2012--In with a ROAR!

2012 has started out in dramatic fashion. It reminds me of St. Paul who wrote to the churches to tell them to rejoice and trust in God no matter what happens. He was in a dismal prison when he wrote those words. (See Phil. 4:4-7)

For our family, New Year’s Day allowed no time to “rejoice” or to write resolutions! When I stumbled out of bed to let the dogs outside, my ears were met with the sound of loud barking from several dogs.

I rushed to throw on a jacket and headed outside. As I rounded the corner, my heart stopped. There were dogs inside our goat pen. One came out of the shelter licking blood. I screamed and three more dogs came out.

A pathetic bleating came from inside the shelter. My mind raced. I was afraid of the dog pack. And how much had they mutilated our two “dwarf” pet goats?

I called the Sheriff rather than face the dogs alone. One of the goats stumbled into the open and fell over dead. The other goat was in shock. I felt the same way. When I finally came inside, my legs were shaking.

Yet, God has a way of granting us hope and light even in the midst of tragedy just as St. Paul said.

The sun came out as the remaining goat, named Jag, finally was coaxed to come into the barn. Jag ran to the front door with me, as if he remembered another time he was hurt and he spent the night in our bathroom. Jag began to follow me around the barnyard like my lamb. The bond with this goat has been strengthened. Now are remaining lonely goat has become quite “talkative.”

A few days later Jag peeled his lip back and made a new sound…he smelled something in the air. Our old horse needed help. Although Brandy was 35, she could still push away the other female horse when a male horse came by! She was like a 150 year old lady competing for the favors of a gentleman!

But now Brandy was had fallen in the thick mud and she couldn’t get up. Her body seemed to shrivel up. She was shaking and dazed. I knelt beside her.

Brigit, our 12 year old, wasn’t ready to give up. She brought out food and ropes. “We can get her up, Mom. We have to,” she cried.

So we did our best. But we could not help her legs to work. Brandy kept falling back to the ground shaking, her eyes rolling.

It was a long afternoon. Finally, the goat called out just as Brandy was put to sleep. Animals seem to know about death. There was a moment of profound silence. No cackling chickens. No barking dogs. No honking donkey. Just silence.

This New Year has made me take stock of life and death.
In the bigger picture, we know there are deeper tragedies that other families are experiencing. The lesson of this new beginning, is that life is a precious gift not to be taken for granted.

One gutsy horse and one protective goat left a barnyard with thawing snow, a new puppy who sleeps at my feet and bright rays of light coming through dark clouds.

God is here through it all. With our faith we know that endings are also new beginnings. Life and death are part of a woven fabric. So our family has made a collective resolution not to take the beauty and bounty of God for granted anymore.

And I have promised to say, “Jesus, I trust in you” every day. Jesus our model and our Lord, is our hope for a future of promise.

One Cold, Dark Night....

When our furnace died, one terribly cold night, it became an opportunity to huddle together and focus on the warmth that comes from faith, family and love…

It began at 4 p.m. when our gas furnace rocked and rattled. The serviceman confirmed what we suspected. The blower was shot. Unfortunately, the nearest supplier was an hour’s drive away and our serviceman didn’t have time to take out the old one and drive that distance to get it fixed or replaced. He advised us to bring build up a fire in the fireplace.

So, this could have been the start of a nice, change-of-pace, cozy night. Except one of our fireplaces was labeled “dangerous” the last time it was checked. And the other fireplace is in the back of the house and doesn’t send heat very far into the house.

The temperature was dropping fast. It was five degrees outside according to the thermostat but colder than that with the wind chill. Brigit, age 11, was coughing in allergic reaction to chimney smoke. I was in denial. This couldn’t be happening, or could it?

As the warmth inside the house quickly dissolved, we huddled together in one room. Under a pile of blankets we watched the old Titanic movie. Not the love story version, but the original film, showing terror, heroism and devastation. It all happened in a single night back in 1912.

It gave us the opportunity to talk about what we would do in that situation, faced with jumping into the frigid ocean. “I’d move my legs a lot and pray hard,” someone said.

We piled on blankets and pretended we were living in the earlier times when cold nights were an everyday experience. And we tried to be thankful for our blessings…for the blankets that came as Christmas presents and for movies that helped us keep our perspective about our troubles.

Especially we prayed for Jurgen, my husband. He is in seventies and has health problems. But he courageously kept the fire going in our back room fireplace so that we had one spot of warmth in the house.

When dawn finally came, it was as if our eyes were opened in a new way. Light brought a feeling of renewal and warmth. All things are possible when there is Light.

I share this story by way of saying that any time of trouble offers an opportunity to be renewed in faith. The contrast of warmth and cold, fire and ice, light and dark are important images for us. We are called to trust in Jesus when there is cold, ice and darkness.

Then the Light of the World will shine for us. And then the darkness is conquered. The warmth is re-kindled.

From our family to yours, we pray that our eyes will be opened. The Light is always there dispersing the darkness if we but turn in faith to Him.

And then “the peace which transcends all understanding will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 4: 6-7) Isn’t it amazing to think that St. Paul wrote those words while he was in dark prison cell?! Clearly, he could see the Light.