He's a Good Shepherd

Here I go again with more inspiration from "the tales of Bryson". My youngest grandson’s life is consumed with the great outdoors and his animals, so of course, his live-stock causes my mind's "ticker tape" to keep rolling!

His priority is his animals' care and he loves it when I help him feed them at the corral or when he moves his goats and donkeys over to the pasture area that has plenty of “greens” for them to consume during the day. It’s a hoot to watch the goats, even with so much grass around to eat – that they still stand on their hind legs to get to the tastiest treats from the trees.

Those animals know their master. When he calls – even the donkeys, go running to him. Of course they do, they live the high life. Even neighboring families will stop by the fences and bring food to them. They are so well cared for and so well-protected. At evening time, Bryson brings them back from the pasture to the corral because predators can show up over there at nighttime. They are pampered and well fed, even if they don’t go over to the green pastures. They are protected and out of danger. Their shepherd, Bryson, is good and loves them all.

My scripture readings lately have referenced the Shepherd and His sheep, so with the inspirations of these chickens, longhorn, goats and donkeys, plus these scriptures, I can’t help but want to hang as close as I can to MY Shepherd.

Those of us who know our Good Shepherd – are like those animals in Bryson's loving care. When we are hanging close to our Shepherd – we can rest in knowing – even in storms – He is right there with us -- tenderly loving and guiding us.

But, then what about the sheep and other animals who have no shepherd and are in places that are open-prey to ravenous creatures and deadly storms? How do they come into the fold?
It's so simple -- surrender to the care of THE Good Shepherd Who lovingly welcomes them into His watchful care. Jesus does. He shares something central to a life of peace and contentment. He says, "I am the Good Shepherd." (John 10:11) Like a shepherd, He leads, feeds, protects and saves His sheep. How can He be so unrelenting in love for us?

And the answer has always been the same -- simple, yet profound -- God IS love. It is Who He is. He can't stop loving us. We are His children, and we are the sheep of His pasture.

As, one of those well-fed, cared for, protected and pampered sheep, I delightfully proclaim: "The Lord is my Shepherd. I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for He is with me. His rod and His staff -- they comfort me. He prepares a table before me in the presence of my enemies. He anoints my head with oil. My cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." Psalms 23.

And, He welcomes you to be loved and cared for in His green pastures, too!

Beware! Attack-Dog! Attack-People!

No sooner than opening the security gate to feed Vamanos, the longhorn, our mild-mannered, docile Havanese, Bentley, saw a woman walking her Doberman out on the roadway. He literally bounded out the gate to take out that dog. You would have thought that Bentley was a ferocious beast. The other dog was being held back by his owner, while Bentley, who appeared to be the alpha dog, was going in for the kill. He heard me hollering at him and, thank God, he halted his attack. The woman apologized for her dog who, she said “knows better than to react like that” and I did my best to apologize for our alpha, attack-dog! Oh me. The fact is, “Sweet Bentley has a rarely used, big bark and is the friendliest, gentlest dog around. I was thinking Bentley would lose his life to that Doberman, while Bentley was in “Attack Dog! Run-for-your-life-mode!”

I think I've seen some folks like that recently. I'm not name-calling but there’s a lesson here about “by their fruits you will know them". All this nasty name-calling, text and tweet bombing, he-said / she-said attacks. Oh my! I’m ashamed of our political leaders who are certainly not setting a good example for our children, and for that matter, for all of us. Why don’t we have civility instead of being in a disrespectful attack mode?

If we would take the wisdom found in the Book of Proverbs, apply it and make it part of our value and belief system, we could spare hurting others and ourselves with our words. About women, Proverbs 31:25, 26 says: "Strength and dignity are her clothing and she laughs at the time to come. She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue." More wisdom from Proverbs 21:23 says "Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble."

We've all been there with some fast-acting, split-second, hateful words that came out. We knew it was too late to take them back. The damage was done. We wished our brain had engaged before our mouths did. I remember a sweet, but powerful little Sunday School song "Be careful little mouth what you say...." How often do we let unnecessary words slip out and we think "What made me say that?"

Psalm 141:3 says "Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips!" I really do purposely pray for God to put a gate on my mouth. I pray "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, oh Lord." Psalm 19:13.

Perhaps God wants to spare us, and others, from potential hurt and pain before unkind or unnecessary words slip out. Perhaps He wants to provide "damage control" angels at our Mouth Gates. Perhaps, He would like us to pray for our public leaders and politicians to better portray themselves as wisdom-filled, kind, tolerant examples for us all. Perhaps it's time we sing that little Sunday School song (and mean it) as a prayer "Be careful little mouth what you say."

