Lord gives Patience in Due Time

7 Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. 8 You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near. 9 Don’t grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door! -- James 5

That's the lines that came to mind this morning as I was doing my reading and sippin on my coffee before headin out the door to feed. Little did I know the Lord knew what was ahead for my day.

Not much seemed to go smoothly. I was workin by myself this weekend, and the bulls seemed to know it. Receiving cattle is like throwing cattle into a classroom and elementary kids. They'll cough in each others' faces and snot in the feed trough. By the time they get done passing around and sharing each other's germs, you'll always have a few to treat. Also had one with a sore foot to clean.

Well long story short, one decided he wasn't going out the walk through gate and had to go the long way around. 10 gates later, he made it to the alley. Another decided to jump the feed bunk a time or two. Finally got my bluff in on him and guess he decided to cooperate. He was actually relieved to get the mud and rocks out from between his toes. By this time it was plain I wouldn't be makin it to church services and the bulls were already testing my "patience and grumbling."

The wind was kickin strong all day and it wasn't making things any easier. I went to feed the yearlings and the feed did nothin but blow back in my face. Then I got to the silo, had the silage started, and walked out to count the steers along the bunk. Guess the wind pinched the plastic sleeve runnin down the spout, it caught some silage and pulled the whole thing loose. I saw it happen and was just a few steps too far to make it before it wrapped in the auger. Oh geeze....

I found the spare roll of plastic and made another sleeve. Climbed all the way back up the silo to attach it back to the spout and finally got the calves fed. Then the wind kicked back in as I pitched out the whole roll of hay to the bulls. Half of it blew back in my face.

Had I not read my verses on patience today, I probably wouldn't have kept my cool, would have been frustrated, and something probably would have gone forgotten or messed up. But nothing was permanently broken, everything was fed and taken care of, and I made it to the table for steak and taters tonight. Despite everything that goes wrong, I just have to be thankful for my surroundings. Nothing's quite as peaceful as being around the cattle when they're fed and comfortable at the end of the day.

Guess it's just another day in ranch life. Can't wait to see what the coming week has in store!