Meet Braveheart

We have been blessed with a "loaner" milk cow! Her name is Susie and she is giving 6.5 gallons a day! (Yep..I said gallons!). However, she is a kicker...we've never had a kicker like this. The boys have to tie her leg down and yet, sometimes, she still manages to land one...usually to the milk bucket...once to Siah's belly. Ouch! We are very grateful to have her, kicks and all!  She has the sweetest milk and I have been busy making ice cream (a special treat...don't want to buy the stuff from the store!), cheese, buttermilk, butter and more! We are so thankful for Susie!  Thank you "H" Family!!!

The boys have been worried about me trying to milk her when they go to see their dad. They were thinking we would have to send her back to her real family. I suggested getting a calf and working with her to see if she would take it....they rolled their eyes.  They deal with Miss Susie twice a day and they didn't feel that was likely to happen.  It is not always easy to get a cow to take a calf not her own....especially when you have a Mama with attitude!

It was amazing to watch our Father work this scenario out for us. I got permission from Susie's owners to try this. Mr. H's only caution..."because of her personality you might need to tie her down to get her to take a calf". We thought he was probably right.  I meant to call the dairy....several times...I felt guilty as the days slipped by without me making the call. Finally it went to the top of the "to do" list.

I called Mr. Gabby. We had purchased little bulls from him in the past. However he explained to me that now they sell all of their bulls for stud....they have achieved some national recognition for their dairy herd....and they sold for much more than we could EVER afford. I thanked him and wondered what to do next. About 20 minutes later, Mr. Gabby called back. (Isn't our Father just AMAZING?!). "Just so happens that we do have one little fella, two days old, that no one wants. If you'll take him today, you can have him for $50". How fast do you think I got in my truck? Just think....if I had called when I meant to then he wouldn't have been born, I would have been told no and I wouldn't have called back. Our Father's timing..not ours!

When we got to the dairy farm he was fast asleep - seemed stunned to be awakened. I wondered if he was ok since he had trouble standing.  The boys felt like it was because he was so sleepy.  He was awfully cute! The boys named him Braveheart because he was going to face Miss Susie...a scary proposition! We hauled him home and decided to put them both in the barn together. First we installed the little one....



Then we took some rag towels and and gave Miss Susie a rub down. We took those same towels and gave Braveheart a rub down - hoping to transfer some of Miss Susie's scent...to make him smell familiar. We didn't read this anywhere...we just made it up but it seemed to make sense to us.

Now the test...put them together and pray that she doesn't stomp him to death.



Jeremy kept the lead rope on her just in case...she sniffed and sniffed...



She began to nuzzle and lick...hope filled my heart! And then he began to search for something to eat...



It's not what you think...he is NOT nursing! Although he seemed to realize he was in the right area, he just couldn't latch on. If the boys touched Susie's udder to help the calf find the right place, she kicked...although she let the calf nose her, bump her, snuggle her she wouldn't let the boys touch her at all. Finally we gave up...he didn't seem hungry enough. I was just thankful that she didn't try to kill him! We went off to church and thought we'd try again when we got home.

That night we were dreading messing with this at 9:00 pm but, you do what it takes. We went out there and the calf was jumping around, full of energy and from the sounds of it, evidently full of milk! He literally sloshed while he cavorted! We took Miss Susie in to milk and our normal 3 gallon evening milking yielded only a gallon and a half! Somehow, left to themselves, they worked things out between them and now everyone is happy!

Now the question is....why did I worry that this would work out? It was so evidently orchestrated by my Father, why did I worry about the details?  Why didn't I trust Him to take care of it all? I recently have experienced a bit of those feelings that the Israelites did when the Red Sea Parted. Now I felt like those same Israelites who saw the pillar of fire and the column of smoke, yet still were able to fret and worry. So often, I take things and make them my problems instead of laying at the feet of the cross and letting go. This was another wonderful lesson for me to trust...His faithfulness, His love, His plans and His timing. Once again, He has used His creation to speak to my heart....I hope he speaks to yours today!

Oh...and did I mention that the calf came with some "freebies"? Stay tuned....