The Tremblay-Savoie family lives on their farm, Nature’s Acres Homestead in Martintown, Ontario, in the Cornwall cluster. Alex and Zac, both participants in a junior youth group, created this video, wishing all the friends a Happy Naw-Rúz and describing daily life on their farm. With humour and joy, the twin brothers reflect on how their chores, particularly taking care of the animals, have helped them develop qualities such as self-discipline, reliability, patience, determination, care, compassion and responsibility. Their parents, Lien and Shawn, have also been studying Ruhi Book 5 and marveling at the way the Junior Youth Program has given new meaning to Alex and Zac’s contributions to the farm.
Along with expressing their joy about their new baby goats, Zac and Alex describe how “working on a farm builds character and a good work ethic”. They must attend to their chores no matter the weather or how they’re feeling “because our animals depend on us, and we know we get lots of thank you cuddles as a bonus when we’re done!”
Zac and Alex describe how, “when we get frustrated, we take a deep breath and then keep going. Some days it feels like everything goes wrong, like when we drop the eggs!” And then as Zac chases a rooster around the farm, Alex narrates “or when our rooster Levi doesn’t want to go to bed.”
Zac and Alex’s care for the tiniest members of their farm bring to mind ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s guidance:
“Train your children from their earliest days to be infinitely tender and loving to animals. If an animal be sick, let them try to heal it, if it be hungry, let them feed it, if thirsty, let them quench its thirst, if weary, let them see that it rests.” [1]
[1] Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
