Holy Sheep

I had a more peaceful day yesterday. Pastor Ruth and her husband, a lady named Christine, Esther and Abby, Julian and myself all went to a remote village about 2 hours away from town. It was a very nice and peaceful drive. Our plan was to check on Mama Ruth's crops and check on her house out there and just make sure that everything was running smoothly. We were planning to have lunch and just relax for a bit since everyone had a pretty hectic day the day before. On our way to the village we had a brief delay because a herd of cattle started to cross the road. There was a mixture of cows and sheep. Pastor Ruth's husband began honking to get the cattle to move. We sat there for minute waiting for the road to be clear, then Mama Ruth said, "They seem to not be moving in the right direction, they aren't looking at the shepherd." When she said that, something registered in my head. The sheep were distracted by our van and the noises that they heard. They lost sight and focus on the shepherd, which nearly got them killed. It reminded me of my relationship with my Father in Heaven. I can be so focused on Him that I do not stray from His perfect will and plan for my life, but then a distraction can come that can take my eyes away from the Shepherd. Even a split moment of distraction, I could destroy something that God had planned for me. As human beings we are not perfect. It's funny to me how we can be walking with God one moment, then be distracted by something and get hurt and blame God for it. We will say things like, "Why did you allow me to be hurt like this?! Where were you?! I thought you were  never going to leave me?!" When in reality, it was never God who left nor was it God who strayed. It was US who was distracted, it was US who took our eyes away from the Shepherd, and it was US who got ourselves into a mess. Our God is a loving God though, so He sees us distracted and making mistakes and He loves us anyway. We can yell at Him and blame Him for everything that went wrong, and He loves us anyway. By His love and mercy are eyes are then focused back on our Creator and we are again walking the glorious path that He had for us all along. Sadly there are consequences to every action, so sometimes our distracted path can gives us some cuts and burns. The sheep that were crossing the road almost got hit by our van, but the Shepherd stood in the middle of road so that we could see the sheep that were crossing. Even though they were going the wrong way, the shepherd saved their lives. When the sheep got caught in the thorns and started to bleed, the shepherd got down to their level to begin the healing process of all their wounds. This is just like our Father in Heaven. We can make huge mistakes, and yet our lives are spared, because God loves us so much and has great plans for us. When our bad choices leave us with cuts and scars, our Shepherd meets us where we are at and begins the healing process of our heart and soul. God really spoke to me on our long journey to the village.
We had a wonderful time in the village! All of the children played and we walked around to look at all the gardens that were growing. It was a very nice and peaceful afternoon, which was exactly what the doctor ordered!

The village was beautiful and the people were so sweet. On our way back home Mama Ruth informed us that we would find baboons running all over the streets! I was so excited about that! I really wanted to see a baboon. So as we were driving I was on the look out. Sure enough, the streets were filled with them! All on the side of the road, baboons were running around! A huge male baboon came up to my window, it was so cool! I handed him a banana and he took it and ate it. It was the coolest thing! I then saw a mommy and a baby baboon and that was so cute. I threw them a banana as well. That was the perfect way to end the day! Thank you Jesus for a peaceful day. Thank you God for never losing sight of us, even though sometimes we lose sight of You. Thank You for loving me no matter what.

Amen.