Of Goats and Grace

One of the first and most unexpected lessons we learned after moving to our farm was dealing with loss. Sometimes you do everything as responsibly as you know to and you still lose your sweet animals. So when my son came in from chores shouting about frozen babies I wasn't expecting a miracle. I told the kids we have to work quickly and aggressively to give them a shot but it is best not to get our hope up. BEST NOT TO GET YOUR HOPE UP??? Yikes! What a terrible message to give your children.

Guess who was not ok with this message and just showed up to teach me a lesson? Oh, I do feel the shame of it now-after the fact. Have I not been instructed to hope in the Lord? Is He not the very source of my hope? I could almost hear Him chuckle as he knocked my socks off and saved these babies by the very hands of my children. It took hours. This included water baths, blackstrap molasses, a blow dryer, running to the barn and milking (in single digits) and even tube feeding. We had to persevere when things looked bleak. We’re now on a rigid two-hour bottle feeding schedule. But with all of this he wanted to show us something good! He wanted these children to save these baby goats and witness the restored hope to their mama’s soul. Amazing grace.

I know we will experience farm loss again and He will be there to walk us through that too. But just as He told me last week...I am not the author of my children's story, I am only to teach them His way for them. What a gentle reminder. My kids are to hope in the Lord! And so am I.