{"id":5651,"date":"2008-06-18T17:13:00","date_gmt":"2008-06-18T23:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"\/Testimonies\/Spiritual-Lessons-from-Cows.aspx"},"modified":"2018-07-03T19:47:20","modified_gmt":"2018-07-04T01:47:20","slug":"spiritual-lessons-from-cows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hisriches.com\/spiritual-lessons-from-cows\/","title":{"rendered":"Spiritual Lessons from Cows"},"content":{"rendered":"
I had some contact with cows when I was young. My father was a livestock dealer working mostly buying and selling and delivering cattle and horses to farmers. He worked for my uncle, Walter Pritchard, on a farm about a half-mile from our home in the small village of Waterford, Minnesota. <\/font><\/p>\n <\/p>\n There were some advantages to having your father as a livestock dealer. We could ride horses whenever we wanted. There was a steady turnover of horses and after having several run away with me, I lost any desire to ride. However, my brothers rode quite a bit. There was a large arboretum connected to one of the colleges in Northfield (two miles from Waterford) where we could ride and walk.<\/font><\/p>\n <\/p>\n My father‘s work was exciting to us. Sometimes we would go with him to livestock auctions. Because he was a well-known livestock dealer and did not want other people bidding on an animal just because someone with experience did, he gave a sign to the auctioneer when he wanted to bid. He always wore a cowboy hat and would reach up and tip the corner of his hat. <\/font><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Sometimes we went with my father to the big pasture where extra animals that couldn’t fit in the smaller pastures at the Pritchard farm were kept. A huge windmill was there to interest small folk.<\/font><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Waterford was a wonderful place to grow up. It had only one store unless you called the gas station across from where my father worked part of Waterford. There were only a couple houses between our place and where my father worked so the gas station was not really in the village. There was the beautiful Cannon River with wood paths on the side closest to us and on the other side was the arboretum. The people in Waterford were friendly and looked after each other. We children played games like “Hide-and-Seek,” “Red Light Green Light,” “Sardines,” “No Ghost-Out-Tonight,” “Kick-the Can, “Aunty I-Over”–mostly at our house. My mother had been a teacher and loved children. She also knew how to keep a firm hand on any that got out of control–children love a safe environment and ours was. We had an acre property with lots of paths around the house and a road in front on which to ride bikes back and forth. We played baseball, touch football, and “Red Rover” and “PumPum Pull Away” in the community park.<\/font><\/p>\n <\/p>\n My mother organized a Waterford parade each year where we children would decorate our bikes or ourselves and go around the block (the dirt road that went in a square throughout the houses) about 6:30 p.m. when the fathers were home from work. She also organized a Christmas program for the Sunday school each year (the Sunday School and Christmas program were held in the Community Hall). I would draw Christmas scenes on the four blackboards with colored chalk and the children in Waterford would say poems and take part in the manger scene or Christmas plays. The whole community would come and we would exchange gifts and have bags of candy, nuts and fruit. <\/font><\/p>\n <\/p>\n We took May baskets around each May 1, putting them by someone’s door before ringing the bell and running to hide so that person couldn’t catch and kiss us.<\/font><\/p>\n <\/p>\n My father worked six days a week, ten hours a day and sometimes he had to do chores on Sundays as well. He had a two-week vacation every summer and one of those weeks we spent in a cabin on a lake. The other week we spent at my grandparents farm twenty-three miles from the town of Staples in northern Minnesota. When we grew older we children would spend a couple weeks with our grandparents. That is when I first really had experience with cows. Although my father worked with them, they were just objects, something you didn’t go close to, especially the bulls.<\/font><\/p>\n <\/p>\n My grandfather had a small farm with two work horses, Dick and Major, that we got to sit on sometimes when my grandfather was leading them to and from work, a few chickens (it was fun to look for and gather the eggs), pigs (a slop pail was kept for all the peelings, left-over food, etc. for the pigs) and cows.<\/font><\/p>\n <\/p>\n One incident that my grandfather used to tell was that one fall I asked him the names of his cows. When he told me, I said, “That’s not what you told me in the spring.” His cows had their own personality and they all looked different to me. Bluebell was black and white, mostly black and she was the bell cow (she wore a bell around her neck so grandpa-and my mother when she was a girl-could find the cows when they were in the large wooded pasture behind some of the fields on their farm). Spotty was a large Holstein with black spots on a white coat. Most of the others cows were Jerseys–Daisy, Rose, Violet, etc. I learned to milk by hand and usually milked one or two of the easier to milk cows every morning and evening when I was there. My grandfather always had a bull in with his cows. Some were dangerous and all of them we avoided. I remember him teasing us once by taking a big two by four and dancing around the bull saying, “Come on and fight.” We were so afraid for him, but he knew there was no danger. One of my brothers used to get on the backs of calves in a small stall and pretend he was in a rodeo.