You are my Shepherd

I drove to work this morning in a hurry. My morning "blah" time was interrupted. I got to Husband's school to drop off the VITAL thing he forgot and got really annoyed. This darn laryngitis! I realized the core of my bad attitude: I was mistrusting God's sovereignty. After all, why would He strike me dumb in the middle of a week in which I assist in teaching 17 K-2nd graders?

Then we went on our field trip. Know where we went? To a sheep farm. And you know what sheep are? They are creatures designed by our loving heavenly Father to teach us a little about ourselves...and how He cares for us.

I saw the flock of sheep come running when the shepherdess walked to the gate with their bucket of food. They saw a crowd of strangers, hesitated...and when one turned away, the rest of them ran away.

I heard the shepherdess tell us about the importance of fence. Fence keeps the sheep off the road, on the pasture, out of the ponds, and fence keeps the coyotes and wild dogs OUT!

I heard the shepherdess talk about looking for a lost sheep. If one doesn't come for the morning feeding (she counts them to verify their presence), then she goes looking for it.

I saw a sheep getting sheared. Do you know they only have to fasten the sheep's head to what they call a "block." The shepherdess said, and I quote, "All we have to do is tie the sheep by the head and the rest of the sheep will follow the head. If the head is fastened good and tight, then the sheep will stand totally still."

!

He turned my attitude around then and there. I thanked God for his faithful care of this poor silly sheep...even in the midst of mute laryngitis...even with a bad attitude...even when I'm stubborn and ridiculous.

Because I'm easily spooked. Because I need safe fences to keep me away from danger and predators away from me. Because I get lost and need Him to come looking for me. Because I want to be docile and manageable--I need to be docile and manageable.

Lord, shepherd me.