northern FarmerA Christmas Eve evening out here on the old farm. Belly is stuffed with all sorts of foods. Even had some of our first smoked turkey and was it ever good! Also knowing how it was raised really adds to the taste! Been a good day, weather is still good. Got the chores done this morning with out a hitch! Loaded up and headed for our little church for a wonderful service, in fact nobody seemed like they wanted to leave after the service was all done with. But we gradually forced ourselves to head on home after almost forty five minutes of visiting there.
So this evening I’ll take a few minutes and visit the old blog and jot down something, don’t know what yet, but that’s the way I blog, always have. Whatever happens, happens. I don’t think I’ll go into all the Christmas, verses, the modern ways type post, there’s enough of that out in all of blogland. Why keep beating it with a stick, eh. There’s to much good to think about. Good everywhere a person looks, if you just look! God’s folks are on the move everywhere. Not being noticed or even being despised by the world but that still don’t stop all the good going on!
Now, I was listening to a preaching tape the other day and one thing really got me. One of my favorite preachers, a country preacher at that was talking about how, no matter where you go in the world, to the most remote places on earth, that every tribe or people knows the devil. Hmmm, that got me thinking a bit. They all know he’s here and he sure does control allot of folks. But we in Christ know, we know who’s really in charge. And it did all happen because of a child being born into this world. I often wonder what it was like for God the Son to lower Himself into a human form. Feel everything we feel, experience everything we experience, tempted like we are. Does make me wonder, in awe of course.
But when a person realizes that He did go through life feeling what we feel and experiencing everything we do it sure does show how He loved us. Now I don’t care if a person believes in Christmas or not, it’s not any of my concern. Some do, some don’t, Christians I’m talking about. None of my concern at all. And it don’t pay to get hooked into some endless debate about it. I always have to chuckle at the endless debates on the internet about things like that. The old devil, now he loves debates raging, keeps people from doing what they’re supposed to be doing. That is following God. Keep a bunch going in circles trying to show man their wisdom, debate, debate, debate! Just like a farm dog chasing it’s tail. And then wonder how come good never seems to happen in their lives.
I learned a while back, keep it simple. Boy, some folks don’t like that! But I really do wonder how some of them debating folks can find time to read the Bible. They sure don’t understand what they do read. But that’s the way it is, and that’s what the Bible even says. The promise of that Book is so great, the simple can understand it while the wise are confused. That’s also a promise in it!
So around here there won’t be any heavy thinking this season, although there rarely is any other time either. Just joy and thanksgiving for our Savior Jesus Christ. Only He can break all bonds and set a person free! Only He can bring folks together and have folks live happily with one another. And only He can do what the world calls impossible. So this dark evening out here in the country all I can say is thank you Jesus for coming into this world so long ago. And thank you for flooding Your children with the Holy Ghost! The times coming are perilous, but You got Your folks covered! What a privilege to be born into a time like this where we get to spread the Word of God to a perilous world.
December 25th, 2006 at 2:51 am
Amen…Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night
December 25th, 2006 at 6:50 am
Ah, Christmas morning and time to get out and start chores, (after one more cup of coffee). Merry Christmas Patti and I hope yours is blessed!
December 25th, 2006 at 7:58 am
Merry Christmas, Northern Farmer,and family!
December 25th, 2006 at 9:26 am
Jan,
And a Merry Christmas to you and yours!
God Bless!
December 25th, 2006 at 9:29 am
Merry Christmas Tom! I just got in from chores, started at 4:30 am. Everyones been fed and now I can finish my coffee and take a nap before our dinner company shows up and then I work off-farm this evening.
At 5am this morning one of our 12 year old Jerseys (Nut) dropped a real nice little heifer calf! Nut was past due, I guess she was waiting for the best morning possible. Mother and calf are doing well this morning. It hasn’t felt very Christmas like around here, no snow, two barn fires and working over the holidays (off farm) doesn’t add much cheer! Maybe old Nut was trying to cheer us up?
December 25th, 2006 at 11:44 am
Tom,
Merry Christmas. The wonderful thing is that we know the King who wins.
Jim V
December 25th, 2006 at 12:00 pm
Hey Brent!
There! Got the morning chores done, was in for a quick milk and cookie break earlier, but all done now for a few hours. I hope I can sneak out and catch a quick nap a bit later, didn’t get one yesterday and I don’t want to screw up my routine all too much!
I hear you about working off farm later today, but I hope you hit that work with the glory of God in your heart!! I think we all should, no matter what the deal, always use it to Glorify Him! Maybe your placed there for a reason today!!??!! Hmmmm!
I know when you share what’s happening in your family’s lives over your way, the fires and all that, you catch my attention quick! And how you keep on pluggin lifts many people up! I gotta thank you for that this season! (Also, I’d better find time one of these days and get that group e-mail going so us big thinkers can discuss OP corn, eh!)
So no matter what the situation, MERRY CHRISTMAS!
God Bless You ALL!
Good to hear from you this morning Jim!
I hope all is well over your way this fine day! And I’ll do an official Christmas thank you for your help around here on the blog these last few weeks. Made a huge difference for me! Took the pressure off, bigtime! Also, I hope your enjoying it
Better get out of the smelly clothes now and get ready to eat again with extended family today, (gee, I hope I can pull off a nap later), then putz around with afternoon chores.
So, Merry Christmas to you and yours, and yup, it’s sure great to be on the side of our King, our Lord who has already won!!
God Bless!
December 25th, 2006 at 1:41 pm
Merry Christmas to you & yours …
it sounds lovely in your world …
ours is peaceful and quiet too (we live right north of you!) …
December 25th, 2006 at 2:13 pm
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
December 25th, 2006 at 5:42 pm
Saija,
Merry Christmas to you and yours too!