<\/font><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Those were my first experiences with cows. It was good, associated with love and fun times. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Many years later my husband, Jim, and our two children, Scott and Jill moved to a small farm in Nova Scotia. Jim is from Nova Scotia and his parents lived about twelve miles from us on an apple farm. I had had no experience with cows for several years. However, when we moved to this farm, I really had a desire to have a cow and milk her. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n I had asked Jim to buy a cow for me (small request!). He was very busy so it didn’t get done. One day I was standing in the foyer at church. Carl Gates was the only other person there. I felt since Carl was the one Jim planned to ask about purchasing a cow, maybe I should say something. I did and he sold us a cow. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n We were planning to buy a cow from Carl for about $800. After Jim and Carl spent one day trying to catch her, Jim came home with another cow that had cost $1000. That cow was gentle, healthy and gave us years of service. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n When I went down to the farm to see her, the first thing I saw was her horns over the top of a stall. Perhaps this was going to be more than I expected! <\/p>\n <\/p>\n We named our cow Cookie. She was a large Holstein–white with black spots. I asked God to take the fear away from me of our cow. I thought I would testify in church if He did. Several months later I realized that He had. I had forgotten all about it-it had been so gradual. Then I testified about it in church. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Our house was in a beautiful location on a hill overlooking the Minas Basin. Our neighbor, Ralph Connell, lived at the bottom of the hill across from our barn. He was a retired farm hand. At one time he had milked over thirty cows by hand and walked five or six miles to get to the farm on which he was working by 5:30 a.m. We spent several hours talking to him. He would milk the cow in the evening and take the milk he wanted. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n I first milked our cow when Jim and Mr. Connell were with me. The first morning I had to milk the cow alone, I thought I would do it before Scott (age 4) and Jill (age 2) were up. However, it didn’t work that way. By the time I was ready to milk, Scott and Jill were ready to wake up. I had to leave them with breakfast all ready, directions with what to do if they needed me and a prayer for God to take care of my children. It took over an hour. When I got back the kitchen was a mess, but everyone was happy. Scott has been fussy, expecting me to do everything for him. He and Jill had been arguing about every little thing. This morning when I was gone Scott had to climb up on the counter to get something for Jill, which made him feel useful and competent. Jill realized that her brother was good for something. It had worked out well, although I wouldn’t advice other mothers to leave their children alone at that age for that long. Much more often today fathers and mothers do not spend the time they should with their children or give them the protection they should have. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Since it would take me about twenty minutes of very repetitious work to milk each morning I decided this would be a good time to pray. The only trouble was that after about five minutes, my mind would start to wander. Cookie would kick every so often. She was a gentle cow so I could quietly put kickers on her. Kickers are iron cuffs with a chain between them so the cow can move her back legs only so far. I put them on before each milking. Every so often Cookie would decide to kick when I was milking, but with the kickers it would only hurt her. However, when she would kick it would remind me how much I needed God and to get back to praying. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n I had to go down to the barn each evening to pick up the milk that Mr. Connell had left. Sometimes I would be so tired at night, but this was something that had to be done. