Parenting Pointers from the Pasture

As I prepare for Vacation Bible School, this devotional I had written came to mind. FYI- If you have children in your family or neighborhood in the Ralston area, let them know of these VBS opportunities this week:
Ralston Bible Church -Sunday through Wednesday (6/12-6/15) at 6-8 p.m.
Ralston Baptist Church - Monday through Friday (6/13-6/17) at 9:00-12 noon
An Issue of Trust

                In the spring of 2015, I checked the cattle daily, especially noting those that have not had their calves for that year. Complications for both mama and baby could occur. Usually I did my checking in the late afternoon each day because my mornings were filled with care for my father.

                One Monday morning was different. Dad’s nurse called to inform us of an hour delay before her arrival. Her delay would allow ample time for a quick check of my parents’ small herd.

                Jumping into Dad’s old pickup truck, I headed to the west pasture. As I approached the grazing herd, one of the three-year old cows dubbed “Mask” by me, based on the black coloring over her white face, came charging at the vintage vehicle. Maybe she associated the hum of the motor of the pickup with the feeding of cattle pellets in the winter months. Circling around the cattle that were grazing on the spring grass, I got a correct count quickly. Swinging the pickup around, I drove back to the house, satisfied that all the bovines were there. Then I noticed Mask in the east side of the pasture. I chuckled and exclaimed, “My goodness, she has a calf!” Sure enough, there nuzzled against her mama’s side was a tiny, white-faced red calf.

                I detoured slightly to investigate the newest addition to my parents’ herd. Mask moved rapidly, maneuvering the new baby to shield her from me by getting the little one so I could not even glimpse her. Then Mask broke into a run with the tiny baby in pursuit.

Mask running away with her 2nd calf - 2015

                I realized I was making her uncomfortable, even though I was keeping quite a distance from her. I snapped a quick photo to share with my father and drove toward the house.

                As I bumped along in the old pickup, I reflected on Mask. My memory rolled back to the year she was born. I recall seeing her as a baby calf and instantly spotting her “mask” and recognizing it set her apart.

One of the First Photos of Mask in 2012

Mask and Her First Calf - 2014

                      Then I remember last year when she had her first calf, how calm she was when I drove up to check on the cattle and spotted her first tiny baby.

                It was a matter of trust. Mask knew me. I had fed her two winters - every day. She felt quite comfortable with me. But she just couldn’t trust me with this second calf.

                What she didn’t realize was that I was spending all this time with the herd for their good. I wanted her baby to be as healthy as possible. I really wasn’t a threat to Mask or her new calf. Nevertheless, after I first saw Mask and her second calf, Mask hid her little heifer calf out for five days!

                Sometimes it seems people are like this toward God. He is their creator. He provides us all good things to enjoy. He gave his own Son for our forgiveness. He laid out a successful plan for rearing children with principles for their wellbeing, safety, and security for their entire lifetime. Yet how often parents try to dodge, avoid, and steer their children clear of the “rules” of the “overbearing” Heavenly Father!

                Here are some pointed and sobering verses for rearing little ones that are entrusted into our sphere of influence by the God who made them:

…The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are away on a journey, when you are lying down and when you are getting up again. (Deuteronomy 6:4-7)

Ways My Family Lived Out This Passage:

Grandma Gladys Rainey Smith insured I knew, by age 5, most of the Bible stories since she diligently read them to me.

My father, Edmund Gates, Jr., found a way in almost every circumstance to give glory to God and point out how He was working in everyday happenings.

Bernyce Smith Gates, my mother, encouraged and taught me to memorize by reciting the Bible verses to me. I am still learning Bible passages that way from my 91-year-old mother!

[Jesus] said to them, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” (Mark 10:14)

Jesus called a small child over to him and put the child among them. Then He said, “I assure you, unless you turn from your sins and become as little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. Therefore, anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom in the Kingdom of Heaven. And anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf is welcoming me. But if anyone causes one of these little ones who trust in me to lose faith, it would be better for that person to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around the neck. (Matthew 18:2-6)