The Power of Poo

Not far down this homesteading path one realizes that poo is everywhere.  But poop is sort of the point.  Wait, what...?  Well, on our little postage-stamp-of-a-farm, whether it's chicken, duck, rabbit, worm, black soldier fly, and hopefully someday goat and pig, the waste is an ever-present reality, and benefit, of raising animals. It's actually key to the regenerative farming cycle. There are countless ways to do this, but the goal is always the same--using plants, animals, and bacteria (think compost) to build the soil and fertility.

It's too blunt for poetry, but I'll build the analogy anyway; from poop on our little farm to the filth in my life--the crap (sorry) in my life employed to grow beautiful things.  God can turn the sin and muck in our hearts--and our own messy circumstances that come from it--to His glory.

In the last verse of his most recently release song "I Praise You God," Andy Squyres sings:

  "After I die I will have no more chances

  To love you from impossible circumstances

  So even if all of my prayers go unanswered

  Thank you for all of these days.

  The scars on my heart are the trust that I offer

  I pour out my laughter and tears on the altar

  Every cell of my body cries out in praise."

A homestead garden will grow when it is fed with nutrient-filled fertilizer, which, in turn, requires the messy poop from animals.  It turns out the garden of my soul also needs these messy, impossible circumstances to grow.  Thank you, Mr. Squyres, for reminding me that it's through the scars of my life that I come to maturity; Christ is my shepherd and the gardener of my soul.

https://youtu.be/_5O59blxsZI?si=GeQP7s1xrXwR-kpR