Snow

The fence posts are white on top. Large soft snowflakes drift earthward to fall gently on the ground. Winter weaves her beauty between the barren lilac bushes. Leafless oak trees look like and unseen hand has just painted them with an artists' brush. Beauty is drifting downward. Help those Lord who have no chains for this unusual change of weather, for this morning the sky was a cloudless blue, the sun warming the crisp winter day. Just a few hours can change everything. Do I have food enough to weather this storm?. Plenty of water stored in the cupboards . Am I ever prepared for an emergency? We have no snow removal equipment. But for now I bask in the beauty of it all. And trust.

Hope (part 3)

She emerged from the barn door as if walking on stilts. Slowly like a robot she walked in front of us as we sat there with tears welling up in our eyes. Hope was walking! Praises to God. The work and prayers and effort had been honored by the Lord. She was a walking miracle.
About six weeks later a beautiful ewe lamb was born with an unusual silver colored fleece. I names her Miracle. Hope had provided two miracles...Herself and her new born lamb.
How true it is in daily life, hope does provide a miracle! But the lesson I learned from watching the drama being played out on my farm those months, was one the Lord taught me about standing. Hope stood during her attack which helped her not be gutted!
"Oh Lord, I thought, is it not that way with us, too? The enemy of our souls comes upon us like a roaring lion or a pack of wild dogs, seeking to kill and devour. But You tell us to stand. The fruit of a relationship with You, born by us, is the fruit of Thy sweet spirit. Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and self Control. The devil wants to"gut" us so we no longer bear these attributes of intimacy! Oh. Father, praises You spoke to me in the drama of my farm, speaking also in the words of scripture that made sense to my heart. You place these armor parts upon my soul as I choose to accept them and stand. That You fight our battles, the battles is the Lord's and I am safe in Your tender care. When I fell and was damaged You cared and made me whole again, and thus a miracle was born.

"Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet filled with the readiness that comes form the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints." Ephesians 6:11-18 NIV

"He said: 'Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the Lord says to you: 'Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God's..You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you'" 2 Chronicles 2015.17 NIV

Hope (part 2)

We made a straw bed in one of the largest lambing pens, water, alfalfa, and grain placed beside her. No interest in any of it I prayed and asked for wisdom. In all my years of raising sheep we had never had such an accident of this brutal nature.
Two long days passed. On the third day, seeking to encourage her to eat, I found she would only drink water so I held her bucket close and she sipped large gulps. As long as she was drinking I would help keep her alive. In time she ate from my hand and finally began the healing process of her wounds. However, she couldn't get up or even try. We'd roll her over, we'd put her on a tarp and drag her out to the pasture for sunlight and grass so she could nibble. The days she would try, I wouldn't. The days I'd try to help her, she was stubborn and difficult. Placing and removing bandages, Betadine for cleansing, and antibiotic's was a lot of daily care. One day a friend come by to help me removed the soiled and smelly bandages. I said to her, "Oh Kathy, I just can"t do this anymore, she's only a sheep!" Looking at me in despair, her words touched a cord of my heart, "You can't give up hope on Hope, can you?"
Two months had passed; we had just driven into the barn pasture with a load of bedding straw. Our old orange truck sputtered and strange noises emitted from it as we were ready to park outside the barn to unload the bales of hay, just then we saw Hope. (to be continued)

Hope

That Friday started early! Lambs were being born in the soft glow of sunrise. By mid-morning I had returned from the veterinarians with a barn cat that had just been neutered. I was eager to get back to check on the newborns. As I walked toward the barn, my attention was drawn to the back pasture where some un-bred ewes were kept during lambing. Startled to see three unknown dogs in that pasture I yelled at them. I ran towards the ewes that were in a woolly clump looking intently towards the fleeing dogs. My ewes were safe. As I opened the gate to let the "girls" into the pond pasture, my eyes caught the form of one ewe fallen along the fence line separating the two pastures. I ran to her. In horror I realized that it was Hope,, a ewe sold at a barn sale early in her life, going to an elderly farmer who wanted to raise sheep again. However when he became ill. she was returned to me. She was now back on her birth farm in her older years. Thinking she had not been bred, I had put her with the small flock in that fateful pasture.
The neighbors' yard man heard my cries for help and came running to give assistance. Hope had been severely attacked. I thought she was dead. He assured me that she was alive, even though he spoke another language. He helped me realize she was still breathing. My husband arrived home from work and found us in the midst of this confusion. He and the gardener loaded Hope into the wheelbarrow and we put her in the horse trailer. I crawled in beside her and held her bleeding head. The dogs had torn off one ear and part of the hide on her nose, ripped her throat and the top of her neck severely, and damaged the two legs on her left side. She had stood against the fence line for most of her attack. I must have arrived about the time she fell, for she had not been gutted!
I heard the last words of the vet ringing in my ears, as I traveled home with her on Sunday following the accident. "If she's not up in two days, Bev, put her down" He had sewn her up the best he could and sonogrammed her as well and found she was pregnant. Now knowing her added condition I felt it was my task to help keep her alive. But two days seemed such a short time. Her legs were bad and how could I get her up? (to be continued)
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Raining

