The Message in the Hog's Bucket

The Message in the Hog's

Bucket

Greetings from Colvin Family Farm! As the winter

weather continues to freeze...then thaw...then freeze, no two days are alike on our farm! If I had to describe what it's like on a farm in one word during the winter, I'd say, "MUD". 

Farm attire changes during the winter...yes, we still wear layers of our chore clothes..but RUBBER BOOTS are a must. I took a few steps outside with my outdoor sneakers on yesterday, and very soon I KNEW I had made a mistake! Working with soggy feet quickly took the joy out of being outside during this break in the storm! I was soon back in to change. With my "muck boots" on, I could slop around the farmyard to my heart's delight!

This kind of weather with it's frequent storms is a delight to our hogs. During the long months of drought we had to create wallers for them to roll in...you see, they don't swet and NEED mud.

This morning Farmer Steve trudged through the

muck to feed the hogs before church...It was raining hard, and the mountain mist hung heavy over the woods in which the hogs run. In a way it was a "beautiful day"...from the windows of the farm kitchen!

As he fed the bags of feed to the hogs as usual there was a stampede from the woods as the hogs know

the sounds of feeding time! Next he threw the slop bucket from the kitchen over the fence to the awaiting hogs....literally! Usually only the slop goes to the eager pigs, but today bucket and all went INTO THE MUD ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE FENCE! Now, a little hog mud science...mud sucks you down, makes you stinky, and soon the bucket would have been trampled in it's depth! The longer it stayed on the other side of the fence, the less chance it would ever be usable again. The only hope in retrieving it was for the farmer to climb the fence and save the needed bucket! 

The next time I saw Farmer Steve he was spraying the muck...I mean mud off the bucket (and himself) before coming inside to get ready for church and a hot breakfast. Without a THOROUGH cleaning, that bucket wasn't coming into my kitchen!!

At the breakfast table Steve told us the parable of

the slop bucket. I'll pass it on to you. The bucket is a lot like us...people. We often wonder about life "on the other side of the fence" where things look more exciting, even more enticing than what we're experiencing. We sometimes choose to "cross the fence" and get into the mud of life...our sin sucks us down, makes us stinky, and soon we'd be trampled down and lost forever if it weren't for God Himself, the Lord Jesus reaching down...pulling us out of the sin (mud) and washing us off (with His blood shed on the cross of Calvary).

So, as we sat listening to the parable of the hog

bucket while we sipped hot tea, ate our eggs and apple cinnamon scones, I thanked God for saving me out of my personal muck and mire. It wasn't anything I did...just like my much needed hog bucket, it or I couldn't save ourselves, it took a farmer...it took a Saviour! 

What side of the fence are you on today? Jesus wants to reach down and save you from the muck of your sin and wash you off, giving you a                             new life! 

"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God."

Romans 2:8,9

Abundant Blessings!
The Farmer's Wife,
Val

P.S. I found this neat article recently on the advantages of naturally raised hogs. I think you'll like it too! Next, visit us at a market and see for yourself. If you have any questions about pork or the "mud of this life" and need help, just talk with Farmer Steve next time you see him...or contact me here. :)