THE NEW EWE

"What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!'"

Luke 15:4-6

June 23, 2021

LIFE IN THE FOLD:

This past Friday was mine and Jon's 16^th anniversary. After he left for work that morning, I decided that I would do yard work before it got too uncomfortably hot. My good intentions backfired on me, in a big way!

The city is widening the street in front our house from two to four lanes. For several weeks now they have had markers in our front yard. There are those little wire flags to mark the gas line.... blue wire flags for something.... and wooden survey stakes. We also have two meters in our front yard in amongst all of this mess, where the lids stick up out of the ground, which makes them harder to mow around.

I decided that I would first use the weed-eater in the front yard around our trees, mailbox, meters, survey stakes, and wire flags. I had been weed-eating for a while, when suddenly I heard a sound that wasn't normal; which caused the weed-eater to stop. I had gotten one of those wire flag markers tangled up in the weed-eater! I worked for a while, and wasn't able to remove it, so decided to put the weed-eater in the garage and mow instead.

We have a brand new zero-turn mower, which we've only used 3-4 times. I was mowing in our front yard and everything was wonderful. Then I got to the area where the metal meters are, which have 3 survey post in between them tied together with pink marker tape, and wire flags mixed in with this mess. I was mowing very slowly around.... I really was! I had made my way around one of the meters, which sits probably 3-4 inches above the ground, and was trying to mow as closely as I could around the survey stakes. I think I must have backed up just a little to try and get in a little closer, not thinking about the meter cover behind me, when I suddenly heard this loud noise! I had hit the meter cover with something underneath the mower.

I wanted to cry! My first thought was, "Jon's never going to buy me anything nice again!" I stopped the mower and it sounded fine, so thought perhaps it hadn't damaged anything after all and was relieved. I mowed a little while longer, trying to finish up the front yard when I noticed that it wasn't cutting the grass evenly. My heart sunk, knowing that when I hit, it had likely bent something. I took the mower around to the shed and put it away. I had no idea if I'd bent the blade or mower deck or what was wrong.

Not wanting to stew about it all day, I called Jon to tell him about the weed-eater and mower. Happy Anniversary! He told me that it would be okay.

Saturday morning, he was able to get the mower up on some ramps, and it had bent one of the blades. Thankfully, my handy dandy husband was able to take it off and straighten it out and sharpen it. He was able to repair it without there being any cost to us. While I mowed our backyard, he was able to also get the wire from that flag marker untangled from around the weed-eater and get that working again.

What should have been an easy chore, on a joyous anniversary day, backfired on me and didn't turn out anything like I thought it would!

An unexpected problem turned into a praise, because Jon was able to do the repairs without it causing us any money. Something that felt frustrating and upsetting at the time, turned out to be not as bad as I had initially thought it might be.

Many times we can encounter unexpected problems that crop up; sometimes due to our own mistakes, carelessness or lack of paying attention. Sometimes it happens quickly and not particularly our fault. Other times it may be caused by someone else, but it has an affect on us. There are many reasons why life situations can occur. Sometimes it may be costly, sometimes teaches us a lesson, and other times is a nuisance more than anything. We've all dealt with those unexpected problems that happen.

One time Jon and I were taking a mower to our family property in Missouri. We were cheerfully driving along, chatting and having a good time. All of a sudden we heard a noise as if something had hit the truck, but it took us a minute to figure out what had happened. I looked behind us and the back window of the truck was shattered. Both of us were like, "What in the world just happened?!" There hadn't been any vehicles in close proximity to us at that time. Jon hurriedly pulled over to see what had happened. He had a tie down strap holding the mower in place. The loose end blew out and got caught under a wheel, which in turn broke the strap and cause the fastener to fly, with great force, into the truck window. It was no ones fault and completely unexpected. It resulted in us having to turn around and go back home, unload the truck, and having to call to have the window replaced the next week.

I could share many stories that have happened throughout my life of these unexpected happenings. You could think of your own personal stories.

How do we handle such incidences? Do we worry, complain, cry, become angry, find someone to blame, allow fear to overwhelm us, or speak hurtful words? Or do we look for the blessing in the midst of the situation, trust God to take care of it, hold onto joy and allow the peace that surpasses all understanding to fill our heart and mind?

Too often, I find myself experiencing emotions or responding in a way in the first category; the negative responses. I want to be a woman who consistently responds with the positive responses listed in the second category! I really do!! I fail more than I would like, but I keep holding onto hope that I will one day be that type of person who is so faith-filled, joy-filled, and peaceful that nothing shakes me.

Let's not give up if we find ourselves lacking or responding negatively to situations. Don't feel as if you can never change and that you're hopeless. Keep your eyes on Jesus, ask Him to help you respond to every daily situation that arises as He would. Let Him teach you how to be like Him and how to love and respond as He would!

JON'S PERSPECTIVE:

If you invite a cousin and their family to stay with you for a couple weeks, and they bring a dog with the mange and covered in fleas, you can expect to get fleas all over your house, and for the mange to spread to any of your own furry pets. You don't have to invite the fleas or mange into your house, but you will end up with both.

If you invited the family to come, but then turned their beloved dog away, they would resent you for it. They might stay, and leave the dog somewhere else, but they wouldn't feel welcome or comfortable. But that would be the only way to keep the fleas and mange away. Even if they treated the dog, the fleas and mange would spread before you could stop them. It's possible, but not easy.

God has given Earth to us. We can inhabit it, enjoy it, explore it, and should take care of it. But many people bring along greed, laziness, anger, hatred, lust, jealousy, and other sins. The world has become filled with sins. And the sins carry disease, death, and famine. God didn't invite the sins here, and didn't invite what sin brings with it. But we have a world filled with all of it.

Some people look at a bad situation, or a change in plans they don't want, and they think God did this to them. Or they may know God didn't do it to them, but He didn't stop it, either.

But it is us, as a whole, who have brought disease, etc. into this world with sin. And the only ways we can be rid of it is to get rid of sin entirely. Or to get rid of us. God won't get rid of us. So, it is up to us to get rid of sin.

ON THE MENEWE:

Coffee Creamer Homemade Ice Cream

You can use any flavor of coffee creamer you desire, depending on what flavor ice cream you want.

Add all ingredients, except the whole milk; mix well, then pour into the ice cream maker canister. Add whole milk to the fill line.

Freeze according to freezer instructions.

THIS, THAT AND THE OTHER:

I recently ran across this story that I shared back in 2014:

My niece enrolled her two daughters in ballet and tap lessons. She felt like her (then) 5-year old son needed an activity, too, so enrolled him in karate. Shortly afterwards, his grandma asked him if he had started karate yet. He very seriously answered her, "No, I haven't done karate; but I did watch the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movie and that was really cool!"

Seven years later, he is now 12 years old, and I can tell you that he still doesn't know karate. Those lessons must have been very short lived!

THOUGHT TO PONDER:

Some of our life experiences should be looked upon as stepping stones,

needed in order to cross the stream at large, but not meant to be lingered on forever. - Jan Turano

OUR HEARTFELT THANKS TO YOU:

We love you!

Loretta & Jon

http://www.graysheep.org