My godson Zachary and his market lamb with the judge.

Nephew Kevin, his grand champion market lamb and the judge.

Selecting the champion breeding ewe (female).

July 28, 2013

Psalm 23:1

The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.

Since young girls, my sisters and I raised sheep. One of our perennial 4-H projects, we raised them, bottle-fed lambs, helped shear them, feed them, treated them and learned how to be shepherds. Because of this experience, scripture passages that relate to sheep always have special meaning for me.

On two consecutive days, I attended two different 4-H fairs to watch the sheep shows. The first was the Columbia County Fair, where my godson Zachary and his sister Meghan showed sheep. This is their first year exhibiting sheep. Their mom, my college roommate, Barb, shared that she has become very attached to the sheep. This has also been a great experience for her.

The following day, Rick and I attended the Eau Claire County Fair to watch my nephew Kevin show. This is the county where my family exhibited in 4-H. The fair is in a different location, but it has special meaning because this is where I grew-up showing and where I sold lambs in the market auction.

Kevin had a tremendous sheep show. His market lamb was grand champion as well as best fitted. He was the top intermediate showman and his Hampshire ewe (female) was grand champion breeding stock. His ram (male) was reserve champion ram. His parents have every reason to be very proud of him because he works hard with his sheep.

Kevin is becoming a good shepherd. A couple weeks ago, his grand champion ewe got caught in the fence and cut her neck. Kevin wanted the vet to see her. His Mom, my sister Debbie, wasn’t able to immediately help. A problem solver, Kevin took his 4-wheeler and hooked up my Dad’s trailer. He took it to the sheep yard, loaded the ewe by himself and drove her to the vet clinic where she was treated. Not bad for a 12-year-old.

When we are hurting, our Shepherd, our Heavenly Father, desperately wants to care for us. We are all grand champions in God’s class, as well as best fitted. Sometimes our showmanship skills could use a little work and we wander away from our shepherd. But God’s grace forgives us when we do stupid moves. Now if we were only cognizant enough to ask for forgiveness and help. When we keep our Lord as our number one shepherd, I believe we truly lack nothing. The problem is that we keep trying to win rewards in this world rather securing our eternal reward.

Think about it. What or who is your number one shepherd? Who is always there to feed you, provide for you, shear you when our wings need clipping and treats us better than we treat ourselves?

Lord God – thank you for being our shepherd even when we did not think we needed you as a shepherd. Thank you for leading us to cool, quiet waters and quenching our thirst and hunger. Thank you for refreshing our souls. Thank you for being with us as evil comes our way and protecting us and comforting us. May we see your goodness, love and mercy all the days of our lives.  Amen.

Blessings –

Dianne

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