I have become a shepherd. Well, actually I have been shepherding in the church for over 30 years, and yet now as I embark on the endeavor of shepherding a physical flock of sheep, I am gaining new insights into this art of shepherding. I wanted to share with you some of these thoughts.
Psalm 23:1
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not be in want
seHe makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters
I love going up to the pasture in springtime – working my dogs and watching the lambs. Today is not spring and there are no lambs to watch. This is early January and the time when the work is mostly cold, wet and not much fun.
Two days ago I had to move the yearling lambs from their fall pasture over to the winter field where the ewes are grazing and where there would be “greener pastures” for them. It is also easier for us to feed and water the whole flock from one location. Moving the yearlings involved persuading them to leave their safe pasture and to journey through muddy, dark woods full of deep puddles and scary shadows. They were not easily persuaded. I took two dogs, Kurt and Lexi (on leash) to help with this task. I enjoyed walking with my dogs through the woods on my way to the lambs. The day was cool and crisp. Noting the conditions of the path, I tried to imagine where I might have trouble with these flighty lambs – and where I would need to be careful to give them extra time to make their way.
The adventure started out quite as I had planned. I separated the lambs from the sheep that would stay in the pasture. We made it out of the gate and around the field to the beginning of the woods. The first puddle the lambs encountered was too wet for them and might be deep! (really??) They simply did not want their wet feet to get wetter…silly lambs! That is just how it is with lambs – they lack some sense.
One particular lamb discovered that if she hugged the electric fence (it was not hot), she might be able to avoid the puddle. Suddenly she slipped, and actually fell over the fence – back into the field we had just exited. She knocked over the fence, providing a gap which enabled others to follow.
Kurt (the dog) rushed back to round them all up, only to have one make a break past him. The others happily joined the rest outside in the field. The one loner would not be persuaded by two dogs and one person. She panicked, ran, stood her ground, ran into fencing; she was a little nuts. Deciding to use force to save her from herself required me to grab her front feet, flip her and drag her for 200 feet where she joined the others that had just watched the show.
She had to go through snow and mud on her back to end up with the rest of the flock. I too was now wet cold and muddy. Really?? It could have been so much easier.
The quarter mile back through the woods was quite lovely. Now that all our feet were wet, we happily splashed through mud and puddles to get to greener pastures.
Fear of the unknown made my one little lamb crazy, but there were good things waiting for her at the end of the journey – green pasture and a quiet stream. My muddy buddy made it happily back with the flock. She just needed to trust the shepherd! How like that we are with God! He has good things in mind for us, and we resist the plan because we are comfortable where we are. The journey is often easier than we anticipate if we will set off knowing He is with us.
It is raining today on top of last night’s snow. I have to go de-worm the flock. This is guaranteed to be another wet and muddy job. The sheep don’t love being crowded in a pen and having a tube of yucky stuff crammed down their throat. This kind of work must be routinely done, and I don’t get to choose which sunny days I get to do that. (Do we have many of those in January?) It will take about one hour to worm the 18 ewes and 18 yearlings. I will check on the hay and water. The winter months involve this aspect of shepherding; checking the flock for health vitals, keeping them fed and watered, and counting to be sure no hungry coyotes have made a meal of them.
Muffin our guard dog stays on duty night and day to protect the flock.
