The shepherd and his sheep

Good Morning Friends!  Totally loved by HIM, Tuesday!   How long has it been since you have seen or heard a hundred baby lambs, running, jumping, baaing for mama?  Sound like fun?…..Well come on out to Lula, it’s lambing time!  Last summer, Kim replaced his old ewes with young ones and this is their first time to lamb, so he has been extra watchful and careful… first-time mamas can have problems birthing.  He decided when they first started lambing to lock them into a large catch pen, rather than let them go out into the pasture, allowing him to keep a closer eye on them.  It’s extra work with all the feeding, but so much safer.  Well, a couple weeks ago our well pump went out so there was no water in the catch pen; he had no choice but to let them out into a pasture with a pond while the well was repaired.  Oh boy, they loved being out in the pasture….but there was no way he could leave them out there, he had to bring them in at dusk, no matter what it took.  I was with him that first day, it was a bit of a chore to say the least, but they sure liked the fresh grass, so being the kind shepherd that he is, Kim has let them out each morning to graze and brings them in at night, feeds them, and locks them in.  As he pulls into the alley way where he feeds, he turns on the siren on the feed truck, his signal to the animals that chow is on!  Sunday evening I got to go out with him to let them in; during the week he is usually done by the time I get home, so I was looking forward to seeing all the little ones.  As we drove in I could see them all way out in the back pasture…oh boy I thought, this could be a real rodeo, but as soon as Kim turned on the siren they started running in mass towards the gate and feed!  It was truly amazing to watch them come as Kim stood out in the pasture to make sure no one was left behind for coyote bait.  He noticed one lone lamb way out and was headed out to get it, when I hollered at him….”I’ll go, rest your weary legs.”  As soon as they were all in and the gate was locked we filled the troughs with grain….they just go crazy, but what a joy to see them all together, safe, protected, fed, and growing strong.  As we drove away I could still hear the babies baaing for their mamas (they were of course bellied up to the troughs), their cries made me smile….Is that what I sound like to our Good Shepherd….I laughed as I thought, “of course Kim is a good shepherd to his sheep, he had the Perfect Example…our Savior.”  “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want…..Ps. 23”  He protects me from the coyotes of a sinful world, He feeds me with His word and provides me with all I need on this earth, He calms my fears.  Kim’s sheep know the sound of his feed truck, Jesus says of us, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.”  John 10:27-28.  No one can snatch us out of HIS hands, Kim, try as he might can never guarantee that one of his lambs will not get snatched….Our Good Shepherd, is our Savior, our God and Lord…..”My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.  I and the Father are one.”  John 10:29-30.   Thank Father, for a Shepherd that laid down HIS life for us…”Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”  Psalm 23:6.

 

Love you all!

July 30, 2013

Good Morning Friends!   Mighty awesome is our God, Monday!  Kim and I had some unexpected, as well as uninvited visitors yesterday morning!  A group of lawn mowers……trouble with them is they cut down flowers and all!  Have you guessed yet….Yep, as we got our coffee and headed to the porch we were greeted by about 30 lambs mowing our lawn…thank goodness I got to my flowers before they did…..stinkers they came a long way down the road….from green pastures to get to our house…..never happy….(remind you of anyone).  Well, no sooner than we sat down, they turned and headed back towards the road.  Shepherd Kim was not happy…..couldn’t let them go out to the road again…..30 lambs on the road spells disaster anyway you look at it.  So, Kim got the four-wheeler, gathered them up and headed up the road to their pasture.  He had me follow them in the car with my flashers on; mind you, I was just out of bed….not dressed or anything….yippee!  Shepherd Kim seemed to have everything under control, always there to take care of his lambs, guiding them to safety and lush pasture.  Everything seemed to be under control, getting close to their home when one lone lamb decides to head out on his own.  Shepherd Kim attempted to get him back with others a couple times, but then went on with the group….I too gave it a try but to no avail.  This young lamb was bound and determined to take off on his own, no clue to the dangers awaiting him.  As I turned in the road to lambs pasture, Shepherd Kim was already turning around and heading out.  I backed out of his way and watched him go right to where the young lamb had wandered off…..he patiently…oh so patiently,  coaxed him back, back to the flock….in safe lush pastures.  How often are we the wandering lamb…….How blessed we are to have the Perfect Shepherd to come back for us….take us into His flock….love us and forgive us!  Thank you Father!

