Everyone Needs A Friend

    God is continuing to teach me spiritual truths through the interactions of the animals on our sheep farm. I love it!
    We turned our ram out to the pasture with our ewes in October and November. We are looking forward to birthing lambs in March and April. When we put our ram, Wildcard, back in his pen, he was super agitated. He paced up and down the fence line, up and down, up and down, until he had worn down all the grass in the path of his trail.
    We have four pygmy goats now, just for fun. So we decided to put the little male, Billy,  into the pen with Wildcard, to see what would happen.
    You would not believe the changes in Wildcard. He settled down and no longer paces. He plays with little Billy all day. They chase around the pen and practice head-butting. They are never far apart. Little Billy climbs in the food box while Wildcard is eating and sometimes climbs on his back. It's a match made in heaven.
    You know, it's true, everyone needs a friend. I have 3 long time friends who know everything about me. We pray for each other and make a point to get together once a month.
    But as special as these friends are, they are not the kind of friend Jesus is. Jesus is my constant helper.  Jesus is the friend who will "never leave me or abandon me", Hebrews 3:5. Jesus is the friend who has "laid down His life for me", John 15:3. It's true, everyone needs a friend. I'm glad that my best friend is Jesus.
"Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble", Ecclesiastes 4:9.

Always

    In the part of the country where I live, we have had record-setting frigid artic temperatures and snowfall amounts. I'm not made to do well in cold, dreary weather. It flattens my mood and strangles my joy.
    But this week, this week, we have had glorious, bright sunshine and temperatures in the 50s and 60s. I love it when God sends these kinds of days in the midst of winter. My faith is strengthened. It notifies me that spring is going to come and because of that, I can endure the winter cold.
    It is so like God. He shows up just in time. When we are up to our necks in the pain of the world, He comes and brings His remedy. Always. When calamity comes and knocks us off our feet, His light shows up and rights our world. Always. And we can count on the fact that springtime follows the  winter season. Always has and always will.

"For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven", Ecclesiastes 3:1.

"The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, He will show you the way out so that you can endure", 1 Corinthians 10:13.

Renew

    Last year my word was NEW. It was a fitting word as my husband and I moved to a little sheep farm for our retirement years. We have had a lot of new experiences there. We have been blessed with newness.
    So this year the word God has given me is RENEW. It also seems fitting, according to the verses I looked up:  "He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths, " Psalm 23:3;  Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me," Psalm 51:10.; "Instead let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes," Ephesians 4:23; Put on your new nature and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like Him." Colossians 3:10".
    Now I'm thinking about how to frame that in my everyday life:
*It requires spending time reading my Bible each morning.
*It means surrendering my life to God each day.
*It gives me the strength to say "No!" to greed and worldliness.
*It settles me in a place of peace and contentment.
    I loved a phrase in Emily Freman's blog, "Chatting at the sky", becvause I feel it describes where I'm at in my life this year: "I think I'm made to live small, to move slowly, and to hold just one thing at a time". I'm praying for this kind of a renewal for all of us this year.
    Happy New Year and have a renewed kind of year, 2014. Peggy