"For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. O that today you would hearken to his voice!" Psalm 95:7
Today I am going to write a reflection from Psalms, which is read today at masses around the world. I am very homesick, right now, for the place where I grew up. A beautiful farm and ranch in the Panhandle of Texas where the wide open spaces dance with tall green grass and golden wheat fiels. Where the sunsets cover the entire sky with hues of pink, orange, and blue and where the smell of crisp air is as fresh as one can find in this world. Where the wind blows gently at your back and you can feel the presence of my ancestors next to you as you walk on a dirt road and think of the old ways of the past. A place where dreams became reality for a young couple and a baby daughter that came on a covered wagon to a two room house, which is now the homeplace where great great grandchildren run and play and where my brother rises early to feed the horses. When I become homesick for this amazing place, it is a yearning deep in my bones. A yearning that no one can understand other than the ones who come from land held dear and passed down from generation to generation. This heavenly place will always be "home" to me and I believe is my heaven someday.
So ofcourse, the Psalm about pastures caught my heart and I had to write about it. When we work cattle on the ranch, there are the calves or cows that make a run for the fence or get lost from the heard. The cowboys slap there legs and hollar to keep the heard moving and to keep them intact. I picture all of us the same....as sheep scattered in the pasture. God is trying to keep us intact to follow His will by His voice. But there are the sheep that make a run for the fence or get lost from the heard. As cowboys (and cowgirls :)) never leave a baby calf or mama cow behind, so does our Father never leave one of His sheep behind. He goes and looks for it and helps the sheep get back into the heard headed for Heaven's gates.
As mothers, we are God Shepherd's or Cowgirls for that matter, gathering His flock and leading them to Heaven's Gates. We never leave one of our baby calves behind....just as our Father never leaves us behind. Like Cowboys, we can't get lazy on our horse. WE have to constantly keep a moving and slapping our legs and hollaring at the heard to get back on track. We have to rise early and saddle up for the day. Motherhood is hard work,no doubt, but work that feels good at the end of the day. Our bones get tired, our minds get frazzled but this means you are working endlessly to keep your heard heading in the right direction. True-blue, hard-working mothers are tough. They don't whine and cry about their job as the heart of the home, but strap on their holster and keep things in order with a smile on their face. Those who lay down their life for their family are the toughest around. No Pain, No Gain, Ladies! Life is not suppose to be easy, but with God as our Shepherd, we have nothing to fear!
Blessings to you this Monday!
No comments:
Post a Comment