MARY JEAN'S MISSING COWS

As I read the 4-15-17 FB post and saw the photos, by Mary Jean Owens, a rancher in Eden, Texas, I began to view a spiritual side.At my request, Mary Jean has graciously given me permission to re-post her writing and photo (plus one) so I can share my view. You will very much appreciate Mary Jean's review of "just one of those mornings" and I hope you will read and consider the follow-on message.

Here, with a special THANK YOU is Mary Jean's Message:

Knew it would be a strange day for some reason this morning - maybe because I got up a tad bit late (about 10 minutes), maybe because the outside dogs were too quiet - or maybe just some other reason - was mostly a feeling. The young cows in the small pasture in front of the house (the House Trap) didn’t come in as early as usual, so off I went hunting - expecting to find them just out of sight in the trap - but I didn’t. Decided they had to be on the east side of our road - until I got to the main road, glanced down toward the county road - and KNEW we had problems. Seems that somehow in the night something happened to the gate fastener - and the gate was WIDE open. GULP!!! Down to the county road I went as fast as the mule would “boogie”. A quick glance up and down and I spied all the evidence I needed to know the cows (3 cows, 2 baby calves, and the young yearling bull) were MISSING -- a “cow pie” in the road told me that. Back to the house I went, and into the pickup and off down the road. Of course I chose the wrong way to go for I didn’t spy any more sign for 2 miles. Drove on to the mail box because I just may have missed a sign in the ditch - but no sighting of those missing cows was had. Grab the mail, turn around and dash back up the road 3 miles to start hunting west from the gate. Wasn’t long before I knew I was on the right track this time - started seeing cow tracks on the edge of the county road. Starting hoping they had turned into a lane between our place and the neighbors place on the west. Got there, looked up that lane and spied a black cow!!! Had found 1 - the rest were not in sight but I had high hopes that 1 cow would not be all by herself (they do not like that). Where were the others??? Soon I discovered the others - in some tall grass, up next to the fence laying down. YEA!!! Up to the end of the lane in order to turn around, back down (a mile,

let Brooke gal out and get those lazy, very full, missing cows started for home. Fleck was along for the ride, but this was work for the experienced, not the novice. Down the lane, followed by a “Brooke - RIGHT” and those cows were turned to the east and headed home. Do not know who was rejoicing more - me for getting them back home, or the cows for getting back to their pasture - and able to go get a good drink of water! Could have been a bad thing if those cows had wondered on west - or even gone to the end of the lane for that lane led to a huge (many hundreds acre) pasture and no telling if I would have ever found them.

THE  SPIRITUAL VIEW 

OF MARY JEAN’S MISSING COWS

    I see a spiritual lesson in this missing cows saga. Jesus told of how one would leave the 99 to search for the missing one. In both stories I think we have immediately (and rightly so) latched on to the emotional stresses of the human in the loss and search of the lost.

    For example, in Mary Jean’s story, the day started with her senses telling her something more than her sleeping late seemed off: first, perhaps it was the quiet of the outside dogs, but upon looking, the usual appearance of the young cows in the small pasture in front of the house showed they didn’t come in as early as usual. Are you feeling how the human must have felt concern? An immediate search, as fast as the mule would go, with the discovery of a wide open gate and no cows proved something had happened during the night to the gate fastener. Now, are YOU on the edge of the driver’s seat, tightened muscles and all? Are YOU there, going for the truck, with a feeling of satisfaction once able to go faster, as you travel one country road after another, searching roadside and all around, breathing a sigh of relief at finally seeing that one cow? Whew! BUT, there’s still the others  . . .  Oh, FINALLY! There they are! Let Brooke out to give them the commands they need to guide them home to their much-needed water and security. Are YOU feeling relief? But, wait... there’s more!

    What about the cows?

    I’m looking at this from the spiritual side of the cows! Generally those cows are protected in ways they don’t know to appreciate. They are given everything they need that any human can give them: food, water, shelter, rest, medications/medical care, protection in every possible way, but not absolute freedom. They are kept in a secured area.

    Then came the night when something happened to the gate fastener and the gate that greeted the young cows that time was wide open.  Was it the influence of “the dark of night”, because “the grass must have looked greener”, a sort of “follow-the-leader” syndrome, or just the absolute freedom that encouraged them to leave? Whatever it was, they took advantage of their few hours of “freedom”, away from water, shelter, medications/medical care, and protection, but they had plenty of food for the time being and then, except for one, they lay down to rest. Somehow that one got left behind the others. How must she have felt to have started on what was to have been a fun time to now find herself alone, plus away from the peace and security of home with no idea of how to get back there? So, she wandered until, WAIT! She heard familiar barking! Brooke was bringing the rest of the wayward crew and she was so relieved when Brooke came toward her. Brooke didn’t even have to nip at her heels to get her to run toward the others! She was happy to run to them because she knew Brooke would guide them back to where they would have water. She was so thirsty. She needed that water more than she had ever realized before she had walked away from it so easily. She didn’t think she liked being kept in a sheltered life, but now she knew given a choice, she would choose the food, water, shelter, rest, medications/medical care, protection in every possible way that she had in her secure home.

    We humans are so like those cows: we can have security in Christ, the Living Water, if we make the commitment to live forever sheltered in Him.  Humans tend to wander away, yet He has given His life, not just the usual plans for a few hours of a morning, in search for us. Will we realize the wisdom in not even having to have “our heels nipped” to join the fellow wanderers in heading back Home?

    Obviously, there are more similes to be found. These are a few of the  simple truths  I saw as spiritual messages from the runaway cows ~how about you, will you share a few more that you see?

M Sue