Mommy Moment…
Bear, that seemed like the perfect name for the tiny little lamb Curt brought us. He was the smallest lamb I had ever seen. When standing, Bear was only as tall as a bottle of soda. He appeared to be full term and fully formed, but he was shockingly small. Curt didn’t think little Bear had any chance of survival.
As happens when a mother animal senses something wrong with a baby, the little lamb had been rejected by its mother. Curt, like any good shepherd, couldn’t just let the baby freeze or starve. He brought it home for the kids and I to tend. If there was any hope for Bear, it was with us. The flock would trample such a small baby. He could have easily stood up underneath any of the other newborn lambs. He was that tiny.
The kids were already helping me tend a few little lambs here at the house. Those lambs had started their little lives with fluid in their lungs or had gotten too cold in a storm. It only took a few days of living in our kitchen and being warmed and fed to bring them back to health. They had been moved outside into a little building in our back yard that we kept for just such animals. We bottle fed them several times a day and loved watching them frolic around.
Bear was quite different. Though he looked fully formed, other than the fact that he was tiny, his joints were stiff. He had difficulty getting up. I hadn’t ever dealt with an animal in his condition. Figuring out how much milk to feed him was quite the challenge. Lambs don’t have any good sense and will overeat and die if you aren’t super careful. Since he was half the size of the others, we started with half the ration of milk. He seemed to do all right with that. After several days in our kitchen, he graduated to the outside pen. We soon realized he was no longer improving. He struggled more and more to get up. We continued to care for him the best we could, but we warned the kids that Bear probably wasn’t going to make it. He was a few weeks old when he died. His little life was short, but he had been well loved.
Farm life can be tough on tender hearts. We all cry when a little animal dies despite our best efforts to save them. I always feel like maybe there was more I could have done. I have had to learn that God is in control in the good… and in the difficult times.
I struggled with that in my own walk with God, so I found it even harder to teach it to my kids. I guess God used situations like this to teach us all several good life lessons…
I couldn’t let the sadness of losing one lamb stop us from caring for the others. They all depended on us. I had to step up and not allow my emotions to control my behavior. That was lesson one. –God was in control. My emotions could not manipulate a situation.
I had to be the grown-up when I’d rather have sat and cried like a child. It was up to me to comfort my children. Lesson two… I had to be the grown-up in the house…even when I didn’t feel like it, even when I was upset.
That little lamb was given the best care we could give it. We didn’t want it to hurt or to die. We loved it well. --I learned that God sees us just like that. He wants our best. This world is full of sin and pain, but that isn’t what God wants for us. He loves us well.
He showed me…it’s not only the fragile and weak who need care. The strong and healthy need care, too.
Every life brings joy to someone and deserves respect, care and love… even if the person is cantankerous or can’t love me back, even if they are only in my life for a short time. The lesson I learned was that I must be true to my faith in Christ and bring love, kindness and truth to all.
I am sure there are other lessons God taught me using little lambs, but those are the ones that I can think of in this moment.
What is God teaching you today?
Mommy, you got this!!
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