“Joy to the world the Lord is come. Let earth receive her king… Silent night, holy night, all is come, all is bright… Away in a manger no crib for a bed, the little Lord Jesus lay down his sweet head…” It’s Christmastime, and I love the sounds of the season. Singing these old hymns is soothing to my mind and body. They bring peace to my soul. The news of Jesus’ birth is as precious now as it was more than 2000 years ago. Jesus is alive!
Our Christmas church services are much the same as any other Sunday. Of course, the Christmas story from Scripture is used. Instead of our usual lunch of peanut-butter spread, jam, pickles, red beets, ham, cheese, and cookies, we have a “carry in lunch” we all enjoy. The people who host that day provide ham and pots of chicken noodles. Scalloped potatoes, vegetables, salads, Christmas Ribbon salad, and pies are brought in by everyone else. Sometimes we sing Christmas hymns in the afternoon; other times we visit with everyone before heading home filled to the brim spiritually and physically.
Hosting Wayne’s family Christmas is a highly anticipated event. With close to 100 people, including his mom and dad, siblings, grandchildren, and greats, it takes a bunch of tables and chairs to accommodate everyone. Everyone comes with arms overloaded with food and games.
We fry pans of cornmeal mush, make breakfast quiches or casseroles, and cook biscuits, sausage gravy, tomato gravy, hash browns, ham and sausage, fruits, and pastries. We provide the meat and drinks, and the rest is provided by family members. It takes a lot of coffee and hot chocolate too.
After eating brunch around 8:30, we usually all sit down to sing Christmas carols. Sometimes we play a type of Bingo with Christmas gifts, but oftentimes we don’t give gifts because each family shares gifts in their own home. The rest of the day is spent in fellowship and playing games.
In the afternoon, tables are laden with all sorts of homemade candies, fruits, vegetables, dips and snacks. Anything imaginable is there. We go home knowing we won’t be needing supper—only exercise and water.
A day well spent creating memories and staying bonded with the extended family.
It seems the older I get, the more I dread the cold of winter. I am always cold, which even to me is laughable because of the good-natured ribbing I dished out to some of my cousins and my dad. I never imagined I would someday be in their shoes. The first 15 years of marriage I often had a child or two on my lap. I usually had a fussy baby, a busy toddler or two to run after, plus plenty of extra padding on my body. Thus, oftentimes I was red-faced and warm. The last several years both scenarios have changed, and I often find myself scrambling for a jacket. The most unthinkable of all is wearing a long-sleeved nightgown and booties to bed. I must really be getting old.
With eight, thickly bundled people squashed into our antiquated surrey buggy, it brings on some chaos I like to avoid by just staying at home on cold winter nights. That can’t always be done though, so we squeeze, grunt, and complain our way into the buggy and pray for a safe and peaceful trip to wherever we are headed.
There are things I do enjoy about winter. Piecing a quilt or two, doing some painting on greeting cards, sewing for the family, and eating chili for supper. Long, cozy evenings spent with the family. Feeling the warmth of the coal stove on my back as I relax with a good book in front of the stove.
A while back, in the wee hours of the morning, Colleen and I took the horse and buggy to our friends’ house. There we joined Ruth and her daughter Julie in their buggy and headed toward Goshen. Our first stop was at Menards, where we loaded up on paint supplies for Colleen’s bedroom. From there we drove to Walmart. After securing the horse to the hitching rail, we went in search of a city bus schedule. We’d made plans to travel to the Dunlap area to sate our daughters’ shopping appetites. I wished to satisfy my curiosity about traveling this route via bus too.
As we waited by the first bus… with no driver in sight, Julie decided to deposit some of our jackets in the buggy before traveling on. She ran to the buggy and while there, the bus driver appeared and was going to leave immediately. The three of us on the bus begged the driver to wait, saying Julie is coming, running, please wait. We played our parts well; the driver stopped the bus. Talk about some country bumpkins trying to act like city folk.
