10-19.
More check list items knocked out for trying to get my giant garage mess a bit better organized. Planning to take some of the recovery time to do light work around the house.
My daughter requested prayer for me during her high school youth group for donating and that surgery goes well. I told my community group of 6th grade boys some high level bits about my donor journey and why I couldn’t make it to the middle school fall retreat weekend. I was so disappointed I’d have to miss this. The retreat would be S+1 on Friday evening and I’m certain the hospital would not let me out that fast, nor would I be able to keep up with them. (Turns out I was let out that fast, but sleeping on an 1 ½” thick rubber mat on a wood slab cabin-style bunkbed, would have been too much).
The boys listened intently, but because the word “poop” was mentioned earlier in the conversation it quickly devolved back to the bathroom humor of which there really is very little escape once it takes hold of their 12 year old minds. We were discussing the parable of the lost sheep where the Shepherd left his 99 sheep to find the one that was lost. I was wondering about what this process would look like back in those days and had to look this up. The Shepherd does pick up the sheep and carry it over his shoulders (a traditional technique called the “Shepherd’s carry”), the animal’s body weight rests across the shepherd’s neck, and its legs are often held in front. Sheep don’t have much control over their bowel or bladder timing, and they can urinate or defecate while being carried — especially if they’re stressed, scared, or recently fed.
In practice, experienced shepherds often:
- Hold the sheep briefly just long enough to move it somewhere safe,
- Position its rear away from their clothing as much as possible, or
- Wear older, easily washable clothes when handling sheep for that reason.
So while the pastoral image of the shepherd with a lamb on his shoulders looks clean, bright, and peaceful, the real-life version is… a bit messier! Now I know. God is willing to enter our messy lives, even if we are that one that’s gone astray.
In the parable, God is represented as the Shepherd – even though he finds the lost sheep, (sinner) and brings it home (salvation), I bet the people of ancient times would understand that the process may still be a bit messy. And yes it is for Christian’s too. Even though we can experience God’s redemptive love, it still feels like we “lose control” on the good plans God has for us. From the sermon today- that’s exactly what Saul, David, and Solomon did. That condition is still a struggle we all run into today. Oftentimes we succeed, many times we still fail.
I believe the events of this coming week are part of God’s larger plan to show His glory through modern medical miracles and that I get to play one small part.