The Journey Home

First it was a joke and then it was made real... It all began with Elaine and I riding in the car one day talking about how we needed to get some sort of pet that we could both take care of and call our own. So what did we do we bought CHICKENS. I can remember going to the Orshleins and standing with Elaine trying to logically pick out our two little girls according to how many eggs they would lay and avoiding a rooster. Once the decision was made I was elected to reach in and grab our two girls for the first time, I can honestly say I was scared to death! I had never touched a chicken, let alone picked one up. Elaine held the cage open while I timidly reached in for the grab, right off the bat one of the little boogers decided to fly out and run on top of all the other cages. I went from being the Ethan that didn't want to pick up the chicken to the Ethan that had to pick up the chicken because it was running loose in the store, all I could think was "Is this thing going to bite and what happens if it falls on the ground!!!". Once I caught the bird there was no putting it back in the cage, it was mine after it's little fly around regardless of the number of eggs it laid. I placed the chicken in a box that Elaine was holding and I went back for girl number two. This time around there was no chance of the bird getting out, I closed my eyes and reached in and went for the grab. After safely getting both girls in the box we proceeded to the register to pay where I was informed by the cashier that I should work at Tyson, you never know who is watching when you get yourself into a predicament. We walked out of the feed store that day with Nancy and Petunia.

 

             NANCY                                                         PETUNIA

The ride home from the feed store was quite interesting, every time the girls moved in the box Elaine screamed and I nearly went off the road. Once we arrived home we had to find a place for our girls to stay while we built the coop. We built a box inside of an old rabbit cage and placed a light inside to keep them warm. After a couple of days I realized that there was no need to build a coop for just two chickens so I grabbed my friend Ashley and we went back to the feed store one last time. This trip to the feed store wasn't as eventful as the first trip. Ashley and I walked out that day with Dottie and Bertha.  

 

                     DOTTIE                                       BERTHA

Our family of six was now complete and Elaine and I couldn't wait to tell everyone. After the excitement of having four chickens died down we knew we had to get to work on a chicken coop. I found the plans on the internet and bought the supplies for my dad to help me build our girls new home. Dad and I did all of the construction and then I called on Ashley to help me paint and build the outside pen for the girls to run in. After a long day of building pen and putting up wire I was ready to release our girls into their forever home. They did perfect!!!

CHICKEN COOP

In a previous post Elaine wrote about the bullying problem we had with the girls so I won't write on that issue. Just for your information that issue never seemed to get resolved. Petunia seemed to be the bully and Dottie seemed to be the victim. After a year of having good girls to 3 months of having bad girls I, the dad, and to step in resolve the conflict. I couldn't let one of my girls get hurt so I built a small cage for Petunia outside of the main coop. During the day Petunia would run free in the yard and at night we would lock her up in her cage. Petunia and Ernie became very close friends and we would often time find Petunia sitting in Ernie's cage with him in it. Ernie loved getting her all worked up by chasing her around the yard and sticking his nose up her rear end. Never once did he try to hut her. 

Life outside the coop didn't last long for Petunia, she began sitting on the patio furniture and going to the bathroom on the porch. We built an outside pen for her right next to the other girls. After a couple of weeks living alone we decided to add her back into the big flock in hopes that the bullying issue was resolved. After one of being back poor Dottie was all beat up and drastic measures had to be taken. I called a good friend, Martha, told her the situation and asked if she would add her to her flock. Martha and I bought antibiotics and set a dog cage outside her big cage so Dottie could learn the pecking order of her new family. All Martha and I was worried about was getting her healed and failed to wrap the dog cage in chicken wire. I called Martha the next morning to see how Dottie was doing and Martha relayed the devastating news that over night a raccoon reached and grabbed Dottie and killed her. RIP Dottie Schmidt.

Life had to go on after the passing of Dottie. Petunia no longer had Dottie to pick which made the coop way less stressful. All the girls seemed to be getting along and everyone seemed to be happy. (If you don't have a tissue now would be the time to get one.)

The annual family vacation to Daytona Beach rolled around and I had to get everything ready for the girls so my cousin Tyler could take care of them while we were gone. With everything in check we rolled out of the driveway on Sunday morning not planning on coming back until Friday. Everyday Tyler would call my dad and update him about the home front and the animal. One day while I was sitting in the condo watching TV my dad's phone rang, dad answered the phone talked for a while and then hung up. Dad returned to the living room looked at me and said something got in the cage last night and Petunia was the victim, her chest was ripped open and feathers were everywhere. Tyler removed Petunia from the final two girls and place a concrete block on the egg lid in hopes that it would keep the animals out. I knew once an animal knew how to get in it would come back. The next day dad received the same phone call, this time Bertha was the victim, chest ripped open and feathers everywhere. I knew something had to be done to save Nancy for being the next to go. I called Martha, told her my situation, and asked her to go save Nancy. After work that night Martha drove over to my house and saved Nancy from the animal that would come that night and take her life. 

Our girls will be greatly missed and the year and half we had with them was wonderful. Nancy is doing great with her big family of 36, with frequent visits form Elaine and I. Elaine and I are very proud parents of our girls and it was very unfortunate that they had to be taken out of this world at such and early age. 

In Loving Memory of 

Dottie, Bertha, & Petunia

Your will be greatly missed.

Summer........?

Elaine and I was talking about a month ago about how we didn't know what we were going to do this summer and how we needed to find jobs and make some money. I began looking for another job at the hospital and Elaine decided to babysit two days a week and work at camp three days a week. As many of you know neither of us can just sit around and do nothing, if we don't have a full plate then we don't want a plate at all. So the agenda began and with each passing day it began getting longer and longer.

I have a severe problem that often times cause the plate to overflow, I don't know how to say NO. I enjoy helping other people, in the church, and the community and I sometimes tend to over commit which causes my stress level to escalate off of the scale. 

Now I'm going through the interview process to get a job in the ER at Floyd Memorial, Co-directing a summer camp at the community club, Co-directing a middle school youth camping trip, getting music together for Faith in Action, trying to help with our church VBS, leading counseling Special Persons Camp , and trying to get things together for vacation. 

I often times tell people that being in a long distance relationship is very difficult but it is even more difficult when the two of us have so much to do that we can't keep each other grounded. Elaine is my realistic side, the side that keeps me for doing crazy things without thinking and the side that keeps me from over committing too much. There are some nights that we spend hours on the phone talking about all of the stuff we have to do and planning how were going to get it all done. Most of the time the conversation ends with one of us about ready to cry for the other person. 

While long distance is difficult through the summer I am very proud of what Elaine is doing. Each week she goes off to Indian Creek Camp and shares her faith to so many youth. Listening to her talk about the experiences and the witnesses that she gives and listens to makes me the feel like the proudest boyfriend in the entire world. GOD is the center of both of our lives and when were both happiest when were ministering to others and doing Gods will. 

So this week Elaine is at camp for not just three days but for 12!!!! days. Thank God we can stay connected by phone until Sunday but on Sunday she begins counseling and the phone goes off and in her bag. I don't even want to thank about that right now. All I can say is I am very grateful to have awesome friends that are willing to dive in and help where ever it is needed.

Personally when I get really busy, even doing things for the church, I often find that I put God on the back burner and don't take time to stop and thank him for the work he is doing in my life. GOD IS GOOD, ALL THE TIME!!!

1 John 4:9-12By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has beheld God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us.