The Weaning Process: It's good for cows, but is it good for you?

Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.

—Psalm 30:5b

“What’s that?” I wondered out loud. I turned down the volume on the TV so I could hear what was going on outside. “Cows mooing at 8 PM?” I was puzzled, for cows rarely moo at night. I shrugged and turned my attention back to the TV.

“What’s that?” I rolled over to see the clock. “Cows mooing at 2 AM? That’s really strange,” I thought. Too tired to investigate, I pulled up the covers and went back to sleep.

At 6 AM I blinked my eyes open and stumbled to the coffee pot. I placed the steaming cup on the table and picked up a book. But I couldn’t concentrate on reading because of the cow moo-athon. “What is going on?” Hesitating no longer, I picked up my phone and texted my farmer brother.

His response explained it, “We just weaned some calves.”

“They sure don’t like it!” I texted back.

Thank You for the Walk: Giving thanks for the journey, no matter how dark, no matter how scary

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
—1 Thessalonians 5:18 NIV

The sun was already low in the sky when my cousin, Debbie, and I set out for our after-work walk on the farm where we grew up. With an eight-year gap in our ages, we didn’t experience childhood as playmates. But for this season in our lives, we are close companions. With both of us being single, it has been nice to have someone to recount the ups and downs of the day with—nicer still to hear her childhood stories and memories of our beloved grandparents.

Both of us are on a quest to slim down, so we walk briskly to shed the pounds, but on this evening I think our pace was more about outlasting the sinking sun. Quickly, we passed the cow pasture, and then paused at the electric fence obstructing our passage to the bay. What now?