My Rolling in the Hay Adventures

Not only do I blog every day, but I also write in my journal the highlights of each day -- the "God" encounters, the strange, the off-kilter, the wacky, and the wild adventures. Truly I amuse myself. Believe me, I have plenty to write about -- even outside of my normal routine. A couple of weeks ago I volunteered at the "Roar" VBS which spotlighted the wild exploits of jungle animals and in our Faith Station where I was a co-leader, we taught about the wild adventures that took place in the Bible.

Those Bible adventures carry on in the wild adventures I take on when I take care of my family's critters: 8 hens; 2 ducks, a huge longhorn, 8 goats, 3 donkeys, a dog and a cat, plus the wildlife (note the wild turkeys that showed up a couple of days ago) AND all the varmints that lurk in the dark at night.

I read my journal for this date a year ago and I was here, like this time, while the family was on their summer vacation. Oh my! Here's an excerpt: "OMG -- again! I went to check on the chickens and get in the eggs, and lo and behold, two hens were outside the pen. Blistering hot outside and they were running from me. Finally, one flew to the top of the wall and I chased her back into the pen and the other, I finally lasted longer than she did and caught her. Thank you, Lord, for strength in this day!" Here I am one year later saying "Bring it on, girls and boys!" Now we know that those hen girls regularly fly out of the pen for a little adventure of their own, but they fly back in. Now we give them a little leeway and they always come home where they belong. There's just no place like home!

Sometimes it’s a good thing to explore and experience some out-of-the-box times that produce growth, some new muscle, new insight, and a fresh new perspective. When I take on the care of these animals, it is definitely out of my comfort zone. Last year, I knew those animals sensed my trepidation. The goats and donkeys took advantage of me, the novice farm-hand, by overpowering my obvious inexperience. And then some of the chickens escaped under the fence and I was chasing them -- pardon the pun -- like a chicken with her head cut off. And if you didn’t know, chickens are fast. I’m sure you would have been greatly entertained if you had seen me. I finally cornered them and took them home, and then commenced to haul over rocks to the fence to cover the just-big-enough-to-escape holes. This time it’s easy-peasy. Note my relaxing morning devotion location and sweet Bentley, their Havanese dog who is my side-kick!

I am so pleased to report that my mentality changed from “out-of-sync” to “I’ll show you who's boss” this year! It’s smooth, calm and in-sync here at Old Mac-Donna’s farm. In fact, I think I’ve conquered any fears or concerns. The bigger animals respect me when I come out with their feed bowls. Now, I have a well-thought-out plan that calmly separates them, respectfully, at meal-time. They love it when I scratch their heads and backs. The ducks and chickens are behaving like well-behaved critters (instead of “gangsters” like I called those who escaped their pen last year), and those mama hens are producing a lot of eggs for me – so yummy! There’s nothing like fresh eggs.

I am so blessed to have a “King David” moment (1 Samuel 30:6) when he encouraged himself. I encourage myself by God's words about “taking dominion” in Genesis 1:28. “And God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” I muster up that dominion attitude with wisdom and strength and an empowered mindset. I take matters into my hands that are empowered by God's strong and mighty hands and even celebrate His marvelous creation – His critters and His masterfully designed scenic view! Life is good because God is good. All the time.

Controlling What I Can and Cannot

I felt a tug at the edge of my shirt and looked down to identify the perpetrator. He’s black and white with horns that could really hurt if he chose to wallop e." me with them. His name is Oreo and he has a personality of grit and determination and lets his peers know he’s the boss. I smile at him, and sometimes use my parental voice with him because he’s being way too possessive of his “stuff”. I give him a handful of feed, “Okay, Oreo, here’s a snack.” He gobbles straight from my hand, slobbery and delighted. He is one of five very tame and sometimes ornery goats at the Wuerch ranch.

Later, outside the domain of the longhorn, Vamanos, I toss him some hay over the fence and scoot his bowl of feed under the fence. I imagine the beast on the other side of that fence grabbing the edge of my clothing too. The scene that unfolds in my mind is entirely different. I shiver and salute him with respect as I think: “You stay there and I’ll stay right here!"

In many ways, this is how we define control. We are unafraid of what we believe we can control. The pushy goat. The Facebook posts we have done a thousand times. A conversation with close friends. Saying “No” to the third “Oreo” cookie. But our hearts speed up at the prospect of what we cannot control. The longhorn that swings those 6-feet horns. A recent health diagnosis. The weather and the outdoor wedding that is planned. The success of the fundraiser we are heading up.