After shopping at a used clothing store near the Dunlap Walmart, we ran to catch the bus again. No driver in sight again, but we dared not venture lest we miss out again. Then this bus was headed in the wrong direction so we had 30 minutes to browse in Walmart. I found boots for Emily and Jolisa at very decent prices. We headed out to the bus stop again, and this time the driver was an elderly, friendly fellow who answered some of our questions. We told him to drop us off at Kohl’s. Okay, no problem, he says. We settled into our seats, expecting to travel several miles. Well, we traveled the same direction we had just run from, traveled around the building, and went directly into the Kohl’s parking lot. We experienced a major fit of giggles! We could easily have walked to Kohl’s and saved us each a dollar. We were definitely fish out of water. The driver probably had the laugh of his day.
We had a good mother/daughter day, albeit exhausting. We did find our way home again, although much to Wayne’s chagrin not until supper time. It was fun while it lasted, but I am glad it doesn’t happen often. I was tired.
I’d much rather work a hard day of labor at home, surrounded by familiar, simple things, and be at peace. In fact, Wayne and I just got done vaccinating 48 steers. I thoroughly enjoyed that job. For some reason I smelled a lot worse than when I was used to milking cows twice a day, but I loved it anyway. Brian and Emily helped too. Jesse and Jolisa played in the feed while we were vaccinating, and what a mess Jesse was! He had to change clothes in the washhouse before coming on into the house, but he did it willingly because his daddy told him he could go to a farm store open house with him.
It still seems so different to not be doing chores four hours a day. Brian does the chores in the morning: feeding the heifers, steers, horses, and Sam the dog. That arrangement works fine as long as we don’t have frozen water pipes and the tractor and skid loader start.
In the afternoon, Wayne comes home from work around 1:30, eats a bit, and heads outside to do whatever has to be done. There is always plenty to do. One dark Friday morning, when Wayne wasn’t working at the factory, he discovered our small heifers were missing. The evening before Sam had barked several times, but we figured it was just because of the vehicles passing by. Sam doesn’t bark without reason. The heifers had probably been out then already. Wayne searched a while in the dark, but gave up until daylight. I guess it was their turn to go camping, as they had nested down in the ditch beside the road, east and south of us. We were thankful nobody hit them, as they could have caused a lot of injuries or worse.
A 21-year-old lady caused quite a stir around here the other Saturday morning. Our girls noticed my dad walking up the road a bit, and he was working with a horse that appeared to be in distress. We finally figured out it was a dumped buggy. Her horse had spooked about something beside the road, upset the buggy, trapping her underneath. About that time, this young gal was at our house needing help. She could hardly talk, but said she thought her jaw was broken. I totally agreed with her, as her jaw was disfigured.
Our girls ran here and there getting her paper towels, and then the girls disappeared. I prayed for guidance. I felt like a jack rabbit jumping here and there trying to help her, cleaning her up a bit, hoping to keep her as comfortable as possible.
A lady soon came to take her to the hospital. This young lady ended up being transported from one hospital to the next in an ambulance. She needed surgery to fix her crushed jaw. She also lost four teeth and more were loose. She needed between 80 and 100 stitches in her mouth. Had I known the extent of her injuries, I probably would have fainted. I was impressed with her calmness.
I believe when these things happen, God has a plan. I was thankful to be here for her, but I had to wonder what the purpose was. It happened here for a reason. She came to our door for a reason. What was I to learn? I pray our hearts are always open. During devotions I came across Matthew 25:35-40:
For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
On Thanksgiving Day our family gained a family member when Dad and Alice Borkholder were united in marriage. As life goes on, we experience one change after the other. We trust in God to lead us, and we trod onward, one step at a time and make the best of every situation.
Throughout this last year, I kept telling myself it’s not always the situations we are in that control our lives, but what we chose to make of the situations. My attitude is 99 percent of everything!
