The Blessing was Mine!!!

How blessed I am that God entrusted 3 precious lives to me! In so doing, He showed me the endless depth of a parent's love for a child, and I began to understand about His love for me. My children also taught me about the kind of love spoken of in John 15:13. Had I not had children I would never have fully understand what it meant to love that deeply! When we serve others with pure hearts, WE are the receipients of the blessing!

Splitter or Unifier?

We live on a huge ranch. The fences are adequate to hold the cows, but the goats can go where ever they please! We feed the goats at night in the pens, so they rarely browse further than a few miles away. They also stay in a group...usually. The exception is when we introduce new goats to the herd. When that happens, they get confused, or they don't know who to follow. Either way, inevitably, we have to go out and find stragglers. We got a beautiful new red billy the other day, and when it came time to let him roam with the goat herd, I was nervous that he might get lost. As I thought about the possibility that the goats would split up, I realized that the same dynamic happens among people.  Some people plant seeds of dissention that cause problems within relationships. The bible tells us that we are to seek unity and restoration of relationships. I'm happy to say that the new billy is a “unifier.” What about you?

Trust

My husband had to go out and fix fences the other day, and I told him I wanted to go. He said, “Sure, but we're going to go over some really rough ground and some of the places are going to scare you!” “I'll be fine," I said grabbing hat and coat, "don't worry about me!”  With that we drove across the ranch to an area of beautiful mountains, and deep canyons. He stopped to put the truck in 4 wheel drive and I could see that he planned to bulldoze our way over young cedars and ocotillo, to the bottom of a steep drop off. I was determined not to let him know I didn't like it, so I just braced my neck, closed my eyes, and held tight! As I was sitting, waiting to get to the bottom I thought about how much I trust my husband. He is a careful man, a great driver, and he knows the territory. I thought, “what a gift it is to be able to trust him so completely.” It make me think of someone else who I trust completely. God! When troubles are beyond my control, I can just close my eyes, and hand them over to the One who will never let me down. He would never hurt me, He is divinely wise, and He knows the territory! He's infinitely capable of handling what ever it is that I need to hand over to Him!

Hand Me Downs

I was looking around my house, and realized that a good many of my belongings are things that others have used, replaced, and given to me. The list is long... clothes, space heaters, a scale, a cane, plates, glasses... the list could go on and on! It's true, I am very frugal!  But I think the reason goes deeper! I do not like to throw things away, especially if they still have value! How cool when I can put cast off items to good use! Our culture tends to be a "throw away" culture.  Rather than fixing or 'making do,' we just throw things away and get the newer version.  It even applies to people and relationships!   As I contemplated this, I began to think about God and how He sees the beauty and value that underlies the external. He doesn't throw away, or give up on things either. Thank Goodness! If He did, he would have given up on me long ago! Thank you Father for your patience, and for not giving up on me, even though it took 'forever' for me to accept Your truth!

Obedience

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“Come here Chivo,” I called, sweetly encouraging him.  Chivo fell down, twisted around, yelped and whined, bewildered about the pressure he was feeling. I was trying to teach Chivo to lead by using gentle, steady pressure, and taking him exactly where he wanted to go anyway– his feed bowl.  But he didn’t understand, and he tried tirelessly to yank himself away!

Chivo was a puppy that would grow up to be a guardian dog for my goats.  His job would be to protect my ‘kids’ from predators.  He would be a large, strong dog, who would work independently, but he had to learn basic obedience so that I could intervene when needed, and take care things. 

As Chivo tried to wrench away from me, causing himself more pain than necessary, I realized that I was like him in many ways.  God has called me most of my life…gently, steadily, and sweetly, but like Chivo, I pulled away.  I relied on my own independence, and strength.  Even when things may have seemed fine to others, I often ‘fell down’, crying, bewildered about life!  My insistence on handling things my way made life much harder than it had to be.  

Thankfully, I finally surrendered to my Master.  The obedience that God is teaching me allows me to go to places of love, grace, and beauty.  Places that I always wanted to go anyway, but didn’t know how to find.  That obedience teaches me to let God intervene to take care of the multitude of things that I cannot.  Following my Father is the only thing that can truly keep me safe and make me happy.

Prayer:  Father, thank you for your guidance in navigating this world.  I don’t always willingly follow Your ways, but I am always glad when I do! 

Bible Verse:  But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.  Luke 11:28 (KJV)