Over-n-Above Blessing #2

As promised yesterday, today I’m going to tell you about how we came to be at such an incredible little spot as well as some of the new friends that added to the experience.

(This is part 2 of a 5-part series on how God gives us not only ministry-related blessings when we’re serving him, but how he goes over and above and blesses us with things that feed our spirit and life personally as well. If you’ve not read yesterday’s post (part 1), I encourage you to do so. It’ll give you an insight into ‘the Why’ of the series and show you where we got to stay.)

An Urgent Need

There are a couple of websites here that are similar to either Craigslist (USA) or Kijiji (Canada). One of them is Le Bon Coin (more for purchase & sale of goods) and another is Je Me Propose (more for people looking for or needing odd jobs done).

I was on Je Me Propose looking for a dog-sitter and while there, I saw an ad expressing an urgent need for someone to look after some animals in less than 2-weeks time.

Growing up, my grandfather was a dog-breeder and had about 30 laying hens, so he rarely got away. We also had dogs growing up and our Saint John friends will know that we had a small menagerie while there. Going away always involved finding someone to look after the animals, and it wasn’t always easy.

I answered the ad looking to help someone out of a pinch, we went out to meet them and the rest is history.

Now… who’d we have to babysit?

Farm Friends

Let’s start small and work our way up shall we? This is the animal fare that I’m used to.

There were three miniature goats (no milking involved), two miniature pigs, a rabbit (not pictured) and about 20 hens & roosters. Just about all of them have names, but thankfully there was no quiz!

We’ve had chickens for years but for those of you who know me, you’ll know that miniature goats have been on my radar as well, so me babysitting some for the weekend sounded danger danger danger in Liz’s ears! 🙂

Pigs? …meh… they tell me they have a friend who keeps one of these in their home as a pet & that it’s not dirty at all. Still…. meh.

Movin’ on up…

If you’re a regular reader, you’ve already seen this pic of Timo with the two great danes… i’Koi & Gaya.

I grew up with labrador retrievers, most of our dog-friends have chihuahuas or other small dogs and we have a tibetan terrier, Pollux.

Great danes take “Dog” to a whole new level. Not only do they drool like OPEC produces oil, but each one eats 5 raw hamburger steaks per day in addition to their regular dog food!

Still Movin’ on up…

Next comes “Treasure” a Poitou donkey (a breed from this part of France) who loves to hang with his home-boys… three sheep. He slept in the stable and each morning I’d lead him out to the pasture.

Pretty docile for the most part but I do have a better understanding of the expression “Stubborn as a mule”.

The owner told me that at night, to bring him in, I wouldn’t even need the rope… he knew where to go.

He knew where to go alright… the first night he headed straight to the other barn… the one where my car was parked. He lied down on the floor and proceeded to try to roll over as a means of scratching his back. Have you ever tried to coax a donkey to his feet?

My fear:
his hooves meeting my bumper!

We eventually did get him on his feet (with no car damage) and the next day… I used the rope lead!

The Big Boys

Not too much to say about these guys… they were relatively low maintenance and their power & beauty speak for themselves.

The biggest deal with them was keeping them separate while eating (the dark female is dominant and would clean out the other’s feed), getting their fly masks on each morning and off at night, and getting them fresh hay.

I’ll admit… if anything made me a bit nervous, it was these guys. They were fine and there were no issues, but just the thought that, if they wanted to, they could give me a good woopin’… made me keep my guard up.

One more…

There was one more friend that was part of our stay
in the country… but I’ll tell you about him tomorrow.

The Sum-Up

We simply tried to help someone out of a pinch because we knew what it was like. We didn’t know what all the surroundings were like but God used our desire to be a blessing, to bless us in return.

All of the chores in total took between 1.5 & 2 hours… the rest of the days (with exception to Sunday when we came in town for church) I got to spend quality time with my family in an incredible setting.

Click here for part three of five & I’ll tell you about that one other special friend.

Be a blessing to someone today… you never know how God may turn it around.

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