Miracles in the Making

Too often, we don't look for miracles. Instead, the world seems filled with problems and hatred. The news at the end of last week was marred by a mass shooting in Hesston. Things like this aren't supposed to happen in Small Town, Kansas, America.

It was another sad story in a week of sad stories. A farmer's wife lost her 31-year-old husband unexpectedly. Several friends were asking for prayers for their hospitalized loved ones.  I was struggling to forgive someone for damage done to our property. By the end of the week, the bad news seemed to smother my mood like a heavy, wet blanket.

Sometimes, it seems like we're truly stuck in the hard things.

We may need a helping hand to get us out of our predicament.  (Randy to the rescue!)

Yes, problems may seem to multiply much faster than the solutions. But, even in the midst of struggles, there are miracles to be found.

A small-town police chief saves many others from harm through his quick response to a shooting. A community bands together to honor the living and the dead. Many there have responded with "shalom justice," a way to "choose love over fear." (Click on the link for a wonderful commentary by Michele Hershberger, a professor of Bible and Ministry at Hesston College).

A group of Farmer's Wives from all over North America who know each other only through a Facebook page came together to raise more than $1,100 for one of their own. People gathered on a Saturday afternoon to help a hospitalized church member get things moved into a new home.

These are the miracles in the midst of tragedy. For me, those glimpses of light and love are the way that we are the hands and feet of Jesus in this world.

And one of my personal antidotes to feeling down is as close as the pasture and the corrals. It may not solve every problem, but it sure makes you forget about them for awhile. Watching babies grow is good medicine.

Yes, miracles are in this world. We just have to open our eyes to them. 

Sometimes, we find them in a cattle pasture.

 

Sometimes, we just need to witness a little love. It doesn't solve all the problems. But it sure makes you feel better.

Wobbly baby calf from Kim Fritzemeier on Vimeo.

In the Face of Tragedy

A photo from our December 2007 ice storm. We were without electricity for 12 days.

The photos from the South Dakota blizzard are painful to see. One came through on my Facebook feed last night, showing dozens of cattle who had perished, revealed as the snow melted from a deep valley. 

I have a blogging friend, Robyn of The Ranch Wife Chronicles who had planned to go to the South Dakota Women in Agriculture convention last weekend. But her husband, J, whom she calls The Rancher, had a feeling. He thought that the predicted winter storm might be worse than anyone thought. 

This is one of those times when I'm sure The Rancher wishes he were wrong. They moved cattle around to try to position them as best they could for the coming storm. They were among the fortunate ones. They don't think they lost cattle, though they won't know for sure until they bring them off summer pastures and get an accurate count. But The Rancher's cousin lost somewhere between 15 and 20 cattle that they know of so far. Others of their friends, neighbors and colleagues lost that many or more.

In fact, some news reports say that ranchers lost between 20 and 50 percent of their herds. Besides the emotional toll, think about how that will impact their financial health this year and for years to come. 

Have you heard much about it on the national news? I haven't. That's a tragedy, too. 

The numbers will continue to evolve as the people of South Dakota dig out. However, as I heard from Robyn by email today, more stormy weather is forecast. So, ranchers are again racing around, trying their best to protect their herds and prepare for the unknown. 

Last weekend's blizzard was unseasonably early. Most ranchers hadn't moved cattle from summer pastures, which offered less protection than the winter counterparts.  The cattle hadn't grown their thicker winter coats yet, providing less protection from the elements.

Yesterday, I read a post by another South Dakota blogger, Just a Ranch Wife. She was not someone in my blog feed (though she will be now). She talked about the ridiculous comments that some people were making in the comment section of stories published in the Rapid City Journal and elsewhere.

There were comments that ranchers shouldn't have more cattle than they could house in a barn. There were comments that ranchers cared more about their big pickup trucks than their herds. 

The ignorance is astounding. The callousness of people who would rather criticize than commiserate is unfathomable to me. Why do people use a tragedy to push their own agendas?

