The Drought

Some of you who live farther away may not be aware of how bad the drought is here in Upstate South Carolina. It is bad to say the least. And yet, I know that it is even worse in other areas like Atlanta GA.

We are now feeling the effects of this drought and have been for quite some time. Our grass is dead and our pastures are non-existent, turning into fields of dirt. And hay...what's that? Hay doesn't exist around here any more unless you are willing to pay ALOT for it. We have 2 feed stores near us. One is in the town of Pickens and one is in Easley. We always go to the one in Easley because I love talking to the old men there! ha ha The feed store in Pickens had hay shipped in from out of state and by the time the truck arrived at the store there was a line of cars following it. All that for hay! Our feed store told us that they cannot get any more hay and don't have a clue when they will be able to. If they are able to get some, they will need to charge a minimum of $12 a bale!!! That's just to cover their costs and the shipping. Of course gas prices play a role in that also. We are lucky....Grandpa gave us 4 bales of hay and mom and dad brought them down at Christmas. The sheep and goats were in heaven. We are using it sparingly and so far are only on our second bale. The price of feed has also gone up. Grandpa said his chicken feed went up in price in PA and he needed to raise the price for his eggs. I think he's getting $1.50 per dozen now instead of $1. Still much cheaper than the eggs at the grocery store! Speaking of the grocery store....I was there today and it costs $6 for a pound of hamburger and $5 for a gallon of milk! Craziness, but all a result of the drought.

So what do we do???? PRAY FOR RAIN! But not only rain, pray that America will turn back to God!!! I believe, as does my preacher and others here in the South, that this lack of rain is God's judgement on America. In the Bible, you find over and over again where God held back the rain or caused a famine to bring people to repentance and back to him. Just the other week, there was a huge group of Christians praying at the court house for rain here in Pickens. Am I worried?? No, as long as I keep my eyes on Jesus. He'll see us through and take care of us. But we better be paying attention to what's going on. God caused this drought for a reason.