Valuing What God Values

It hasn't quite been a month and pepper has grown so fast. I don't remember jerky growing this fast last year, but maybe he did.  We've already changed our milking routine because he was getting too rough.  First I milk out the front quarter and then we let pepper in for his back quarter while my husband finishes his side.

Pepper empties out his quarter so fast it can seem like he's not getting anything, but the milk froth that drips out his mouth tells us he's getting lots (that, and Christina's quarter going from firm and full to flabby and empty).

We put goldfish in the cow's water tank last summer.  They are keeping the water clear and don't seem to be having any trouble with this cold.  We were listing off all our animals, "cows, chickens, cat, and goldfish," when our 3-year-old said, "we have goldfish?!"  So out his big sisters trotted him to the cow tank.  He was a happy boy.

The chickens are really making themselves at home in the hay shed.  They have dug a tunnel that starts here between two bales.  We discovered that it winds quite a ways back, and they are laying eggs back there.  I think we'll have to block it off.  That's too hard to work to get eggs.

Monday was the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.  Not being Hispanic, the feast day has never meant much to me.  This year was different.  I had to go to the store anyway, so I got a dozen roses.  We set them on the table beside a Guadlupe candle somebody got us a while ago, and we told the story. It's new to our 3-year-old and he loved it.  My daughters slowly brought the pieces together, about how Mary appeared to Juan Diego, brown skinned and speaking his native Aztec, about Juan Diego going to the Bishop who demanded proof, about Mary telling Juan Diego to gather roses in December, and about everyone's surprise when Juan Diego's cloak opened to reveal Mary's image.  We talked about Mary coming to people in their oppression — looking like them, speaking their language, and telling them about a God who sacrificed himself for them rather than the Aztec custom of gods demanding human sacrifice.  So powerful. 

That is our Christianity, following the God who sacrifices himself for our salvation and then asks us to value was he/she values: 

• God values every human life, so I strive to. 
• God values the seasons, the land, and the animals, so I strive to.  
• God values justice, education, and art, so I strive to.  
• God values healthy food and sustainable work, so I strive to.  
• And God values me, so I strive to.

After sharing the story, my daughter added, "and then Mary went back to heaven and said, 'and that's how you convert a continent!'"