My Baby Goats are Missing!
Driving home from work I suddenly had terrible feeling in the pit of my stomach. I knew something was wrong. I called home and asked my son to check on all the animals. He said everyone was ok. When I hung up I realized that I should have asked him to count the baby goats. I was almost home so I planned to check on them right away as soon as I got home. Well , as I approached the driveway I started having that sinking feeling in my stomach again . I knew I had to get out in the back and count the new baby goats. It was beginning to get dark so I didn't have much time. After changing quickly into my farm clothes I raced out. It didn't take long to do a roll call. You see when I use " the call" everyone , I mean everyone comes running to me - the horse , pot bellied pigs, chickens , sheep , cats, dogs, and goats - lots of dwarf nigerian goats. Everyone came except the new baby goats. My heart sank. I began to walk towards the back of the property towards the barn. Have you ever noticed that when you are in a hurry it feels like it takes forever to get there?
I began to pick up the pace. I was walking so fast that my rubber boots were squeaking against the wet grass. As I got to the barn I noticed that all the animals were following me , especially Sweet Pea my pot bellied pig. I didn't think much of it at the time . I was focused on finding the babies. I looked in all the corners , the hidden spots, under leaves, in piles of grass. Nothing . My heart began to sink even further . I knelt down to take another look near an old pallet and I could see two black objects. Could it be ? Sophie's two babies were solid black with a few white spots. " Low and behold " it was them! I gently pulled them out one by one and checked them head to toe. All was well. Whew! I placed them with their mother and she began to nurse them. I turned and looked at Annabelle my other mama goat . " Where are your babies? " I asked. She began to cry and started pacing . We were still missing her two babies. It was getting noticeably dark. I knew I didn't have much time. As my heart pounded I tried not to think of the worst. I continued to look everywhere and all the animals could sense that something was wrong and the urgency that I was feeling . As I yelled out to my husband and son for help , I couldn't help but notice that all the animals were acting different. What was happening? They were actively searching for the babies too! I had never seen anything like it before ! All but one that is. Sweet Pea stayed next to me. Her little legs were working over time to keep up with me because by now I was running in all directions frantically. The worry became overwhelming . I knelt down in the grass and tears came flowing down. I couldn't stop the sobbing . As I cried Sweet Pea leaned firmly against my side pressing as much of her body against mine. I looked at her and I could see this amazing love in her soft gentle eyes. She placed her snout against my leg so gently and I new she was say " I love you and everything will be alright" . As my crying turned into weeping, I asked myself " what is happening? why am I crying so hard? I realized that I was also crying for my little special needs goat Lazarus who had died earlier this morning . I didn't want to lose any more baby goats. My son came up to me asked if I was ok. I justified the tears by saying the babies are too young to be away from their mother out in the cold all night. I could barely talk through my sobbing. He said " Mom did you pray ? Did you ask God where they are? " . I mumbled " I think so". I realized that I had been too upset to pray. Within moments my son yelled " I found them! They are ok! I asked God where they were and he told me to look next to the green flower pot on the right side of the cottage".
I was so humbled and thankful. Of course I was thankful that they had been found but it goes deeper than that. I was even more thankful for my son's response. You see, my husband is a pastor and often teaches about going to God with all of your problems. We have learned the importance of " giving it to God " and " casting your cares on Him" but today I witnessed the effectiveness of this and realized that my son has actually learned how to " give it to God". As I hugged him and thanked him for finding the babies he said " Mom don't forget to pray and ask God next time " . As they say " Out of the mouths of babes ".
Driving home from work I suddenly had terrible feeling in the pit of my stomach. I knew something was wrong. I called home and asked my son to check on all the animals. He said everyone was ok. When I hung up I realized that I should have asked him to count the baby goats. I was almost home so I planned to check on them right away as soon as I got home. Well , as I approached the driveway I started having that sinking feeling in my stomach again . I knew I had to get out in the back and count the new baby goats. It was beginning to get dark so I didn't have much time. After changing quickly into my farm clothes I raced out. It didn't take long to do a roll call. You see when I use " the call" everyone , I mean everyone comes running to me - the horse , pot bellied pigs, chickens , sheep , cats, dogs, and goats - lots of dwarf nigerian goats. Everyone came except the new baby goats. My heart sank. I began to walk towards the back of the property towards the barn. Have you ever noticed that when you are in a hurry it feels like it takes forever to get there?
I began to pick up the pace. I was walking so fast that my rubber boots were squeaking against the wet grass. As I got to the barn I noticed that all the animals were following me , especially Sweet Pea my pot bellied pig. I didn't think much of it at the time . I was focused on finding the babies. I looked in all the corners , the hidden spots, under leaves, in piles of grass. Nothing . My heart began to sink even further . I knelt down to take another look near an old pallet and I could see two black objects. Could it be ? Sophie's two babies were solid black with a few white spots. " Low and behold " it was them! I gently pulled them out one by one and checked them head to toe. All was well. Whew! I placed them with their mother and she began to nurse them. I turned and looked at Annabelle my other mama goat . " Where are your babies? " I asked. She began to cry and started pacing . We were still missing her two babies. It was getting noticeably dark. I knew I didn't have much time. As my heart pounded I tried not to think of the worst. I continued to look everywhere and all the animals could sense that something was wrong and the urgency that I was feeling . As I yelled out to my husband and son for help , I couldn't help but notice that all the animals were acting different. What was happening? They were actively searching for the babies too! I had never seen anything like it before ! All but one that is. Sweet Pea stayed next to me. Her little legs were working over time to keep up with me because by now I was running in all directions frantically. The worry became overwhelming . I knelt down in the grass and tears came flowing down. I couldn't stop the sobbing . As I cried Sweet Pea leaned firmly against my side pressing as much of her body against mine. I looked at her and I could see this amazing love in her soft gentle eyes. She placed her snout against my leg so gently and I new she was say " I love you and everything will be alright" . As my crying turned into weeping, I asked myself " what is happening? why am I crying so hard? I realized that I was also crying for my little special needs goat Lazarus who had died earlier this morning . I didn't want to lose any more baby goats. My son came up to me asked if I was ok. I justified the tears by saying the babies are too young to be away from their mother out in the cold all night. I could barely talk through my sobbing. He said " Mom did you pray ? Did you ask God where they are? " . I mumbled " I think so". I realized that I had been too upset to pray. Within moments my son yelled " I found them! They are ok! I asked God where they were and he told me to look next to the green flower pot on the right side of the cottage".
I was so humbled and thankful. Of course I was thankful that they had been found but it goes deeper than that. I was even more thankful for my son's response. You see, my husband is a pastor and often teaches about going to God with all of your problems. We have learned the importance of " giving it to God " and " casting your cares on Him" but today I witnessed the effectiveness of this and realized that my son has actually learned how to " give it to God". As I hugged him and thanked him for finding the babies he said " Mom don't forget to pray and ask God next time " . As they say " Out of the mouths of babes ".
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