It seems drab today...Rainy weather. The sky dark and dreary. The house however is warm and cozy with a fire ablaze in the wood stove. Life is good even on a day of enclosure from the elements. The puppy is having a hard time following me under the umbrella for potty breaks, he much prefers the warmth of his soft bed near the heat of the fire. He is a Great Dane of 11 weeks. I do miss the farm and all the activities there, but today it is nice to remember the people, pastures and places that really are my source of writing for this column. So in future days there will be a variety of poems and short stories that are from my pasture at large. the sphere of the life that has brought me insights and treasures of the heart that beckon to be shared with you my dear reader. Thank you for reading and encouraging me.

The Rescue

The day was hot! My neighbor gal and I were driving to a farm close by in my pickup with her horse trailer attached. Other farm friends had sold their place and needed a shelter for their four older ewes. To the rescue we were going!
Having sold the majority of my spinners flock, I had plenty of pasture and a sturdy barn, built by my husband, to care for the new additions.
It was more difficult than we expected to get the sheep loaded and before we had finished, one ewe had fallen when her master tried to pick her up and then another one knocked him down when rushing head long over him because she saw the other ewes already safely in the space provided in the trailer. We got them in without injury to anyone and the door finally closed. Opening the trailer door in my pasture, the ewes just stared at the open space looking out to my large, dry acreage, they were frozen with fear. They were more afraid of me however, and as I entered the trailer, they rushed out to their new home. In a clump of gray wool, they seemed to move in unison, a quartet of frightened woolly creatures who knew not the right from the left! Sheep hate change I mused. As I stood there watching them, I was so aware of my own dislike of things being altered or different or changed.
The next morning my ewes sought to check out the new additions. However there wasn't a hospitable ewe among them, as each was bonking the other's head, causing a sudden dislike for the new ewes and visa versa. Thankfully, the ewes did become acquainted and became relaxed in each other's presence.
"Oh, Father, are we like that? You go out to rescue us, bring us into a place of safety, built by Your own hands. We bang on each other's emotions and spirituality causing great harm and pain for all of us. Change is so hard. Help us to be loving and lovable Christians. People who are safe to be with and safe to save. And when you bring in the other flocks to the fold, may we rejoice in Your precious wooing love, to save us all."

"He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom

of the Son He loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness

of sins" Colossians 1:13,14 NIV

"I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen, I must bring also. They too will

listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd."

John 10:16 NIV

Morning

I found her lying in a pool of her own blood, cast in her stall,my precious ewe named Morning. She was old and I realized she had banged her head with repeated force over and over again trying to right herself, but she couldn't get up. Her many strokes over the past year had left her weak in her hind quarters and frail even on good days and now-this! She looked stiff and dead as I climbed over the stall side wall. Reaching down, I found she was still breathing. I lifted her bloody body to a correct position and saw her swollen eye and damaged ear. She was still alive-still breathing. I washed her wounds and put antibiotic ointment in her swollen, damaged eye.
Oh Lord, how many times have You come down to step over the wreckage of my life and found me wounded almost beyond repair and You have held my head up and noticed in Your infinite love that I was still breathing in the sense that my prayers were still ascending to Your throne of grace. I praise You for the text in Your Word that speaks to me:

"Then I passed by and saw you kicking about in your blood and as you lay there in your own blood I said to you. 'Live.' Later I passed by and when I looked at you and saw that you were old enough for love, I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness. I gave you my solemn oath and entered into a covenant with you declares the Sovereign Lord, and you became mine. I bathed you with water and washed the blood from you and put ointment on you and dressed you in fine linen" Ezekiel 16:6,8,9 NIV

The pasture is long gone now where this story begins...However memory creates a weaving of threads of lambs being born...Water buckets filled to the brim...Alfalfa stored in my barn...Cats and chickens roaming free to the sound of water being agitated by the geese flapping their wings as they play goose games on the pond...Today is my first day to share these thoughts with you whom I've never met...But we can become friends by the sharing of stories from the heart...Given us from the benevolent hand of the Good Shepherd...For now, this is my beginning.

"For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him." 2 Chronicles 16:9 NIV

The Lone Honker

The lone Canadian honker came flying low over our pond, honking wildly. It was obvious he was searching for his mate. He'd fly low, not landing, going off in the directions of the another pond nearby, coming back again, and beckoning with his clarion call for some response to his broken heart.

I sat and watched from my rocking chair that early Fall morning the drama that played before my eyes sensing God's voice speaking to my heart.

"That's the the way it is with you my child. I come searching over the whole earth calling each morning for you to respond to My clarion call of mercy and love. To search and strengthen your resolve to be fully committed to Me."

Oh Father, thank you again for that picture of the lone goose who taught me so vividly that You come searching anew each morning as I surrender again my life to you in prayer.

"Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning, great is Your faithfulness. I say to myself. "The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him." Lamentations 3:22-24 NIV