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"Why do you raise rabbits?" It was about the 1,000th time I'd heard this question in the over 15 years we've been raising rabbits. In a world dependant upon digital, high-speed streaming for entertainment and where anything and everything your heart desires is available within a blink of an eye, what could possibly be interesting about rabbits? Once we begin describing the daily feeding and cleaning chores along with the myriad of activities that result in fur clinging to our clothes, manure under our fingernails, and scratches on our arms the questioner becomes even more perplexed. "Tell me again," they will say with a shocked, deer-in-the-headlights type of look on their face. "Why do you raise rabbits?" The reasons that attract people to this hobby are many and diverse. Believe it or not, some do it because of the fur and manure. Others are enthralled with the quiet demeanor of the rabbit and enjoyment of their company. Still others enjoy competition and the challenge of understanding rabbit genetics in their efforts to breed the "perfect" animal. Mostly, however, it is simply because it is fun. Pure and simple it is a hobby people enjoy doing. In our case, Jennifer enjoys the care-giving and mothering aspects while I focus more on the constant array of building projects and the art of a perfectly loaded truck with rabbits, cages and children stuffed in a van for a cross-country road trip to a rabbit show. In addition to these daily joys, there is also the holier reason we are raising rabbits. That's right - I said "holy" as in Godly ordained. Before you consider me to be off the deep end and in some spiritual trance, take a moment to read our story and then decide for your self. We were younger back then, both in our looks and in our hearts. Our children, Cassie and Alex, were ages 7 and 5 respectively. We were busy with the tasks of maintaining a home and a job with little time or money for hobbies or extra activities. In this realm of home life, Jennifer and I became concerned for the well-being of children who were struggling through life in homes not as stable as ours. Because of this we decided to share in our blessings and become foster parents. On the day of our tenth wedding anniversary we were sitting in the office of the fostering agency going through our last interview prior to licensing. We knew this interview was the final step and that we'd be foster parents shortly after walking out of the door. Our lives and the lives of our children were about to change dramatically. During the interview process the caseworker asked us if we had any hobbies. I joked, "With kids, who has time for hobbies?" The caseworker, however, was insistant as she brushed my joke aside. "Being foster parents can be a very stressful and frustrating job," she insisted. "It is very important to have some sort of release from those frustrations. A hobby is a good way in which to channel away any anger, frustration, and/or irritation." We didn't take her too seriously knowing the reality of time management in our home but she continued to press us into providing her with a description of what hobbies we might enjoy. Under pressure and almost out of the blue (I had read a book about rabbits years earlier) I told her I would like to raise rabbits. She accepted my answer and I felt that I was finally off the hook. In closing and while walking out of the building her last words of advice were: "Don't forget. If you want to raise rabbits then you really should do it." Hand in hand, celebrating our wedding anniversary and our new foster-parenting license, we returned home, deeply in love and yet, anxious about the future that lay in store. By the time we'd returned home, the caseworker's words were forgotten - but not for long.... Upon our arrival at home Jennifer went into the house and discovered a mini lop rabbit running loose in our backyard. We had a very closed-in yard and could not even really tell how it got into the yard let alone where it came from. We were aghast because we were certain, beyond any reasonable doubt, that this rabbit was a gift from God, asserting us that we were on the path He wanted us to walk and that raising rabbits was supposed to be an important part of that life. The foster kids are gone and our own kids are grown but we have had rabbits ever since. Who are we to argue? Would you? Welcome to our web page. We hope you will enjoy your visit. Gary Sims |
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