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n I often had much more milk than we could use. I learned how to make cottage cheese, butter and yogurt. Sometimes, when we had company coming, we would make ice cream with strawberries or raspberries from our farm or other fruit. We started giving some of our milk away. I would put it in two quart glass bottles and Jim would deliver it on the way to work. After some time it began to bother me that some people wouldn’t return their bottles. I was complaining to the Lord one day and He said, “Yes, pray for them.” <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The people to whom we gave our milk were spending their money foolishly in my opinion. We gave milk to our Pastor but other than that we tried to choose people who we felt needed the milk. It was difficult not to judge the way people were spending their money when it was money saved from us giving them milk. The Lord spoke to me and said, “The integrity of the upright guides them.” Proverbs 11:3 <\/p>\n <\/p>\n We wanted Cookie to have a calf. Cows will not produce milk forever without having a calf. Having a calf to milk later or raise for meat seemed lucrative and fun. We borrowed a bull from Carl Gates. We kept the bull in a stall and every day lured her over to Cookie who was in a stanchion by using a dish full of grain. After the bull was there awhile we had to lure him back. It was scary business, which we did for over a month hoping Cookie would come in heat. Even though the bull was peaceful, one little push from the huge bull could be serious. The bull didn’t seem interested in Cookie so we used artificial insemination. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Cookie had a calf which we named Honey. Honey was easy to milk. The only trouble was Honey was nervous when I milked her and I was nervous when I milked Honey because she might kick anytime. She wouldn’t let me put kickers on her so the time of milking her was tense. She didn’t kick often, but I always had to be ready to take the milk pail out of the way in case she did. I asked the Lord to clear up that situation. He did. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Carl was kind enough to loan us a cow. He would not have to milk her and, we could use the milk because we did not have a cow that was producing milk at that time. She gave a large amount of milk, but unfortunately cows that produce a large quantity of milk are more apt to get mastitis. We threw most of her milk away because it was unappealing to drink. Taking care of a cow with mastitis is an added expense and trouble. Jim had to give her a shot of medicine each day, which neither Jim nor the cow appreciated. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Honey got her nose full of porcupine quills. Mr. Connell helped Jim get them out. He used pliers to pull them out saying that if they were left in, they would go deeper and deeper into Honey and eventually enter her brain and kill her. Curiosity can kill a cow as well as a cat. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Every year we had the challenge of getting hay for the winter. We had enough extra grass in our pasture so most years we used that. We had to borrow equipment, usually from Jim’s uncle. His uncle and sons were capable of fixing machinery, but still we felt responsible if something broke while we were using it, which it sometimes did. One year we planned to borrow equipment from Bram and Koos Lohr, but it was against their principles to work on Sunday. Not working on Sunday cost them money, but God honored this family’s decision to honor Him and they prospered. The year that we wanted to borrow equipment from them, our crop was ready on a Sunday, and we did not want to borrow it that day. It looked like rain that night so we really prayed that the rain would hold off. It rained some, but our hay was mostly dry the next evening when Bram came with his equipment and some of his workers and helped us get the hay in the barn, something we were not expecting. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n One year getting our hay crop in did go well. It was ready on a Sunday. We do believe in setting aside Sunday to worship God and rest. But we also believe there are no hard and fast rules: “One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers each day alike. Each man should be fully convinced in his own mind.” Romans 14:5 <\/b><\/font>We should do everything for the Lord, doing what we feel He wants us to do. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Cookie had been sold. Honey, her calf, was easier to milk, and it is wise to sell a cow before she gets old. I prayed long and hard that she would find a good owner. She did. I never prayed so much for a cow after that, but sometimes the first seems so important. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Honey was a perfect cow for about five years. She had a calf each year. One year she was expecting a calf, and we checked on her after we got home from church. She was in distress so we called the vet. Her calf was in a breech condition. The vet and Jim had to cut the calf’s head off in order to get it out of Honey. Jim had to put his arm into Honey up to his shoulder to make sure that all of the calf was out of her. Poor Honey. At least she survived, but she did not produce milk. Unless we fed her grain, which would be expensive, she would lose weight. We had to butcher her. Several men spent a long time trying to catch her. Finally Jim asked me to help, I just went into the pasture, and she came running to me. I had to lead her into the truck to haul her away. I felt I had betrayed a friend. We kept the meat, which saved us a great deal of money. Jim sometimes said we were eating honey burgers, but the rest of us didn’t appreciate his joke. