Ridin On His Shoulder

So after all the fun frolics with the cows and the Texas cousins, Tony had an ‘interesting’ dream.  But first let me catch you up on the travel blog.

From Texas, it was off to Colorado and yet another happy family reunion, this time with my sister’s family and extended associates.  It was fun and crazy for three days, whereupon we hugged them all goodbye, drove to Tony’s paternal cousins that we hadn't seen in 20 years, and had a really good, insightful visit.  (Am I boring you yet?) then we had lunch with some people who used to be listed on our will to raise our kids (Come to think of it, I guess they’re still listed, but the kids might have something to say about that today).  Again, we hadn’t seen them for years. They’re professional counsellors for the Navigators, so we did some ‘housecleaning’ of our minds with them and hopefully came away better people. 

Then, because we had some time, we took our rental car and headed out across the Great Plains. I had completely lost my voice, so Tony really enjoyed the trip.

As you’re reading this, Tony will be getting ready to preach again in a small church we visited a couple of years ago.  Glad that they want us back.  

We have some friends here from our college days that have kindly harboured us, allowing us to rest, do laundry, pay bills (ug) and hang out, so that’s been fun.

This time next week we’ll be in the middle of the Atlantic on a 3-week cruise, enroute to Barcelona and beyond. Thanks to our brilliant planning, we just noticed that it’s the beginning of hurricane season (predicted to be a wild one this year), so it might be memorable.

So back to Tony’s dream.  He was out in the fields, working cattle, as he so enjoyed a couple of weeks ago.  A small calf kept following him, staying close wherever he went.  He thought it was odd, but after a day or so, the calf spoke to him.  He said, “Mister, I hope you don’t mind me hanging around, but I see all my friends being manhandled, and then drug away, bawling. And here’s the thing: lots of times, several cows leave with cowboys. The cowboys always come back, but the cows never do. I figured that if I just stick with you, no one will notice …… please protect me.”

I can already imagine the “heresy” comments that you’ll be posting, but just humour me.  I grew up in the 50’s with that familiar old picture of Jesus with all the long curly hair and angelic face, holding a little lamb around his neck.  Do you remember it?  Wasn’t it sweet? I think it hung over my bed when I was little.  Well, I realise I’m using some poetic licence here (although hey! it’s just a dream) but in a lot of ways, it describes how Tony and I feel these days, stumbling along, dodging tornadoes and credit card hackers (both of which we’ve had to deal with this last week). 

That image of Jesus comes back, and I recall the Bible verse that’s most often associated with it: John 10: 14-15,

“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep”. 

All that is to say, there are days on this trip when we feel like super-confident road warriors. Then there are other days when I’d just like to be that sheep, quietly riding on my Master’s shoulder, not caring where we’re going but knowing that the destination is assured.

Bye for now. If you don’t get a blog for the next three weeks, it’s probably just because we’re on the open sea in the middle of a hurricane with no internet. I’ll do my best! Thanks for praying along with us! 

Marsha


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