So what's new?

I need new batteries for my digital camera, so there'll be no pictures with this post. Just an update to let y'all know what we've been up to.
For those of you who don't already know, Jacob has a job! Several weeks ago, he went to the Republican Statesmen Dinner in Nashville. He met the owner of our local Holiday Inn. She called him a week or so after that and asked if he'd be interested in working the front desk for him!! Wowee! That was a surprise! :O) So he's "in training" right now. Seems to like it quite well. He could do alot worse for a first job, huh? He got his first paycheck yesterday. For those of you who know Jacob well, you'll know that he's got that safely socked away somewhere. But trust me, only he and the Lord know where. :O) Also, Jacob is leaving on his birthday (July 5) for a missions trip to the Dominican Republic! He is really looking forward to that. He'll be gone a week. While he's gone, Amy's coming home for a long visit. Got alot going on around here!! My July calendar looks like somebody's scribble pad. :O) It's got notes and reminders all over it!
Oh, at church, they're starting up a little group of musicians. There are violins, a cello, a trumpet, a piano, and a flute. Rachel, our resident violinist, will be playing the melody part of Abide With Me. It's a beautiful hymn. They'll be playing probably once a month. Also, her violin teacher is starting up a little strings group for any of her students that want to participate. For now, they'll just be meeting once a month for rehearsals. Later, they may possibly be performing at events here and there. So we're all excited about that too.
Let's see....Katie is doing well too. She stays outside with the animals from almost sun-up to past sundown! Give that girl a furry animal and some sunshine and she's happy. :O) She seems to be in a bit of a growth spurt lately. (They all are, for that matter! It never fails...every week somebody is telling me, "Mom! My shoes are too tight. I need a new pair!)
It is still hot and dry dry dry here. We did get a good soaking rain last week, and we do have some water in the cow pond now. Thankfully, it's enough that we're not having to water them anymore. But if we don't get more rain soon, it'll be dry again. Some neighbors came down one evening with their tractor and front end loader. They dug out the pond, so when it does rain, it'll be much deeper. I feel pretty sure we were able to find the spring too. You can see the water streaming out, it's just not a real gusher. Maybe we'll dig deeper.
We've been busy with the cows more than anything else lately. We have hauled off 8 cows in the last week or so. Eight down, eight more to go. It's been very hard to sell them. I keep letting myself believe that maybe....just maybe...we'll be able to keep one or two at least. Then Matt will remind me of the price of a bale of hay and I know there is no way we'll be able to manage keeping any of them. Last year, hay was about $12 a bale...that included the cost of getting it hauled here. This year? Brace yourself. Because of the drought, we've gotten prices of $25-$30 a bale....NOT including the haul bill. Not good. So, little by little, we're hauling off pieces of our lifelong dream. :O( Admittedly, sometimes I wonder what the Lord has in mind....why He, in His wisdom, is withholding the rain. I only know that whatever He does is right. That's all I need to know. We're only the caretakers of what is His anyway. :O) So that cheers me. These verses in Romans speak volumes:
Romans 11:33-36 ¶O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.
That's all for now, folks!