North of me huh. Manitoban eh! Well it’s good to hear from someone in the area on the old blog here. Stay warm this winter!
God Bless!
Hey Russ!
Merry Christmas to you all just a bit to the east of this humble hillbilly dirt farmer. Got your card and thanks for the photo of the whole family. It’s nice to put faces to the names! I sure wish we had some photos here of us folks, but we don’t. I’ll have to chew on that for a bit.
Anyway, Merry Christmas again and God Bless your whole tribe!
December 26th, 2006 at 12:45 pm
Merry Christmas & Happy New Years!
-Walter & Family
Sugar Mountain Farm
in Vermont
December 27th, 2006 at 6:16 am
Tom,
It is quite evident that you have the joy of the Lord. You oughta be one strong man cause that’s where we get our strength. Right?
December 27th, 2006 at 6:30 am
Walter,
And a Merry Christmas to all you folks over your way!
God Bless!
John,
I sure do hope to get allot stronger in the Joy of the Lord, cause I’m no more than a stumble bum it seems like. But, just pick one’s self back up and keep running the race!
Hope all is well with you folks!
God Bless!
December 27th, 2006 at 6:56 am
There’s to much good to think about. Good everywhere a person looks, if you just look! God’s folks are on the move everywhere. Not being noticed or even being despised by the world but that still don’t stop all the good going on!
A great thought Tom. You know, I think thats whats so great about the Christmas season, even good comes to the normally stingy and grumpy. I can remember walking with my grandpa past one of those Salvation Army kettles, and even though he was mumbling under his breath, a greenback came out and was slipped through the slot. See that all the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas… I guess I wish I’d see it more the rest of the year.
This long weekend was good for farm doings. The 60 degree temperatures let me break up the rust take apart the old corn planter which has been giving me fits. Now to try to find a new old seeder plate for it that will fit this reids corn.
), and some floor bracing under where the woodstove is going in the old farmhouse. Crawling in spaces too tight to flip from back to front seems to be getting less fun the older I get (and the spaces need to be bigger for me to crawl through them too……).
New tracks in the doors of the old equipment shed (of course it was only in the 30’s with the wind howling when we did that (I know… I know… your feeling all sorts of pity for this southerner aren’t ya
Anway, glad you had a great Christmas Eve. Ours was great too. Church and food and family games…. The boys went to bed, and my wife and I layed under the Christmas tree and watched the Pope until we fell asleep. Hey, we tried to stay awake, but sermons in Latin even get us die hard Catholics
. (mighta had something to do with the evenings snacks too…)
Have a GREAT day,
Brad
December 27th, 2006 at 2:58 pm
We pray that you had a very merry Christmas and that you enjoyed the time with family.
On your turkey, did you smoke it in one of those charcoal fired smokers? WE have one of those and love smoked turkey and chicken, but we have a hard time using it in the winter. It seems the outside temps make it too cool for the actual cooking of the meat.
December 27th, 2006 at 9:48 pm
Love to hear your opinions on this…….
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061227/ap_on_sc/cloned_food_4
December 28th, 2006 at 12:47 am
Merry Christmas, Tom! I am a little late on the season greetings. But still thinking of you and yours up there.
Christina
December 28th, 2006 at 6:42 am
Hey Brad,
Conditions are perfect for the job and there’s plenty to haul. Calves are standing three feet taller than normal in the barn, don’t need them up in the rafters one of these days. So unless the weather turns ugly I figure two more days in the smaller cattle barn.
About the only news from here is that I’m hauling manure every day instead of writing it
Have a good one!
God Bless!
Marci,
I hope everything was and is well down your way this Christmas season!
I don’t smoke our own turkeys, yet, so I can’t answer much about it. The local butcher shop smokes them for us, cheap! I do smoke sausages and stuff out here in a traditional, large, cement block smoke house at our next door neigbors place. Ah, the smell of oak and applewood smoking away, I like that!
God Bless!
Patti,
I think everybody that reads this blog knows my opinion on this and I don’t have time to get into it now at all. Just doing my morning wrap up on the computer while sucking down a gallon of coffee. There’s manure to haul, so I won’t shovel any out here on the blog for a bit. Anybody else want to throw in their opinion, go right ahead. But please don’t brag up this cloning stuff, or I’ll likely get sucked into a rant and we all don’t want that now do we
God Bless!
Christina,
Merry Christmas to you all too! You know that I know how it is blogging and all that. We get behind, run out of time and stuff. But what the heck, family comes first. Them blogs are very secondary on the list. Which reminds me, I was thinking about upgrading to a new super dooper computer around the new year. Either that or I’d invest in a Kentucky Long Rifle, black powder jobby. Flint lock style. Hmm, computer and lots of blogging or black powder flint lock? Which way do I go? I wonder if anyone can guess what I’ll be doing?
God Bless!
December 29th, 2006 at 12:02 pm
Tom,
Sounds like the Kentucky Long Rifle is going to win. Then again, old computers work fine for blogging, don’t they.
Have you been talking with JM about his new site and his Biblical Concourse conference call? I have been wondering if he should give us an update on this blog?
Jim V
December 29th, 2006 at 12:17 pm
Jim,
I was thinking about having a combination turkey shoot and sweet corn boil come next summer, waddya think??!!
We’ll see what we can come up with as far as JM goes, you never know
December 29th, 2006 at 9:30 pm
Tom,
A Turkey shoot plus a sweet corn boil sounds wonderful. Maybe the sun will be shining by then as well.
I see JM is working on http://www.authenticagriculture.com.
Jim V
December 30th, 2006 at 8:54 pm
Hey Jim!
Quite the weather, eh! I wonder if it’ll turn to snow or ice?? It’ll be nice to see the sun someday again.