Where would I be without Jesus? Where would I spend eternity? Lost in a world full of sadness without Jesus, where would I be?
We as American people are so blessed to be able to go to town—the town of our choice—to do our grocery shopping. So why then does it make me so tired? Decisions, decisions. So many choices, and it flattens the checkbook in such a short time. Do we buy healthy or unhealthy, store brand or name brand, fresh or frozen?
I watch prices like a hawk and can smell a good deal from a mile away, but that doesn’t always mean I buy it. I still ask myself, “Is this really necessary?” Sometimes I splurge, but most times, by the time I have the regular items like soup crackers, lunch meat, butter, flour, sugar, and such, the cart is piled high and the receipt is a foot-and-a-half long. Grocery shopping in the winter is even worse. My children are horrified by the way I look when I go to town: thick black socks, several jackets under my too-big coat, a thick head scarf, plus an outer bonnet over that. Fashion statement failure deluxe.
“Mom, are you really going to town like that?”
Riding seven miles in the buggy, tying up the horse at least four times, walking hither and yon, I get cold. Therefore I dress to stay warm, fashionable or not. The girls went to school anyway and forgot about me.
Wayne says we need to vaccinate calves again today. I kind of enjoy that. Being outside in the barn, working together, getting fresh air. The exercise feels wonderful to me. Wayne would probably laugh at me. Exercise for me while vaccinating calves? All I do is hold a gate, hand him a syringe that I had filled, and then open the gate to release the calf. Two steps forward, two steps back, fill the syringe, two steps back, on and on. I’ve never danced, but maybe this is kind of like dancing in the barn with my husband.
Sam, our yellow Lab, enjoys helping out wherever he can. Sometimes, though, he’s better off not being around when sorting cattle is involved, as he gets too excited. He’s very much a part of our family, making us feel safe with his regular search route when we come home at night.
Recently Colleen didn’t get home until late at night, and Sam was already in his bedroom, thus she was alone to put away the horse. Usually Sam goes with her, and she feels protected. I grew up with a dog like that. A small rat terrier named Tiny. If he would have growled when I was putting my horse in the barn at night, I would have panicked. When he didn’t, I relaxed, knowing as sensitive as he was, he would alert me to any danger. Sam is the same way. A dog worth having—and we only paid $20 for him.
When nobody is outside to be with Sam, he’s usually on the front-door steps either relaxing or looking in with big, soulful eyes longing to be in the house with the rest of us. He knows if Wayne and I are gone because he’s a lot more aggressive when somebody comes, even toward people he knows well.
I am sipping a cup of homemade cappuccino. This is the first winter I’ve been able to say I really enjoy cappuccino. I always thought it tasted like watered down instant coffee with a little milk added. I guess my taste buds are changing because I simply enjoy it now. I bought the ingredients to try the homemade, because good “boughten” is so expensive. I made a batch, tasted it, hmmm, not bad, but then added a small tin of my favorite boughten kind, and now this morning it tastes delicious. The bad part of it is the sugar content. That means it’s got calories; I need to be ever mindful of those little things with big results.
Talking about calories, naturally thin women must have a lot less stress in their lives. Never having to think twice about what they eat, much less use 30 minutes of their day to go on a walk for exercise. You know what though? Walking is good for the naturally thin people too. It’s good for the mind. I love to walk. Walking makes me feel so good.
Karah, Emily, and Jolisa washed the dinner dishes, and I see there are five empty cans [ jars] to take to the basement again. I know Jolisa took down three cans this morning. I think I do a lot of canning, but it doesn’t take long at all to have a lot of empty cans in the basement again. I’m already looking forward to fresh garden produce. Winter move swiftly on!
This winter I’ve taken time to do some craft/paint projects again, making signs for family and friends. I dream of having a work/retail shop here on the farm to craft and sell handcrafted items, but I am guessing our path is a little too untrod to make a go of it. Maybe though… I keep thinking about it.
