Bittersweet Farm Journal (Number 71) Big News!

Last night about midnight our baby, Hope America arrived home from Holiday Nights at Greenfield Village. She had some new jewelry–a diamond ring on her left hand! Her boyfriend, Tim Kolb is now her fiance. They are planning a wedding some time this year. It’s a happy time out on Bittersweet. Tim and Hope met a the weddings of two of Tim’s siblings where Lois and Hope were photographers. Tim is from Britton, Michigan. He is a nurse at Saint Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ann Arbor. You can expect some engagement photos soon.

Here is what Hope wrote:

“Last night my sweet Timothy took me to Holiday Nights at Greenfield Village, drank hot cocoa with me, laughed and talked with me, and then got down on one knee and asked me to be his wife. I haven’t stopped smiling from ear to ear since that moment. Tim, I’ve imagined a million different versions of who my future fiancé might be but I was never able to imagine how amazing you would be or how much I would love you and everything about you. You put so much time and effort into planning every detail of our special moment last night and you did it all so perfectly. And my ring is just so much more beautiful than any ring I ever would’ve chosen myself. You did so good lover! I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life getting to know you and love you and do everything alongside of you. You’re never getting rid of me now, baby”

Christmas Birds

Christmas this year was not white but it was golden. The sun shown and warmed the earth like a spring day. The bird feeders were empty because the squirrels out-hustle me. Grandchildren visited Bittersweet Farm at Christmas. I love to putter around and do little “farm chores” when the grandchildren are here. We moved our little chapel bird-feeder to the front porch where the squirrels can’t get to it and filled it with black-oil sunflower seeds. We keep the sunflower seeds in a clean trash can in the Carriage House with a tight lid so the mice can’t get to them.

There is something therapeutic about feeding the birds. I know the birds don’t really need me to feed them, but I feel that it is rendering a kindness to them. I feel like it is a humanitarian act. It’s a small kindness and it is not without its rewards. (I get to watch the graceful creatures come and go).

For some reason happiness comes to my soul when I fill the feeders. I hang the feeder and I hear a voice. It’s a voice I have come to recognize through the years. I believe it is the voice of the Spirit in my soul. It is consistent with the Scriptures. “I care about the birds and I care about people. There is a simplicity and sweetness in showing kindness to people. Show kindness to the people in your life.”

I answer in silent prayer; “Help me, Lord. I want to be a kind man. Help me to show kindness to the people in my life.”

I fill the feeder and I go inside. I grind some coffee beans. The aroma of the grounds perfumes the air. I warm water on the stove until the kettle whistles. I pour the water over the grounds and make myself a cup of coffee. I walk to the window. Within a few hours the whole front of the house is alive with birds.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” (Galatians 5:22–23, ESV)

Bittersweet Farm

December 29, 2019