Deer running through the pastures. Goldenrod casting a heavenly glow in the fields.
The seasons are changing here at Old Stone Well Farm…in many ways!
As I take some time to step back and breathe — and share with you a wonderful opportunity Old Stone Well Farm has been blessed with — I invite you to do the same: step back and breathe.
While not our regular time together, I pray for even a few short minutes you will find rest, peace and enter this new season with me here in Vermont with eyes open to the God moments all around. (Click the video below, and I will be back with more Old Stone Well Farm adventures!)
Winter was the season to slumber, to hibernate, to retreat. In Native American traditions, winter was a time of gathering around the fire and tell stories. But we don’t allow ourselves to do that, do we? We just go, go, go.
On this below-zero day, I invite you to think about embracing winter’s rest — to allow your tired souls to find renewal in a nap, a good book, a walk in nature, and to hear a story or two. So join me as I pour a glass of Madeira wine, the wine of 18th-century America, and share a story about miracles and new wine.
It’s been a cold and rainy summer here in Vermont, but I had a task to do: I wanted to inspect the chicken coop and begin getting it ready so that I can move my chickens into their new home. With the weather being on the damp and chilly side, though, I think that move will be delayed another week or so. I want to make sure the chickens are cozy.
But as I was in the coop, I couldn’t help but notice the peace and joy that began filling my heart. It had been a stressful week with writing deadlines, pending projects and, of course, the unexpected death of Fricassee. I am not sure what happened. A few chicken experts I spoke to didn’t seem too sure either. They concluded what a novice chicken farmer really doesn’t want to hear. That is, sometimes a young chicken will die for underlying health reasons we will never know.
The stress and sadness of the week, though, began fading away as I cleaned out the cobwebs and a hornet nest or two in the corners of the coop. I began thinking of the bright tomorrows God holds in His hands. As I sat inside the coop, I felt as if for a second I had escaped the pressures of the world. I felt a like a little girl in a playhouse, sneaking away from doing her chores and relishing in dreaming all the incredible possibilities of “when I grow up.” I also felt a stillness that was healing.
In Mark’s Gospel, Jesus invites his friends to come to a deserted place and rest. I found that rest in the coop. Where will you retreat to renew your Spirit? Will you accept Jesus’ invite?
Blessings!
Pastor Donna
Mark 6:30-34
The apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught. He said to them, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves. Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them. As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.
accidental country pastor 