Adventure 302: Filer, ID/Stoneybrook Farm/Post B

Chet the Jet

The excitement started early today. Spooked by last night's storm, 58 calves who had been taken from their mothers in Elko, Nevada, and who were barely weaned, panicked during the night, broke through two fences and scattered themselves around the area. Young and black, which made them hard to see at night, two were hit by cars on Hwy 93. Just in time for church, Gary and Loey had rounded up twenty-five of the calves who had found refuge and comfort among their herd. They safely shooed them into the pen beside the house. Loey, showing no ill effects of the heart thumping ordeal, sat serenely at the piano and beautifully played hymns during the service. I guess drama in Filer is just par for the course on a Sunday morning because after church, the owner of the panicked cows came with two large trailers and took them back to where they belonged while we all enjoyed pot roast, boiled potatoes, roasted carrots, stewed apples, green beans, fresh sliced tomatoes, and shredded cabbage. It was hearty farm fare expertly prepared and lovingly shared. For dessert, we had home made yogurt smothered with home canned prunes and apricots. Oh, and there was a plate stacked with fresh made ginger snaps. Just "thin gruel" as we like to say. Around five-thirty we all went down to the church to begin the transformation of the downstairs meeting room into a mini Ten Thousand Villages store. It took about an hour to move pews, tables, sewing machines, chairs, toys, couches, a pulpit, and many other things upstairs to be stored in and around the sanctuary for the week. Meanwhile, shelves and display units were carried from the storage shed, put together and placed so that tomorrow we can begin opening boxes of goods to be presented, priced, and sold Thursday through Saturday. By Saturday night, the church will be returned to its usual state for service Sunday morning. The lesson is: "Many hands make light work". The sale normally grosses somewhere around thirty-five thousand. After the set up, we listened to Joe and Lori Lawson, who operate PBI, a bible college located in Cairo, Egypt. It sounds like they run the school, wash the dishes, label the books, and inspire everyone around them. Their passion is palpable, their drive enviable, and their energy incredible. We left inspired by the good in people and the power of God's love. It made one of the songs we sang in church this morning even more powerful. "Trust and Obey"--the Lord will provide. It was a long and exciting day,and to think, it's only Sunday. We still have the rest of the week. I thought Gary (Loey's husband) was kidding when he said, "Pace yourself, she'll work you until you drop." I already thought he was a wise man; now, experience confirms it. However, we'll work ourselves as hard as we can because the warmth of inspiration is energizing, and seeing many people pull together for a worthy cause once again affirms our belief that life is good, especially today.

 Off to Sunday School with this girl.

 Thin gruel, Hooley style, for Sunday dinner.

 Lori and Joseph Lawson, ever inspiring leaders of a divinity school for refugees in Egypt.

 The Cager resting up between work sessions.