I have been attending several shows in the past few months where I am the only Silver Fox exhibitor. I used to take a pass on shows not having at least two other exhibitors but we have a few new clubs in the southeast and I wanted to support them as well as be dedicated to provide a Silver Fox presence at every show I can. However, to my surprise, I found it personally beneficial far more than I had anticipated. Granted that the title wins are guaranteed so, of course, I won BOB and BOS in every one of those only-me shows, but I found I could concentrate on the comparisons between my own rabbits against each other in their classes, particularly siblings and have more open conversations with the judges.
I have two does that have been very special to me because they were produced from a joint breeding and their sire is Waldrop Acres Ashur, who is now a Grand Champion! I thank Karen Waldrop for the opportunity to produce these two does! Although I was hoping for a buck from the pairing, both does have good qualities, even though they differed quite a bit as juniors in type and fur. I had not decided for some time if I would keep both and if not, which I would keep. This weekend, after showing them as intermediates, I made my final choice, but I will keep you in suspense while I tell you a bit about them.
The one that caught my eye the most from her side profile God told me to give her the name "glory" which in Hebrew is Kavod. She had depth and good positioning of her peak. However, she was not well filled out in the loin and lacked in bit in the contrast coloring between the silvering and the fur. A couple of judges allowed for her age in the lack of development and she earned 2 legs over her sister. At the shows where I was the only breeder, she won first place as a junior and as an intermediate she won BOB twice, although they were wins with no legs, she won over her sister. It was a confirmation that things had changed for Kavod. This weekend in Carrollton, Georgia she won two BOB legs as an intermediate because her fur color improved and those loins developed better as she aged—Kavod now has 4 legs!
The other one caught my attention with her well-developed loins and solid body even as a junior. God told me she is "joy" so her name is Simcha, Hebrew for "joy." She was the one that the judges favored most in the shows where we had more competition, even winning a Reserve in Show as a junior in her very first show! Simcha had won 10 legs, adding another BOB leg this past weekend for 11 legs!
As these sisters developed further, I decided to go with my first thoughts on the two: I will be keeping both to add to my breeding program. Both have the legs to be granded so we are just waiting on them to finish out as seniors.
If you have followed my posts, you know that I am devoted to names that have meaning because I believe words have the power to curse or to bless and I am into the blessing...of the rabbit, for my rabbitry, and for the owner of the rabbit, whomever that ends up being. These two does have a very special meaning to me because I had lost my joy of life slowly over a few years and last year was the worst of it before I started climbing out of that pit with God's amazing guidance. Now I have greater JOY—love for God and all that He is and the life He has given to me—than I think I have ever had in all my life. Not because everything is right in my life, because it is not. I still have evil spirits in pursuit of trying to break me and steal it again, but I am free from their bondage, free from the people and things they used to keep pulling me down to a pit of despair. I have rebuked all that stole that joy from me and I filled the emptiness with the God I love and who loves me...and the GLORY belongs to Him for all of it!
I had not considered Glory and Joy as intertwined before, probably because I really have not felt true joy in my life before. Joy is not the same as happiness, which is fleeting. Joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) that is a constant undercurrent even in emotional turmoil. Now I see that being in God's Kavod/Glory is being wrapped in the Purest Simcha/Joy! There is just nothing to compare. This is the blessing and reminder these two does bring to my rabbitry and will pass down to their offspring.
