Happenings...

Today I made cheese. Cheese curds, I suppose. It's the second time I've gone to a local milk-processing center to learn and make the curds. They only make them about once a month, and I have been blessed to acquire the whey from their curd-making to feed my pigs. They finally figured I could be coerced into actually manufacturing said whey (and the cheese curds as a byproduct?). I'm glad to report that they came out perfectly; I wish I'd had my camera. It just happened to work out that Gi-gi was in town, and delayed her departure long enough to allow me to go and work. There were no teeth loose enough in the house to be threatened by her presence, so I went without worry.

The differences between Gi-gi and a typical babysitter are wide, and varied. A babysitter costs money. Gi-gi gives much of what she has away, as she "has everything she needs anyway." A babysitter probably dirties dishes and such (I say probably because I haven't had one in years) and Gi-gi is a white tornado, doing laundry, changing sheets, washing dishes, vacuuming floors. That she has macular degeneration and can't really see if something is dirty or not is a moot point (although, her intuition leads her accurately to the conclusion that probably everything needs cleaned around here). It really puts me in my place to have my 80-year-old, half-blind grandmother running circles around me and getting more done in a day with my house and kids than I do. But anyways; as long as I keep the kids in their strait jackets, the house should stay decent for 10 minutes.

We have scheduled the butcher for Zeke. We are just not certain what the best route is. The breeder keeps saying they're just waiting for a bit more info from ???, but they have not gotten back to us, and I think it's been close to a month now. I'm not 100% certain that Zeke is sterile, but I AM certain that I can't afford to caretake a boar that couldn't be hired out for breeding, and I know he wouldn't measure up in that department. I could keep waiting and see if he manages to impregnate Trudy, but then I'm looking at a higher probability of boar-taint (which would render the entire investment worthless). We figure it must be best to cut our losses here, before we get in any deeper. Hopefully Trudy can root up the little trees on her own, once we get her out there.

In other news: We are expecting a new member of the family come September. We are very happy. And while I wasn't exactly planning to post this news here, I have a need to vent a bit, so I shall. Please forgive me (and skip this part if you want - it's long and full of controversial philosophy). Why do you suppose it is that such news is interpreted as an invitation to advise about family-planning issues? To be fair, probably 90% of friends and family have expressed joy about this. But it's that other 10% that is getting to me. It could've been my mistake of using the term "surprise", which somehow sounds like "accident" to some. Let me clarify; we have no accidents. No one slipped on a bar of soap. We are cognizant of (and participatory in) the human side of creating new life. It was no accident. I espouse the belief that in a God-honoring marriage certain activities take place. And whether you are using 10 methods to decrease your chances of creating life or zero methods, there IS a chance. Part of holy matrimony, I believe, is embracing that chance, however big or small. So while we may be surprised, we are not shocked, or in awe, or astonished. And we certainly do not have 'accidents' in this department. Secondly, where did this...attitude... come from? That more than one or two children is irresponsible, or burdensome, or to be avoided? I suppose if I planned to keep each of my children dressed in new clothes, attending private school, enrolled in piano and violin and ballet and soccer and swimming and etc etc etc, it could get burdensome. But those are not burdens placed upon a parent because they had children. Those are burdens placed by the parents' own priorities and values. Don't get me wrong; I fully acknowledge the huge responsibility of raising and shaping a soul on this earth, but it is a responsibility that should be undertaken with deep gratitude and humility. Not resignation. As to 3+ children being 'irresponsible', there could be a case made for that. I would say having children you cannot care for, materially or otherwise (state-funded care, absentee fathers, absentee mothers) could be considered irresponsible. Some would argue that more humans = more problems for the earth. People use resources, use energy, eat food, drive cars, live in houses. Very true. But I think it comes down to a person's values, again. I try to base my values in the Bible, which I believe to be the Word of God. One of God's first instructions was for his ultimate creation (man) to tend the Garden. We must caretake the creation. Dominion does not mean license to abuse, but license to use and replenish. To make productive. Harvest the garden and fertilize it; ready the soil for more increase. Another early instruction was 'be fruitful and multiply'. We could say that commandment was fulfilled at x billion number of people. But nowhere in scripture does it ever refer to children or offspring as burdens. In fact, children are a blessing, a heritage from God. When God was pleased and pouring out his blessings, the people always "increased". I don't think they were just putting on weight. Currently, many parts of the world are dealing with decreasing birth rates and an aging population. Russia has poisoned it's land to such an extent that there is much sterility among it's peoples. China has long-since enforced it's one-child plan, Africa is dying under AIDS, Europe is sidelining the family ideal in favor of pursuit of self, and if we discount immigration, even America would be shrinking. I believe the only part of the world currently expanding is the Middle East. That considered, should we not be thanking those families, who make a priority of raising good humans for the glory of God? There are plenty of people who choose to have many children and raise them as an afterthought. Unknown dads, fractured families, drugs, abuse, etc. If the rest of us sit back and say, "wow, we don't want to bring children into a world full of that", who will we count on to better the world for that generation?

You can try to affect the future by changing public policy, or buying carbon-offsets, or buying land to keep it away from developers. However, if we do right, and God gives us grace, we will have at least three people in that future, to caretake this Garden and show others how to do the same.