She was so tiny, but today she is beautiful Senior Doe Mini-Rex.
Acorn is a very timid rabbit; she loves to be cuddled, played with, and she is a champion lounger!
Our Fair Week was quietly approaching, and I was growing anxious on what was to be expected of our rabbit and Luk. As a homeschooling mom, you question if what you are teaching is being absorbed, you wonder if you are doing enough, and (honestly) I ask if I'm the best teacher for my son. I know the answer to all of these questions, but the father of lies is good at what he does.
Needless to say the Father of Truth brought great peace in this mama's heart. Our rabbit went on a feeding strike while at the fair and was refusing to drink her water. Her timid personality was affecting her stay in a loud barn with swine, heifers, and steer. However, on Monday night was our show night, and I couldn't be prouder.
The Showmanship was voluntary, but my husband and I felt a strong urge to have Luk do this portion of the event. But first things first, Acorn had to show herself off to the judges. Luk bravely carried her to the arena and into her cage.
I must say that I was very proud. Luk is a natural friend maker, and he proved this to be true at the fair. The majority of the students attend public school, some he knows from VBS that other churches put on, and even with those that he didn't know he was happy to "know." He found a commonality in having a rabbit with each child. It was sweet. There were many others that were like this, too.
His rabbit received a blue ribbon for participation.
During her health check, we were told she was a wee bit chubby. ;) We already knew that as she was one of the biggest in her litter (if not the biggest), but on awesome friend Andon, got Best of Breed with Acorn's half sister, Charlee.
And with old friends came new friends...
Luk was in the first group of seven... now, with a five year old this becomes an eternity in waiting time.
He was beginning to get restless, aggravated because he just wanted to go Showmanship. As we waited... we practiced...
He grew so impatient. My husband had a man-to-man talk with him, but then he was told he had to wait more. When this happened the five year old in him was about to roar its' ugly head, when God spoke louder to my heart. It wasn't a you need to act better issue, it was a selfish heart issue. I look at Luk, and I remind him that his attitude can either glorify God or not. I explained that our purpose is just that, and that if he didn't change his attitude people would not see God in him. He looked at me, shook his head, and composed himself. It was a great mother/son moment because in that moment he allowed God to change his sinful nature. In my book, that deserves more than a blue ribbon. =)
When Luk showed Acorn to the judge, I just sat back and enjoyed him talking about his rabbit. He was incredibly friendly with the judge, he handled Acorn to the best of his ability, and he answered his questions as truthful as he could. Even though we have talked about how bad lettuce can be for Acorn, he still wants to believe that she can have it "sometimes." He did explain that the best food for her was her pellets, hay, and water. He told the judge about her "sore hock" (back foot), and talked about how her back is fragile. He did great.
At the end of an extremely long night. We stayed to hear about the results of Showmanship. Now, if you don't know (like I didn't) showmanship is the judging of the student not the rabbit like at the start of the night. There were 48 rabbit entries and the most showmanship entries for 7 year of age and younger group in years. I was so proud of all the kids, they worked hard on taking care of their rabbits and learning about them. To our pleasant surprise, Luk placed Second in Showmanship!
WHAT?!
It was a great night, we were proud, but most importantly the spiritual journey with Luk was enough. After the win, I looked at Luk, and I told him no matter if you got the red ribbon on not... I am proud of you! You worked hard, you fixed your attitude to glorify God, and that is more important than that ribbon. By the way... the ribbon was chewed on by our hungry rabbit... the battle scars of our night...
WHOOPS! The committee kindly gave us a new one.
