Friday, April 4, 2008

The Good Shepherd

By Lydia

Three months ago, on Dec. 3rd, major parts of our county experienced a devastating flood. Hundreds of homes were destroyed and thousands of farm animals were drowned. Some people in the area lost their home and their family businesses, such as cow dairies, as most all their animals were swept away in the fast-moving flood waters.

Unfortunately, our good friends, the Gregory’s, own a sheep farm right on the edge of the Chehalis river. (They are the owners of Black Sheep Creamery, a sheep dairy and cheese making farm.) When the water started to rise, the only time they had was to grab a few important belongings from their first floor, and then run up to the second floor of their house. They probably watched helplessly as their carefully bred, raised, and much loved sheep and their cheese making facilities were being engulfed in the muddy flood waters.
This picture is of the Gregory's sheep barn. You can see the water line about half way up the outside wall of the barn.

Soon rescuers came to save their family and they had to jump from their second story windows into the boat, as the water was already several feet high.

Later, when the water had receded and the Gregory’s could return home, devastation met their shocked eyes. A foot or more of deep mud was everywhere and dead sheep lay in piles here and there.


However, much to their surprise that day, they found 22 of their sheep had survived, along with their sheep guard dogs, Jewel and Brutus. Later, as they searched through piles of dead sheep they found one more sheep alive. They thought for sure that they would have to put her down (as did a few others) because she was limping badly. But a friend offered to take “Emily” and all their surviving sheep to their home to give the Gregory’s time to restore their farm.

So, this brought their total number of surviving sheep to 23! Though this was only 25% of their flock, as you can imagine that particular number has a very special significance! (Thank you, Papa, for bringing this to our minds!)

Psalm 23 . . . what a special passage of scripture, especially to shepherds! How good God, our Good Shepherd, was to preserve 23 of their sheep, so that they, and all of us, could sense His love and care and see His sovereign hand working through this trial!

And through their friend’s tender loving care of these sheep and God’s healing touch, all 23 of their bred ewes thrived, gave birth to 47 lambs, and have recently returned back home with all their offspring!

And now I am excited to report that our farm has been blessed with one of God’s little miracles from the Gregory’s farm . . . “007”, a ram lamb! Isn’t he cute?

This is "Isaac"!

Now I have an official, reproducing flock! Thank you, Lord . . . . my Good Shepherd!

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Lydia,

That is a very interesting story with a very nice ending. So glad your friends were able to salvage some of their sheep farm.

Who knows, maybe someday the Bowes family will have 23 or so sheep. Your new "007" does look quite handsome.

Enjoyed the pictures too. Love you so much, Meemom

LEE said...

Hi Miss Lydia,
Number 007, Isaac, is a handsome ram lamb addition to you flock.

Before long the Bowes and Arrows ranch will be well stocked with critters.

Sounds like the Gregory's ranch is off to a good start rebuilding.

I am really proud of you young people and the business you are running. Great experience.

On the goofey side:

Ram lamb makes me think of something similar to a song written many years ago. Rama lam bam boozel or some thing like that.

Love you BIG BUNCHES!!!!!!!!TIMES INFINITY,
Grandpa

Anonymous said...

Isaiah 40:10-11
10 See, the Sovereign LORD comes with power,
and his arm rules for him.
See, his reward is with him,
and his recompense accompanies him.

11 He tends his flock like a shepherd:
He gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them close to his heart;
he gently leads those that have young.

What a powerful testimony of our Good Shepherd's care!!! He even brings about good out of tragedy. Isaac is beautiful.
Thank you, Lydia!

Anonymous said...

Wow! That is o cool! It's funny how 23 sheep survived, and that Psalms is Psalms '23'. Thanks for sharing.
Gabe :)

The Bowes Family said...

Dear Meemom,

Thank you so much for your comment! I am so glad that you liked the pics!


I do hope to have a large flock of sheep someday! Of course, I'll have to make sure that I can handle my own five first! But,I do LOVE sheep, and would spend HOURS with them, if I had the time!

I love you so much!
Lydia

The Bowes Family said...

Dear Grandpa,

That song sounds hilarious! We could even make up our own song about Isaac! Guess what? His name used to be "Sam", and we call him "Ramy Lamby". Add them all together, and you have "Samy Ramy Lamby!" Now we just need a tune for it! Unfortunately, we can't do that over e-mail!

I love you soooooooooooooooooooo much!

Lydia

The Bowes Family said...

Dear Mrs. Eagle and Gabe,

Thanks for your comments! I love hearing from you both!

It truly is so comforting to know that God is in control over everything! Especially when we drive out to the flood area, and see all the ruined land, barns, and homes. It is so nice to know that "all things work together for good, to those who love the Lord."

Thanks again for reading and commenting!

With love,
Lydia

AZDonna said...

What a beautiful story, Lydia. I'm so sorry for your friends' loss, but the significance of 23 surviving sheep was a powerful reminder of the Good Shepherd's love and mercy. Thanks for sharing that in such a lovely way.

The Bowes Family said...

Dear Mrs. Reed,

Thank you for your comment on my recent story!

It has been such a blessing to see all the new lambs at the Gregory's farm! On Saturday, they were even on the front page of our newspaper!

We all really appreciate your comments, and always look forward to hearing more!

Hope you are doing well!
Love,
Lydia

Anonymous said...

That's a cool story. God speaks in amazing ways, doesn't he? Are the Gregory's Christians?