Here is what scripture says about control. Proverbs 16:32 “Better a patient person than a warrior, one with self-control than one who takes a city.” I discovered that the only type of control we are given is quite possibly the most challenging. It’s self-control. Yikes! Controlling ourselves is often harder to control than the goat OR the longhorn. Here’s how to explain self-control. We can’t control our friendships, but we can control what kind of friend we will be. We can’t control our marriage but we can control what kind of wife or husband we are. We can’t control our children but we can control what kind of parent we will be. We can’t control our career but we can control the sort of employee we are to our company.

When we actually start living this way, the fear starts to diminish. In other words, taking the next step of obedience is the equivalent of putting the fence between us and the longhorn. What we fear might still be present, but it can no longer smack us with his horns. (And, I know what that feels like! Been there – felt that, and got the bruise!)

The key to self-control is not inward, but upward. Because if God is in us, self-control causes us to be braver, stronger, and wiser than what we ever feared. I read this quote: "If you could kick the person responsible for most of your troubles, you wouldn’t be able to sit down for weeks." So let’s start with ourselves. The whole issue of self-control starts with self, so let's shoulder up and say: “Self, we can do this with God’s help!”

It's All About Perspective

Continuing on with my animal-sitting here in Austin, I was taking the 2,000 lb longhorn, Vamanos, his morning meal, consisting of huge grain pellets and lots of hay. He is usually standing at the fence waiting or at least comes trotting if he is a distance away. Yesterday, no sign of Vamanos. I clanged the gate with the chain. Nada. I hollered and yelled for him. Nada. Suddenly, I became alarmed. NEVER had he not shown up for his mealtime. I, cautiously, walked inside the fence and went down a path that leads to a thick treed area, but then Mother Wisdom warned me about getting too far from the gate so I could make a quick exit if he shows up. He seems like a gentle giant, but my good instincts tell me he sees "red" when he sees me!

In a distance, I saw what looked to be horns and a carcass in the field. My heart was beating a mile a minute. I imagined wild animals had attacked him and eaten him up. As I walked closer, I was greatly relieved that it was the remains of a fallen tree looking exactly like what my imagination was telling me. After breathing a sigh of relief, I made my way back to the gate and called some more. I started pondering "Who can I call to go into that pasture and treed area to see if he is okay or hurt or sick?" I thought, "I'll give it an hour (it was 7 am) and then I'll go back and see if he showed up. As I was walking away, meandering up the hill, was Vamanos. I probably had awakened him from one of those mornings deep periods of sleep.

Of course, I would find a post for today out of that morning ordeal. My perspective was imagining the worst possible scenario and my vision saw it just that. Not until I got closer to the false scenario, did I change my perspective.

How many times do we imagine the worst possible thing to happen in our lives instead of getting a reality check? We hear the weather reports and rather than turning to the Creator of the weather, we succumb to fear and anxiety. We come up against some tough times financially, and we see ourselves going bankrupt instead of turning to He Who owns the cattle on a thousand hills (gotta' keep up with my farm analogy). We see a light at the end of the tunnel but it's a train coming to take us out instead of the Light of the World turning things around for us.

Even though our perspective might be skewed and we may not see things clearly, just hold on. Time will pass and we will see it as clearly as God had planned all along. It will be like seeing with new eyes. Seeing things through His planned perspective. ‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’ {Jeremiah 29:11}

When we let our own limited perspective get in our way, we miss God in the midst. When we dwell on the outcome, we miss what is happening now. He is right there with us. He knows the way. He has the plan all figured out and He knows how it will all come together.

Just as Vamanos came sauntering up for his breakfast instead of being eaten alive as my perspective had made me think.....God will saunter or stroll along for a while, and in His perfectly set time.....we will see Him clearly and we will see the BIG PICTURE He planned all along.

I’m Growing….On Purpose

Who knew that when I headed for Austin on Saturday to be at my grandson’s baseball tournament and celebrate Father’s day with my son and his family, that I just might be growing more than I had planned on in this season of my life. But, I’ve learned that if we don’t want to grow stale, become dormant and start withering up like a plant, we need to KEEP GROWING on purpose.

The family was getting ready to go away a few days and were about to hire a couple of people to attend to Bryson’s animal kingdom while they were away. Since my time is flexible right now, I boldly exclaimed: “Let me do it!” So here I am – attending to 32 animals. Bryson, my 11-year-old trainer set out to model every detail of his animal responsibilities so that I would acquire his skills. Some say “It’s hard to teach an old dog new tricks" and I’ll admit – it’s taken some tough encounters with these animal friends that almost convinced me to quit and call in the REAL pros for the job.

