Feed my sheep.... part one

For a season of my walk with the Lord,my disciple mentor was Peter. The two of us were cut from the same cloth. We have both been a bit zealous and loud about our relationship with the Lord. My personal calling from the Lord as been to advocate for the least of these. That calling has taken on many shapes. Looking back on my life, I was advocating for the least of these before I even knew that was my calling. My journey with the least of these has had its headaches. Several times we have opened our hearts and offered ourselves to the least of these. We have stepped out in faith and ask some orphans to accept us as their forever family. The offer was refused. I cannot begin to explain the pain in my heart that accompanied those refusals. After one rejection, I was reading my Bible and my friend Peter was at the center of the lesson. He and Jesus were having a bit of a heart to heart. The Lord clearly wanted Peter to hear his words, as he told him three times to "Feed my Sheep". I admit that I was crushed and thought that Jesus was playing a cruel joke on me. Had I not just had my heart stomped on as I tried to do that very thing...Feed His sheep. I spent a bit of time reflecting on what I know about sheep. We have raised a few during my years on the farm. We are known as the sheep family in our town. Some days I think that we have spent more on the four legged sheep that call our farm home than the two legged ones. One thing I know about sheep is sheep clearly know their master's voice or even their master's car. For a few years, Kenny drove an old rust colored volvo that had a distinctive sound. I knew he had turned on Baxter Road each day when the alarm sounded. The alarm was the thundering feet of the flock. They knew that their master was home and it was time to eat. They ran to the gate to meet their master. I started wondering if that is what God wanted from me.... to run to the gate when I heard my master's voice. God was clearly telling me that my role was to be ready when he called me. My assignment was to Feed His Sheep. The feed choice for his sheep has varied over the years. Sometimes the only bit of nourishment that I have set on the table has been prayer for a particular lamb. I never know what becomes of some of the lambs I just pray and stand ready for God to use me in the life of that lamb as he sees fit. Some of the lambs have spent some time on the farm. Some of them have been added permanently to the family flock.