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Jim decided to butcher a cow and invite the whole church to a feast. We planned it for a Saturday afternoon. The Friday night before a young teen-ager, son of a dearly loved family in our church, was in a serious car accident. Many people spent the night in prayer. The next day, since we had already made most of the preparations, we went ahead with the feast. Only a few people came. The young man died. We had a huge 50-pound roast left over to take to the family.<\/font> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Cookie had one calf and Honey had another. Both calves were almost to the stage of producing their own calves and by that producing milk. I had to get rid of one of them since I couldn’t care for them both over the winter. I chose to keep Cookie’s calf simply because it was younger and would start producing milk at the later time when it was needed. We tried to find a buyer for Honey’s calf, but weren’t able. It was a sad day when we decided to send her to the butcher. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n We chose the wrong calf. Honey’s calf had been gentle. Cookie’s calf was wild. We never milked her. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n By then we had goats. My son, Scott, really wanted a goat and promised to care for her. He did faithfully for a couple years, which was an excellent experience for him. Then what we had predicted happened. I fell in love with the goats, and when he decided to move on to another enterprise, I took over the goats. I learned one special lesson from goats that I would like to include. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n I learned lots from having cows, probably much more than I realize: “…for it is God that works in you both to will and to act according to his good pleasure.” Philippians 2:13<\/font><\/b> What a comforting thought to know that God is working in us to chance us into the likeness of His Son: “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son…” Romans 8:29<\/font><\/b> Sometimes we have to suffer in order to accomplish being made into Jesus’ likeness, but more often God does it in fun and interesting ways.<\/font><\/p>\n <\/p>\n P.S <\/p>\n In the spring of 2008, May had a female which we named Chocolate. In the early spring of 2009, May had a male we named Blackberry. October 1, 2010, we butchered Blackberry, who had gotten a little mean. We planned to butcher him before winter. <\/p>\n “On this mountain the LORD Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine—the best of meats and the finest of wines. On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove his people’s disgrace from all the earth. The LORD has spoken. <\/p>\n “See, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create, for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy. I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people; the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more. Never again will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his years; he one who dies at a hundred will be thought a mere child; the one who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed. They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. No longer will they build houses and others live in them, or plant and others eat. For as the days of a tree, so will be the days of my people; my chosen ones will long enjoy the work of their hands. They will not labor in vain, nor will they bear children doomed to misfortune; for they will be a people blessed by the LORD, they and their descendants with them. Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear. The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, and dust will be the serpent’s food. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain,” says the LORD.” Isaiah 65:17-25<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n “For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. <\/p>\n “And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. e seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time. <\/p>\n “Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” by Jerrilyn Forsyth<\/font><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I had some contact with cows when I was young. My father was a livestock dealer working mostly buying and selling and delivering cattle and horses to farmers. He worked for my uncle, Walter Pritchard, on a farm about a half-mile from our home in the small village of Waterford, Minnesota. There were some<\/p>\n
\n<\/font>LESSON:<\/font><\/b>
\nWhen God wants you to do something later on, He often prepared your heart well in advance. His many little acts of love are preparing you.
\nThe little things parents do for their children are always worthwhile:<\/font> “A good man leaves an inheritance for his children’s children…” Proverbs 13:22 <\/font><\/strong>God planned it that way.<\/font><\/p>\n
\n<\/font>LESSON:
\n<\/font><\/b>God often puts a desire in your heart for the things He wants you to do.<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n
\n<\/font>LESSON:<\/font><\/b>