 

He tends His flock like a shepherd:  He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart; He gently leads those that have young.  Isaiah 40:11.  “For this is what the Sovereign Lord says:  I myself will search for my sheep and look after them.  As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after My sheep.  I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness.”  Ezekiel 34: 11-12.  Jesus says, “I am the Good Shepherd.  The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.”  John 10:11.  “I am the Good Shepherd; I know My sheep and my sheep know me—just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.”  John 10 14-15.  The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want……Psalm 23:1

April 23, 2013

Good Morning Friends!  Totally wrapped in His loving arms Tuesday!  Last Saturday I was on a mission! I desperately needed  half a day in my house!!!!  So, I gave up breakfast with Cooper and Katy and headed outside to get my ranch chores done quick as I could, so I could get in my house and get to work….oh my what a mess I had.  Well, Kim and I worked hard and believe it or not I was back in the house by 11:30 and got right to work.  I was going gangbusters.  About 30 minutes later Kim called…..Oh boy I thought…..wonder what’s up.  He was frantic to say the least!  “Get the 4 wheeler and get up here now!  Sheep are out and all over the Beagles, going crazy, they’re acting crazy!”  I grabbed my jacket and a bottle of water, who knew how long I would be gone….started up the 4 wheeler and headed up the hill.  Kim meet me at the cattle guard and waved me to follow him, he was fit to be tied.  We went to the intersection at the top of the hill, our property on one side, the Beagles on the other.  Jumping out of his truck he hollered at me to stand in the road and make sure they went towards home, he headed down the side road to stop them, turn them around and head them home…..I stood in the road and waited and waited and waited……oh gosh, I thought this is not good….thinking he might need a little help, I said a little prayer.  Finally, I could hear the 4 wheeler, the sheep (about 150 with lambs) making a ruckus, and Kim hollering at them and me.  “Don’t let them go up that hill (if they got up the hill they would be out of my reach and would head the wrong direction…not good).  Well of course 5 or 6 head right up that hill too steep for the 4 wheeler and besides Kim was busy trying to keep the rest from doing the same thing.  No other choice, I had to head up the hill, glad I had on my good boots…..I got up just fine, before they got away….headed them back down and then….well let’s just say getting down the hill wasn’t quite as easy as getting up.  Kim was right; they were acting crazy, like they had been locked up in a dirt lot all winter, and the green grass had them crazy when actually they have eaten lush green fodder all winter…..150 sheep plus lambs acting crazy is not a pretty site on CR 1600 on Saturday…yes we did finally get them on 1600, but it wasn’t easy, Kim got stuck and they headed into the trees….finally got them out of the trees and heading down the road now….would they turn in where they were supposed to….could I keep them out of the neighbor’s yard……could I warn traffic in time to slow them down……I jumped in the truck and turned on the hazard lights just in time to slow down a car…..well we lucked out…..they turned in the right gate and headed out to pasture!  What a relief and Thank you Father!  We headed back to the house for lunch, shaking our heads, wondering what in the heck we were gonna do with them…..crazy sheep.  I didn’t think much more about them until Sunday morning in church when Pastor read the Gospel lesson from John 10:22-30.  Jesus was talking to some Jews that needed some proof that He was the promised one….He said I already told you I am, but you don’t believe because you are not part of My flock……”My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”  Oh my gosh, it was all I could do to not burst out laughing right in church!  I thought not always…..they don’t always listen or follow!  My thoughts returned to Saturday and our crazy sheep…..they had everything….green pastures, fresh water, dogs to guard them, mineral on demand, green pastures….and what did they do….tore up good fences and took off….no clue what was out there….no regard for the dangers outside the pastures….Oh no……Father…how frustrated you must get with Your sheep….us….when we tear down the fences…and head out to the unknown without YOU…..not listening to Your voice….not following You….looking for the greener grass when You provide us with everything we could ever need…..Protect us, forgive us, love us, comfort us, heal us…….Father, forgive us when we don’t listen to Your voice, help us to hear and to follow You.  Remember this song…”I am Jesus Little Lamb, Ever glad at heart I am…..”

