Jehovah Jireh

God has provided. Our faith is strengthened yet again.

The hunters were faithful in going out to hunt, but managed only to bring home two does -- we had estimated that we would need about five deer based on our consumption last year.

Well, the end of hunting season 2009 came and went and our hunters still only had the two does that God had allowed Carsyn to harvest. As a family, we discussed the concern that was on all our minds. We decided that since God knows our needs, we can trust that He has provided. We have venison enough for now, we have our own yummy, healthy chicken and beef as well ... with more beef in our pasture. We have MUCH to be thankful for -- THANK YOU, LORD!

It was nearly three hours after the hunt time had ended -- which means three hours after dark when suddenly we had a visitor at our door. Ken's brother stopped by. He had hunted solo all day, shooting his target buck finally just three minutes before the end of the hunt day. Thankfully, it was a good shot and the buck dropped just a few feet from where it was hit, no tracking needed. HOWEVER, it was a BIG buck, thus Darryl needed to field dress the animal (in the dark) then get it back through the bush to where he had parked his truck. AND in addition, when he had left the truck there before dawn Darryl had locked his keys into the vehicle! So after dark when he finally got back to the truck with his buck, he still had to figure out a way to get into his truck.

God got all the glory when Darryl told us that God had given him Divine wisdom in how to use what he had available to him to gain entry into his vehicle (CAA would have never been able to find him in the vast 120 square miles of the Spruce Woods park!). His method of entry was ingenious to say the least. Who would have thought of that without Divine inspiration?

Have you guessed by now that this story all ties together by the fact that Darryl stopped by to gift us with the meat from that big buck? Being a single guy and having already shot a doe with his bow in archery season, he had no need for the meat so he gave us the meat with its possession tag to make it legal for us to have it in possession in our freezers.

The men folk enjoyed the time spent together in our big shop, skinning and hanging the deer, talking and discussing their hunting expeditions all the while. Darryl didn't need to journey the rest of the way home with that huge task still waiting for him to do alone once he got there because it was already done. He measured the chest of that huge buck - it was 43 inches, bigger than any he has ever seen ... and he is an avid hunter with a lot of hunts to his experience.

So Saturday ended with a delightful Divine surprise for us and for Darryl. We now have approximately 225 lbs of roasts, cuts and ground venison wrapped and in the freezers. God has provided. If that is not enough to get us through until next season, God will have more provision for when we need it! We have no doubt about that.

We were also reminded again about the fact that venison is the healthiest meat available to us through my mother's reading of the book "What the Bible Says about Healthy Living" written by the late Dr. Rex Russell. We have read the book a long while ago, but it was good to hear this venison info once again, especially right now.

Provision

While the bucks are still elusive, Carsyn pegged another doe yesterday afternoon.


Praise the Lord for His further provision of meat for our freezers. In the last week of hunting season, we're not being choosy about getting "the big buck".

Fun & Fresh Air

... excercise & woodsmanship, orienteering and exploration, that's about the most of what the hunter's in this area are getting this year.

Mostly due to the unseasonably warm temperatures, apparently the rut season has not yet really begun. We need a big snow with some colder temps ... in the next five days!

The hunting season ends this Saturday. While we are grateful for the one deer Carsyn shot already, supplying us with about 60 lbs of ground meat, we are still praying that God will supply more. In whatever way though, we know tat God will supply ALL our needs. That is an assurance He gives and we are blessed by Him to have that!

AND while my hunters are faithfully "out there", I'm busy here at home keeping the home fires burning and our "Littles" constructively occupied. Thus there is little time for updates ... besides the camera is also "out there" ready to capture the elusive buck shots, lol!

Fall Decorations

Tis the season for hunting ... it almost looks like we've decorated or something, lol!

Hunting garb, fresh and ever at the ready! If it gets rained on, we call it rainfresh scent and throw it into the dryer when necessary.

Muzzleloader hunting season opened this last Monday, but due to a local potato farm needing harvest help, our hunters are not out getting a doe or calling in a buck -- they've been out making dough and rolling in the bucks, tehe!

That reminds me of one our favorite jokes:

Q: What do you get when you cross 50 male deer with 50 female pigs?

A: (READ real fast out loud) A hundred sows 'n' bucks.


Just like God planned it in the first place, the species do not mingle.

That said, we're praying that the hunt will prove successful again this year as our venison supply is all but depleted -- and we use that almost to exclusion as our red meat. We do use our own home grown, delicious grass-fed beef to serve when we have guests.

Swing, Swing

The warmer Fall days are back, tenaciously holding Winter at bay for a bit ... we took advantage of it with some time on the swing. Soaking in some of that all important vitamin D from the waning sunshine.

Our active little girl has not spent much time in her swing because she always manages to wiggle herself out of it -- until today! I discovered this wonderful solution to that problem: put her into the swing in her carseat ... perfect! It's safer for her -- and probably more comfortable. Thank you God for inspirations!

Canadian Thanksgiving 2009

Read more about the history of Thanksgiving in Canada.

Like It Used to Be

My bread hasn't been turning out nice for the last two years. I've only had a couple batches that formed nice high loaves.



This week though, we had some success. Yes! Thank-you Lord! Just in time for tomato sandwiches for quick easy yummy lunches -- always a welcome delight for this gang!

There's a First Time for Everything!

Thursday a neighbor blessed us by helping us haul in the hay bales. Our first hay harvest!

Thanks to Mr. Rae Graham! He supplied the equipment:



Corbyn supplied the extra manpower needed to do the job!

Corn 'n' Apple Harvest

We are grateful to have gotten some of Manitoba's excellent corn. Yesterday, Ken's folks brought us 30 dozen cobs - and these are no small cobs!

Today we started at 8:30 AM shucking that corn - by noon it was all in the freezer and the evidence cleaned up.



Everyone could help ...



Two cutters made the job happen quickly:



Thanks guys - you're all great team players!



Then in the afternoon, we cooked up the apples that Ken was blessed with from an older man in Holland whom he had met when he took a load of garbage to the local dump.

Applesauce for the freezer and a pan of applecrisp - Yum!


Our guys really enjoy applesauce & cinnamon on their porridge and applecrisp is a favorite treat too.