\nEven if you have a capable husband God expects you to do some things for yourself.<\/font> Proverbs <\/font><\/b>says of the wife of noble character,<\/font> “She considers a field and buys it…” Proverbs 31:16<\/font><\/b><\/font><\/p>\n
\n<\/font>LESSON:
\n<\/font><\/b>God can use what appears to be a difficult experience to change the circumstances so that you will do what is best.<\/font> “In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.” Proverbs 16:9<\/font><\/b><\/font><\/p>\n
\n<\/font>LESSON:<\/font><\/b>
\nGod often gives us a strong desire because we need it in order to follow his leading.<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n
\n<\/font>LESSON:<\/font><\/b>
\nSometimes God does things gradually. Often He has to change our hearts to cause a permanent change.<\/font><\/p>\n
\n<\/font>LESSON:
\n<\/font><\/b>God often supplies miraculous help (if we recognize it as that). I didn’t realize how much I needed to know in order to keep a cow successfully. <\/font><\/p>\n
\n<\/font>LESSON:<\/font><\/b>
\nGod will take care of your children if you can’t be there. <\/font><\/p>\n
\n<\/font>LESSON:
\n<\/font><\/b>God uses ingenious ways to teach us to pray. And what seems harmful He can use for good.<\/font><\/p>\n
\n<\/font>LESSON:
\n“I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:13<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n
\n<\/font>LESSON:
\n<\/font><\/b>Sometimes people irritate us because God wants us to pray for them. That is the Christian response. <\/font>“Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.” Romans 12:14<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n
\n<\/font><\/strong><\/font>I decided right then that I would charge for the milk. We did and fewer people received it (which made it easier for Jim to deliver), but they bought more. I charged a few cents more then the store so only the people that appreciated raw milk would buy it. Soon the store increased its prices and I never did, but the goal of having appreciative customers was accomplished. Later, Jim told me that the fifty dollars we made a week from selling our milk paid for the gas to run the church bus for his bus ministry (picking up people for Sunday School, church and other events and taking youth and others to events in other communities). I felt that the money I was earning was being used for a worthwhile purpose.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/b>LESSON:
\n<\/font><\/b>Sometimes people do not have money because they will not work for their money or are unwise in spending the money God has given them. The truly poor person is poor through no fault of his own. Sometimes God would have us give to someone that has wasted his money, but we should not assume that just because a person looks poor we should give to him. We should learn to listen for God’s direction in giving our money: <\/font>“A simple man believes anything, but a prudent man gives thought to his steps.” Proverbs 14:15<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n
\n<\/font>LESSON:
\n<\/font><\/b>Sometimes God allows us to do something just to teach us. Often we appreciate the services and choices people make the more we learn about their business.<\/font><\/p>\n
\n<\/font>One day Honey kicked so suddenly that she put her foot in the milk pail slashing milk everywhere. Honey didn’t like that so she never kicked while I as milking her again. We had to buy a new milk pail, but it was worth the peace of mind.<\/font>
\n<\/font><\/b>LESSON:
\n<\/font><\/b>Sometimes things have to get worse before they get better. Sometimes what we are asking requires drastic happenings in order to accomplish the answer.<\/font><\/p>\n
\n<\/font>LESSON:
\n<\/font><\/b>Although the cow Carl loaned us caused more trouble than she was worth, we had to see that the mastitis was cleared up before we returned her to Carl:<\/font> “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Matthew 22:39 “Do to other as you would have them do to you.” Matthew 7:12 Luke 6:31<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n
\n<\/font>LESSON:
\n<\/font><\/b>We sure appreciated God’s gift of Mr. Connell.<\/font><\/p>\n
\nThe challenge of getting a hay crop never ended. Even at a later date when we decided to buy hay, there were problems. For instance, one year we bought hay that was poor quality from a church member.
\n<\/font>LESSON:
\n<\/b>Sometimes God allows us to go through less than perfect times (even though we pray) and sometimes we don’t understand why. One reason might be that people that read this article can learn about a godly farmer who honored God and prospered.<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n
\nJesus, allowing His disciples to pick grain in the Sabbath told the Pharisees, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” Mark 2:27<\/b><\/font>
\nWe went to church on Sunday morning, had a quick bite to eat, and went out to bring our hay into the barn. Our neighbors, a girl and a couple (all good workers) came to help us. We did not ask them. They just saw us working and knew we wanted to get done so we could go to church in the evening. They did not know Jesus or go to church themselves. What a testimony for Jesus was our example of the importance of going to His house and what a blessing for us that they noticed our need and helped us!