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.  He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters, He restores my soul.  He guides me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.  Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for you are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.  You prepare a table before m in the presence of my enemies.  You anoint my head with oil’ my cup overflows.  Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.  Psalm 23.  The God of peace be with you.  Philippians 4:9.

Love you all!

Kathie A. Johnson

January 25, 2013

Good Morning Friends!  Faithfully, firmly following HIM Friday!  “The Lord is my Shepherd…...”  Everyone recognizes the first line of the 23^rd Psalm and most likely this awesome Psalm stirs things deep in each of us.  For me…..well, since Kim and I have been raising sheep, our Good Shepherd has taken on a most intimate meaning to me.  Last Friday, most of our 200 plus sheep and their lambs found a hole in a fence and decided to change pastures….without permission mind you!  Well, they couldn’t just go somewhere and mind their own business, NO….they had to go right to the pasture with our cows and their calves.  Now, this might not seem like a problem to some of you, but it makes it nearly impossible to feed…..The sheep, greedy girls, want all the food…..and it’s important that the cows and sheep get the proper amount…..Kim works hard to make sure that they are fed properly…..getting the nutrients that they need….not what they think they need.  Well, on Saturday Kim asked me to help him get the sheep out of the cows pasture.  While he got the four wheeler to herd them up I walked through some isolated spots that a few wayward ewes had found themselves….I walked them out of the pen and down the alley way out into the pasture.  Kim was going to herd them all up and move them through an open gate into another pasture.  The gate was right next to the alley way which has no gate……So, if you know sheep at all, you can just imagine how easily they might veer off the path to the open gate and head towards the alley way which would not be a good thing!  My job as my little red-headed shepherd’s helper was to keep them out of the ally way.  Now that might seem simple to most of you, but not the case with sheep….Oh no, one must be very careful in the process; if I stood too close to the gate they would head in an entirely different direction….most likely scatter and have to be herded again (that does not make a red-headed shepherd happy), but if I stood to far back they could get in and run me down…..being a shepherd is not all it’s cracked up to be……a tough job at times.  I finally decided to crotch down in the alley way and sit real still……I watched as Kim veered back and forth gathering them, making sure no one was left behind…..a couple of times he had to stop and pick up a lamb that had lost its mommy or couldn’t keep up……he was patient but firm with his special “Yip, Yip, Yip” gathering call…..as I sat there, enjoying the nice morning, my thoughts turned to the 23^rd Paslm….to our Good Shepherd…….Oh gosh, we sure do make it difficult for HIM at times….how often we head through the holes of sin wandering into “pastures” that are not good for us…..where we might mingle with people that are not good for us, head down alley ways of self-destruction, depression, greed…..like the lambs we can’t keep up….could be left behind in our sin…..but our Good Shepherd, is patient yet firm with us…..He guides through the right gates and leads us to safe pasture…..If the sheep will listen to Kim’s “yips” he will lead them to safety and provide them with everything they need…….Hmmm, oh my……..just like us…..if we will just listen to our Good Shepherd…..He will take care of us…..provide us with everything we need……and He’s always there with open arms to pick us up when we can’t keep up…..to comfort us, love us, forgive us….Thank you Father for never giving up on us.

Jesus said, “ I am the Good Shepherd.  The Good Shepherd lays down His life the sheep…..I am the Good Shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me."  John 10:11 & 14. He guides me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.  He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters, He restores my soul.  He guides me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort them.  You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.  You anoint my head with oil; Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.  Psalm 23

Love you all!