The three girls are again playing school. Jolisa has been having fun learning to read as a first-grader this year and then coming home and teaching her pupils. She’s quite the teacher. By the time she has her Bible memory verse memorized at the end of the week, the rest of us know it too. She’s smaller than the rest of our children were at this age, but her enthusiasm makes up for her small stature.
For some reason, having food available for packing five lunch pails has been more of a challenge for me this year. I’m guessing some comes from the number five! The most I’ve ever had before was three. Five sandwiches take ten pieces of bread. Five bowls of fruit swipes a quart in a hurry. It cuts down a cake in a hurry too. And the cookie jars. We very seldom have chips or such snacks because it would take a bag a day. Sometimes I put in celery with peanut butter or something of the sort.
Today for lunch I made extra meatballs. The children like to wrap a meatball or two in foil, and then heat it at school for lunch. Wayne doesn’t like something to heat, so he keeps eating cold sandwiches or wraps. I’d be sick and tired of them by now.
The schoolchildren don’t want too many things in their lunches because it takes too much of their precious recess time to eat a lot. By the time they come home from school they are half starved, so it takes more food again. We have several picky eaters in the family. I am trying to teach them to eat whatever we prepare for them at the time, not just whatever suits their taste buds at that time. Why do we eat? To nourish our temples of God or because something tastes good? For nourishment. I try to keep that in mind, but my selfish desires are fighting to be known also.
Jolisa is telling me it is time to wash her hair. She and Jesse are the only ones who still need my help to do so. They grow up so fast, and I want to treasure each step of the way. Sometimes I find out some very interesting things while we are washing hair. Peering into their sweet faces and conversing one-on-one is priceless. Thank you, Lord, for every good thing.
February 1, and everybody had been predicting a ferocious snowstorm. It should hit us today, they say. Probably around 5:00 PM. At 2:00, Wayne, Colleen, Jesse, and I went to Goshen to do some business. It hadn’t started snowing yet. I was afraid the stores would be bombarded with shoppers trying to stock their pantries yet before the blast begins, but the stores we were in weren’t bad at all. While we were in the last store, Wayne told me it was beginning to snow. And snow it did. That was probably around 4:00. On the way back we could sometimes barely see more than 100 feet in front of us. I was glad once we were safely home.
Our house was freezing cold—or so it felt. With the wind blowing strong from the northeast, it hits the oldest, coldest part of our house. We stoked the coal stove, turned up the gas stove, and put on more layers of clothes.
Wayne and Brian fed the heifers, horses, and Sam the big spoiled dog. The girls and I cleaned up the house and made supper. Colleen made chili and sloppy joes. That helped warm us from the inside out. Meanwhile, it was seriously snowing and blowing. The schoolchildren were already rejoicing. They were pretty sure they wouldn’t need to go to school in the morning.
I went to our east porch door to look out, and without opening the door I got snowed on. That strong, cold wind had a mind to enter wherever it wanted. Enter it did. I took a bunch of napkins and stuffed it into the cracks as well as I could. Wayne then wanted to look east before he went to bed. He looked out that door window, and still felt the snow blowing through the cracks, so he stuffed another rag into the cracks.
We had a grand evening. We munched on popcorn, sipped on grape juice, played a game that got our blood pumping and the air moving throughout the house. It took a while to get everyone to bed because the girls decided they needed sweatpants, sweaters, and socks to survive. I didn’t discourage them. By the time I went to bed, it was sleeting. I couldn’t figure that one out because it was so cold. I prayed for everyone’s safety and promptly fell asleep.
On February 2, Wayne got up at 4:00 AM and checked things out. I woke up to the sound of the skid loader pushing snow. It was the time I usually get up, so I forced myself out of bed to put the coffee on. I watched Wayne push some snow and immediately doubted anybody with a healthy mind would try to traverse these roads this morning. Still, I decided I’d prepare Wayne’s lunch bucket. Who knows? Men do think differently than women. I put the clean supper dishes away, finished a batch of yogurt, and tidied up here and there around the kitchen. All at once I heard that someone was stuck somewhere. The milkman, trying hard to do his job, was stuck at the corner a little east from here. Wayne went to help him with the skid loader. It actually didn’t take long to get him going.