\n<\/font>LESSON:<\/b>
\nGod will glorify Himself and take care of us if we seek His will.<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n
\n<\/font>LESSON:
\n<\/font><\/b>Sometimes God will give us what we want even though He knows the problem is not as important as we consider it to be.<\/font><\/p>\n
\n<\/font>LESSON:
\n<\/font><\/b>Someday animals (and humans) won’t have to die:<\/font> <\/font>“…Death has been swallowed up in victory.” I Corinthians 15:54 <\/font><\/b>This was one more reason to look forward to heaven<\/font><\/p>\n
\n<\/font><\/b>LESSON:<\/font><\/b>
\nGod had put it into Jim’s heart to have a feast because He knew that the meat would be needed. God plans and provides for our needs before we even know that we need them. Before our little daughter, Sandra, died suddenly, God had arranged for us to have another refrigerator in our home for the food gifts of others.<\/font><\/p>\n
\n<\/font>LESSON:
\n<\/font><\/b>God was preparing me to give up the “cattle business.” I loved cows too much to see them come and go so frequently.<\/font> <\/font><\/b><\/p>\n
\n<\/font>LESSON:
\n<\/font><\/b>God had opened the door and now He was closing the door. Even though we had made the “wrong decision” in the light of which cow would have been better to keep for milking, it was the right decision according to God’s purposes:<\/font> “A man’s steps are directed by the Lord. How then can anyone understand his own way?” Proverbs 20:24<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n
\n<\/font>We wanted our goats to have babies, but artificial insemination was expensive and not fully reliable. I prayed for that situation, and God miraculously answered. A lady that had several goats had one male goat that she needed to get rid of, but because he was so special she didn’t want him killed. She gave him to us! He was a beautiful goat-mostly black, but with orange and white. He was shy so stayed away from people and was not at all mean. I was so excited when we got him. I was jumping up and down praising the Lord. Suddenly I knew that this was only for a season.
\n<\/font>In one year we had to give up the goat business because we had moved into the town where they did not allow goats. Although we could get buyers for the female goats, no one would even take our male goat, and we had to send him to the butcher.
\n<\/font>LESSON:<\/font><\/b>
\nGod is concerned with our every desire for the here and now.<\/font><\/p>\n
\nThis is written in November 2010. We live near Hay River, NT in Paradise Valley where we have started the first Bible camp in the Northwest Territories—Paradise Bible Camp.
\nWe have had several beef cows. We bought May, and her son Sirloin. We named him Sirloin so we would remember why we kept him. May had another calf and we named him T-bone. Two years ago we butchered Sirloin and T-bone. They escaped from the pasture and went to visit the neighbor’s lady cow. We couldn’t drive them home or entice them with grain so Jim decided the butcher them. It was difficult getting help to clean the cows. One cow was finished in a short time, but the other cow was not cut and frozen for a few days in fairly warm weather. Although we have eaten the meat from the second cow, it has a strong smell so we saved most of it for our dog, Cocoa. Jim planned to give quite a bit of meat to the man he had asked to help us. When he didn’t show up, Cocoa got the meat that was to go to him.
\nLESSON<\/strong>:
\nHow much do we miss out on when we are inconsiderate and lazy?<\/p>\n
\nButchering these cows didn’t bother me. However, last Saturday, November 13 we butchered May. She was fairly old, and Jim didn’t want to keep cows over the winter (but we are keeping Chocolate). He has to do most of the work for the cows. All I do is water them when he is on a business trip.
\nOur neighbor said that May might be pregnant because she was a little fat. The father would have been Blackberry, her son. I really didn’t want to butcher May. I prayed and prayed for wisdom and God’s will to be done. I even prayed in tongues:
\n“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.” Romans 8:26-27
\n<\/strong>Jim had lots of help so they butchered May. When we butcher her we could tell she was pregnant. Perhaps she would have had her calf in the coldest months, making survival difficult. But that speculation is sour grapes.
\nI felt sadder than I knew I would feel. Maybe I should have been more forceful in my objection. However, I have to believe that because I prayed earnestly, God’s will was done.
\nLESSON<\/strong>:
\nEven when it seems things are not God’s will, if we pray we can believe that God’s will is done. There is a reason, which might be evident someday.
\n“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28
\n<\/strong>LESSON<\/strong>:
\nI felt intently that because of man’s disobedience to God, there is death. God must ache when He sees His beautiful animals die. I can’t wait till the millennium when Jesus sets up His kingdom. There will still be death although not nearly as prevalent as at this time. After the 1,000 years death will finally be completely erased from existence. These Bible passages explain in part:
\n“The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the cobra’s den, the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea Isaiah 11:6-9 <\/strong><\/p>\n
\nIn that day they will say, “Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the LORD, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.”” Isaiah 25:6-9<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nWe know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.” Romans 8:19-22<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nI saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.
\nWhen the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—and to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore. They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God’s people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them. And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
\nThen I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.” Revelation 20<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nHe who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
\nHe said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children.” Revelation 21:1-7<\/strong><\/p>\n
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