Our Chicks Are Here!

We had an exciting new addition to our home over the weekend: twenty-four new chicks. As I wrote before, we are going to raise chickens primarily for eggs. We ordered twenty-five Rhode Island Reds (one didn’t survive the trip) from Welp Hatchery. We received a call on Friday morning from the post office informing us they had arrived. I could hear the chicks peeping in the background as I told him I would be there in a couple of hours to pick them up. I was surprised how small the box was that they came in:

Here I am opening the box to put them in their new, cozy home.

It didn’t take them long to adjust.

The children immediately wanted to hold them. This one Caleb is holding was good enough to look at the camera and smile.

The Kids on a Hike

We enjoyed a picnic and hike yesterday at Jeffress Park on the Parkway, just a few minutes from our house. Here are some pictures.

The Girls

The Boys

All Six on the Bridge (Stairsteps)

Caleb’s (age 9) recent drawing:

Big Snow in Boone!

The week before Christmas we had a big snow (for us – 15 inches)! Here are some pictures:

In the foreground is our almost buried Honda. Behind is Caleb shoveling the driveway!

This is Kathryn (almost 2 yrs) inserted into the snow.

Bethany, Caleb, and Hannah buried Josiah.

New Life at Our House

I had two very important early morning meetings on Friday in my office. They were not planned meetings. Soon after he got up my son Caleb (9 yrs) came into my office with a picture he had drawn. It was a replica of a drawing I had done for him several weeks ago that depicted the Gospel. But on his picture he drawn himself crossing the “Cross” bridge to get to God. He proceeded to explain that a couple of weeks back he had given his life to Christ, just as I had explained to him, but he just hadn’t told me yet.

Moments later Josiah (7 yrs) came into my office. He preempted his discussion with me by explaining that he wasn’t coming to talk to me just because Caleb had. He explained that he and Caleb had been talking about their decision to give their lives to Christ and had been praying for each other about it. Josiah’s main concern was that he was not old enough or didn’t really understand it. One of his reasons for this was seeing what had happened with our daughter Bethany (10 yrs). She was baptized when she was six. It was not long after this that I questioned that decision and concluded we had jumped the gun. Last month Bethany came to us believing that she did not really understand what she was doing when she was six and was ready to give her life to Christ. So, I talked with Josiah about this and we both had peace that he indeed understood what he was doing.

Three kids trusting the Lord as their savior in two months! Very exciting. Leading our children to Christ is the most important thing we can do for them. We will continue to disciple them and help them learn to walk in his ways. We are thankful to God for drawing them to himself and for the privilege and responsibility of guiding them in this journey.