By then it was 5:00, and I had just snuggled up in front of the coal stove when Wayne came in. We both napped a while. Brian got up at 6:00 to do his chores. He also checked messages at the phone shack and came in saying there was no school. They all like school, but there is something special about having your school canceled for a day.
The children were all amazed as they came downstairs, proclaiming about the drifts of snow. This was definitely the biggest snowfall they had ever seen.
I made a brunch of pancakes, sausages, and eggs. Colleen did the laundry, and the little girls washed the dishes. Wayne, Brian, and Jesse went outside to push more snow and finish the chores. I had started two shirts for Brian, so I thought I’d finish those really quick, and then I’d put a quilt in frame. What a joke! I did finish those shirts, but not really fast.
I did have a very good day though. The girls decided they wanted to learn how to embroider, so we got out the needles, thread, transfers, ironing board, and the iron, and went to work. Emily embroidered a cute little duck with a lavender flower at its feet. Karah worked on a bear but didn’t get it done as she also made her Aunt Leanna a birthday card. Jolisa used Crayola crayons that were made for transferring pictures on fabric. She did a picture of a little girl pushing her kitten around in a little cart. Jesse also started coloring a picture, but he was too easily distracted with all that snow. He spent most of the day outside.
You should’ve seen the kitchen! There was laundry hanging above the coal stove, my sewing machine, the little girls’ projects, the newspaper, plus Wayne wanted smoothies at noon. Okay, that would be good since we’re not making lunch anyway. He peeled three oranges, and when I left the kitchen those peelings were still on the counter. I peeled a banana, and we added some black and red raspberries, about 24 ounces of fresh homemade yogurt, blended it really well, and mmmm, that was delicious! Now we had those glasses on the table too. The children ate some crackers before they left the house, and I noticed those wrappers didn’t all make it to the trash can either. Get the picture?
Brian, Jesse, and the three little girls left the house to go play in the snow. We have hills of it in the barnyard. We have a circle drive, and Wayne pushed most of the snow from the driveway onto the grass area in the middle. It made a wonderful playground. They also played with sleds. Sam, the spoiled dog, loved every minute of it. He ran and played just like the others. I think he thinks he’s one of them!
Bless Colleen’s heart. You can guess what her job was this afternoon. Yes, we all left the house, and she was left to do the cleaning. I know for a fact though that she was glad we all left—peace!
I hinted pretty loudly to my sister Ida, who lives across the driveway, that she could invite us for supper. She graciously agreed. She treated us to chicken, cheesy potatoes, and a salad—a corn-chip salad, which made our children cheer.
After supper Wayne wanted to go to the church hymn practice for the men. I decided the children and I would walk to visit a neighbor lady who has been laid up of sorts and spend the evening with her. Hopefully tomorrow we will have our regular routine back.
February—the month of romance. It puts a smile on my face and a song in my heart. Who doesn’t like to think about love… always remembering true love comes from God, and how blessed we have been.
Once upon a time, back in the late 1980s, I went to church with my sister Sue and her husband, Lavern. On the way to church, we passed this handsome fellow who was walking to church. In my premature, girlish mind I remember wondering if he would someday be my husband. We passed this fellow on CR 43, just north of CR 16. The interior of our buggy was a medium green. Church services were at Bill Bontragers. Some significant details tend to stick to my mind.
Several years later I was at my sister’s house again for several days, and they were invited to one of their friends’ house for supper one evening. The man of the house was a brother to this fellow. I did not care to stay at home alone, so I decided it would surely be safe to go along for the evening. We weren’t there for long when he joined us. Oh misery! I wished I would have just stayed at home alone. It turned out to be safe though because he sure did not seem to notice me at all.