Not being on high alert to an enormous longhorn, I got too close to his 6-feet horns wing-span and got whacked in the face. Then, not being the pro that Bryson is, I let the goats overpower me when I was taking their feed bowls out to them and got tangled up and fell. Then there are the chickens that a new brood of seven that has been added to the already 9-chickens. The nine are quite accommodating at night when they go into the chicken coop, but the seven haven’t adapted just yet to the nine and they have to be rustled up and individually caught and put into the coop. Needless to say, I thought this is too much for this gal to take on during this "mature" season of life.

BUT, then, as I always do when life seems to get overwhelming, I muster up those spiritual muscles and apply scriptures that are indelibly imprinted in my heart to remind me WHO I AM and WHOSE I am and I begin to declare “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13) And, “I am MORE than a conqueror through Him Who loves me.” (Romans 8:37) And new vitality and vigor come inside me. Yesterday, was VICTORY day as each task I was able to handle with confidence and competence – even gathering up each chicken and putting them into the coop! Whoop! Whoop!

We all have treasures inside of us -- there are skills, talents, and potential that God put there, and it's up to us to grow and develop them. If we don't, we'll find that rocking chair or recliner and just switching channels on the remote control, becoming "that's all there is" to us. We will have stopped growing and when we do, we'll start dying to ambition, risk-taking, living life large, and refusing adventure and excitement.

I'm going to keep learning new skills, reading books, taking internet courses, going to seminars, gleaning from mentors – like my 11-year old Bryson. I refuse to coast through life. I'm purposing to make the moments count -- I'm going to keep on KEEPING ON...I am going to live and grow on purpose and help a lot of other folks GROW ON PURPOSE with me!!!

Does Santa Reflect How You Feel Today?

This Norman Rockwell painting shows a worn-out Santa on December 26th -- and, like Santa, if all that’s left of Christmas for us -- frazzled, exhausted, a bulging credit card balance, an over-full, bulging tummy, then we missed the true meaning of Christmas. I'll admit that after all the activities that surround this beautiful season, along with Christmas Eve with my Wallace Family and then just a few hours of sleep before our drive to Austin, I was feeling a bit like this Santa.

I quickly revived when my sweetest spot on earth came when my entire family (my son, Ryan, and his family and my daughter and her family from Frisco) were altogether on the Wuerch's ranch in Austin. After an enormous Texas-style Christmas dinner, it was Nana's time for my annual request -- family pictures taken.

Our precious Denise Gerrich has been our photographer of choice for years. I'm so thankful she was a part of the family celebrations. After the usual antics of photo taking -- I was able to savor the moments of simply watching my grandchildren interact, all of us playing games, visiting about each other's lives, catching up on "what's new?" and reminisce about so many past times together. I pulled out my computer to type this post when Staci asked "What are you doing, Mom?" I was the only one with technology out. I said, "You know me, I'm working on my post for tomorrow morning!" She understood. She knows that's my daily mode of operation -- technology and all.

And, I'm breathing in having my family around me -- hearing Shawntel puttering around in the kitchen, seeing each one going back to the dinner remains for seconds, hearing Larry and Staci talking to Braden about his new e-commerce business that is going gangbusters, hearing the laughter of the kids playing pool and playing with Alexia's Christmas gift from Payton (a hedgehog), watching them all play the game of spoons, seeing Ryan pairing his lights with his Echo, -- just heaven on earth -- my earth -- my space -- my greatest blessings that call me Nana and Mom!

Back to my opening paragraph about Santa, and all of us being worn out after a very busy time leading up to Christmas Day. The good news is Christmas isn't just about that ONE MAIN EVENT. And neither is all the waiting, planning, organizing and preparing for OUR babies to be born, being just about their ONE day of birth. It's about that day and every day after that. Jesus' birthday was just the beginning of His incomparable life. We need to recall how we looked at our babies and how Mary, Jesus' mother, looked at her baby boy, her Son -- a Son like no other Son - the very Son of God - and she saw in his sweet, soft, precious face -- the Redeemer of all mankind. I like to think that I am a lot like Mary was. I can imagine that she breathed in His presence. She was there for his first steps playing games with other children, his puttering around in the carpentry shop with his dad, and she savored His antics and laughter and knowing God had such big plans for His future then she heard the stories of His many exploits.

In you and me is our own Christmas story being written of how God pursued us, loved us unconditionally and how His grace and unmerited favor kept us, gave us the courage to face tomorrow……and caused the peace, joy and love we experience at Christmas -- to stay alive in us each and every day and embrace it, because it's the life God planned us to live and enjoy.

As we continue to frolic and play for a few more days, and even when we return to our day-to-day walk with God, let's remember all that Christmas was AND IS because "JOY to the World" came for our taking and experiencing EVERYDAY!