Don't fence me in!

 Years ago, my husband and I lived in the Alaska Bush. We were 101 snowmachine miles from the nearest pavement and our nearest year-round neighbor was over 10 air miles away. We were in the middle of nowhere and loving life.

We had a small homestead, only three acres - Why pay more taxes than necessary? We had our house, a barn, and several out-buildings. It was quite the idyllic life for over 20 years. That is not to say we did not have challenges along the way. One of our most enjoyable challenges was Houdini. Houdini's original name was Bambi, but that lasted a very short time. You see, Houdini was an escape artist. 

We got to a place where I could stay and tend our homestead. We had a huge garden, chickens, turkey, rabbits, and our dogs. We were able to provide almost everything we needed except milk. We did some research and decided having a goat would be much easier than cows so I brought home Annabelle.

Annie was older, very sweet, patient, and pregnant; she made me fall in love with goats.  I had been around dogs and cats giving birth but nothing bigger. I did not really know what Annie would need or how far along she was and this was many years before Google. Our homesteading book and the cooperative extension service provided basics but not many details. 

One day, at the end of May, Jim went to town and my niece, Becki, came to visit. Annie was off her feed, but I really did not think too much about it. After we got Becki settled, we went to check on Annie, low and behold, we had a baby! A couple of hours later we had two kids and a very tired mamma goat. After making sure both babies were eating, and giving Annie extra grain we left them alone for the evening. 

The next morning, the babies, Bambi and Pollyanna, were bouncing all over their pen. I think it is impossible for young kids to walk, they have to bounce everywhere! We led Annie out to the yard so she could eat grass, the kids bouncing happily behind us. This arrangement worked well until the kids were about a week old and I wanted to milk Annie. I tried separating them with Annie bawling so much I felt sorry for her. I was able to milk her (oh boy, that is a whole other story!) and get enough milk to feed the babies. 

I built a barrier between the two pens so mamma and babies could see each other but not visit and nurse and went to bed confident we would have milk in the morning. Wrong. Bambi somehow knocked down my barrier and was sleeping comfortably with his mamma in the morning. As I fortified my barrier, he nimbly jumped into the feed trough and again went to visit his mamma. This scenario happened with varying success for about a week before Bambi became Houdini. I could not build anything that would keep him separated from his mamma. The corral we build would have been great for cattle or horses, but not goats, especially not baby goats. 

I wonder how often God looks at me and shakes His head, as I escape the path He prepared for me, yet again. How many times has He lovingly and gently built barriers for me, to protect me, to steer me along the path He prepared for me only to have me break it down and merrily skip along my own trail. Even so, I am grateful for God's protection, even when I want to go my own way.  The barriers He puts in my way are not to hinder me from something but to point me to His best for me.