Another six months or so and I was at my sister Sue’s house again. Lavern was building a silage bunker and had asked him to come help him for the day. He had on a dark-brown shirt, quite ugly for sure, but I still thought he was kind of cute. Not immature cute, but I admired his ways. He was almost four years older than I and a lot more mature. He sat on the west side of the kitchen table to eat lunch that day. I was on the east side. I remember I gave my nieces a lot of attention at the table because I really didn’t want to look at him more than I had to. At least not when he knew I was looking. He didn’t notice me anyway.
All at once he started coming around to the places where I was spending time with my friends. He even started talking to me. Finally he asked me out on a date—and that is when my life with Wayne began.
We could talk for hours—and still do. Communication is very important to both of us. One subject he always talked about was his desire to raise his family on a dairy farm. Inwardly I had to come to grips with that, hoping it would never mature. Wayne kept talking about it to me, and finally he had me just as enthused as he was. That’s what love does! I ended up loving to dairy. Now our operation has changed again, but it has been okay.
Before we were married, my mom and dad’s little dog did not like Wayne at all. Wayne tried his best to get on this dog’s friendly side to no avail. The first time we came back to visit after our wedding, this dog decided he might as well like Wayne because he was friendly from then on.
As a young married wife, I sometimes struggled with coming up with enough different menu ideas. I made chicken-and-noodles and pancakes way too often. There came a time when I really didn’t feel good in the mornings. Frying an egg and toast at 4:30 AM was torture. Finally it became torture for Wayne also because the eggs had extra protein in them. After crunching on an eggshell once too often, he volunteered to eat cereal for a while.
Colleen was born a little before our first anniversary, so Wayne volunteered to cook supper on our anniversary. We dined on toasted cheese sandwiches. I didn’t mind. I was thankful he made us supper.
About the only time we have a hard time supporting each other is when we’re sorting heifers. I don’t imagine that will ever change. We manage not to eat each other up and we get the job done, but I never feel as dumb as when sorting heifers. Thankfully it doesn’t happen often, and we remain to be best friends.
One day while hanging out the laundry, a trucker came to load up the last of the little steers. It kind of irked me that I had to leave my laundry, but I thought I had better go help him. I wished I would have known he was coming, so I could have prepared before he came. I emptied the laundry basket and then trotted out to help him. I ended up getting Colleen to help us, and we got the job done. Sometimes I wonder what stories these trucker guys have to tell about us women.
Wayne cleaned out the shed where these steers had been, and then later one day I went out and sprayed the walls, feed bunks, and water troughs with pure bleach to rid of any germs. Now that barn is full of heifers. The dairy barn is also full, so it takes a while to TMR-mix feed for all these, but Wayne loves doing it. We are thankful for this opportunity and already anticipate putting out the crops to feed again next winter.
Jesse is here beside me practicing writing his name. He’s pretty tickled to be able to do it. He’ll be glad once spring is here again, and he can go outside to lower his energy levels. He gets pretty bored with Colleen and me. During the day he often asks us when the schoolchildren are coming home from school. Several years ago I thought we’d never get to the point where the children could all dress themselves to go outside to play or do chores. Now we are there already. Sometimes Jesse needs help with his gloves, and I gladly help him with that.
February is the shortest month, but it feels like the longest to me. The holiday festivities are past; it’s too cold to go out much. I ache to go on a long, warm walk, hang laundry outside in warm breezes, and eat fresh produce from the garden. I have to keep myself motivated even though I stay plenty busy with my motherly duties. This year I will try to stay focused on the joys of the coziness and closeness our house provides for us, even though it can sometimes be quite cold when the frigid north wind is blowing and the curtains sway a bit in the breeze.
We’ll enjoy our popcorn and grape juice, and Wayne and I our occasional Pepsi once the children are in bed. We read books and play marbles with the children. I guess February isn’t so bad after all.