Sheep

The girls and I broke up our normal routine to camp out in the back yard.  It was a great time of bonding, playing games, watching the stars and enjoying the big, full moon.  We didn’t get a lot of sleep but we built some fantastic memories.

I got the results back from the tests I had done last week.  It looks like I need to keep on taking medicine for the ulcer they found.  It sounds like it was a result of a bacterial infection I had in Indonesia, h.pylori.  Also, for some reason or another my body is having a hard time digesting many foods so I am on a strict diet for maybe the rest of my life.  I am hoping that I won’t have to permanently give up so many of the things I love, like: tomatoes, many fruits and vegetables along with all whole grain products and more.  I can tell that for now it is making a difference so I am thankful that the doctor had wisdom to see what my body needed.  All of my biopsies came back fine so thank you so very much for praying.  It would be superb if this was the last of my GI problems!!!

I wanted to share with you something that I learned in Sunday School today.  Perry was talking about sheep.  One of the jobs of the shepherd is to help the cast sheep, the sheep that have fallen over onto their back.  They cannot get up on their own.  The shepherd has to flip them over, rub their legs to stimulate the circulation, make sure they are stable and then stay close to them to make sure they don’t fall over again.  He cares so much about those sheep that as soon as he sees one on its back he quickly flips them back.  He will not stand there and yell at them that this is the umpteenth time they have fallen over and this time he just will not help them.  It says in the Bible that God is our Shepherd and we are His sheep.  He cares so much for us that any time we have fallen He wants to help us up.  Even when we keep messing up over and over and over.

It was explained on a web site like this- “When a sheep loses its center of balance, it can become cast.”  Interestingly put, huh?  What happens to us when we lose our center of balance?  Do we become distressed, flailing about trying to figure out how WE can get ourselves out of this mess?  Well,  the site went on to say, that “Sheep cannot get up by themselves.  They are dependent on the Shepherd to get them back up.”  It should be like that, shouldn’t it?  The Shepherd should be the first one we look to when we find ourselves in a tough spot.

Another thing about that is how do we respond to other “cast sheep”?  Do we judge?  Do we walk past?  Or do we just gently, and lovingly help them back up?  I have been thinking about that part a lot in relation to my kids.  I tend to be upset if it is the same mistake over and over.  I think in my head, “Why haven’t you learned by now?”  But I know that when God looks at me cast all He sees is someone He loves desperately that is in need of some help.  I need to do the same.

Love you

Rachel