Yesterday, someone from South Dakota shared a photo on Facebook. It showed the vastness of the South Dakota landscape, with fence posts barely peeking out of snow banks. It was from

Amber Bruce West's photo, along with this caption:  

Here's a picture of all the PETA animal rights people lined up to help out with finding, feeding, and helping our poor animals that survived the storm. Can you see them??? But by golly have a circus come to town and they are out in droves.

  As you can see, there weren't any PETA people in the photo - just miles of snow. 

Yes, farming and ranching looks easy when you are examining it from your computer screen. It's a lot tougher when you're again out on the 4-wheeler looking for cows and calves to save.

Tragedy has seemed to pile on top of tragedy this month. 

This week, I went to a funeral for a young man killed in an accident a week ago. He grew up farming with his family just to the east of us. He also left behind a wife and two little girls. I was struck by the words shared by his father-in-law during the message. 

"Our families want you to know that God didn't make this happen."

Also this month, my cousin's daughter, who is Jill's age, lost her husband and father of their 4-month-old twins.

It's not part of God's plan to take people away from loving families. It's not part of God's plan to harm animals and affect the livelihood of people who work so hard to care for His creation. 

But God is there to walk alongside us when we grieve and when we try to pick up the pieces of shattered lives. He weeps with us.

If you'd like to help the South Dakota ranchers, here's a link for a Rancher Relief Fund. 

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For another blog from a South Dakota rancher, check out this one from Opened Door: Broken Dreams and Hearts on the Western Dakota Prairie. 

When the World Makes No Sense ...

I went to school last Friday night for a middle school Christmas concert. It's the same school where Jill marched into the kindergarten classroom with a silly book bag so many years ago without a glance over her shoulder ...

... and where Brent proudly served a Mother's Day tea with his kindergarten classmates.

On Friday night, our school's commons area was packed with parents, grandparents and friends who came to watch the concert. It was an unusual Friday night. During most Friday nights this time of year, it's the gym that's packed with cheers as high school basketball players run up and down the court. The referee's whistle blows and the ball pounds the wooden floor, and cheerleaders lead the chant for "Defense!"

But, for some reason, there was no ballgame scheduled. Instead, with a December school calendar packed to the brim, it allowed the music department a chance to squeeze in a concert.

As I walked into the school Friday night, I saw the brightly-painted Christmas backdrop and the glittered snowflakes, and I thought, "This is what a school is supposed to be about."

This is what school is supposed to be: It's about three girls in reindeer antlers. It's about the three boys in full elf regalia who couldn't make it through their trio without cracking up. It's about a diminutive, 80-pound-soaking-wet Santa who didn't need the old guy's heft to flawlessly deliver the rhymed patter during the Cool Yule program.It was about those kids who weren't the stars of the show, but who just stood on the three-tiered risers and sang and danced along.

That's what a school is supposed to be on a Friday night.

It's not supposed to be a place for a candlelight vigil, mourning the deaths of 20 innocent children and six brave educators.

It's not supposed to be that way.
It makes no sense.
It will never make sense.

Those little children likely wouldn't have sung "Away in a Manger" at their school's Christmas concert. But I'm guessing that some of them would have dressed in cardboard angel's wings or pulled on their Dad's bathrobe and become the vigilant shepherds surrounding a short, blue-robed Mary and staff-bearing Joseph as they gazed down at a baby doll Jesus in a crude manger at their church's Christmas pageants this weekend.

These words come to mind as I try to wrap my head around this tragedy:

Be near me, Lord Jesus,

I ask Thee to stay

Close by me forever,

And love me, I pray.

Bless all the dear children

In Thy tender care,

And fit us for heaven

To live with Thee there.

On Sunday at our church, two grade-school-aged boys, their parents and their cousin lit the third Advent candle. Here are some of the words they spoke:

Rejoice in the Lord always. And again I will say, rejoice.

Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 

Philippians 4: 4-7

 We light a candle to help us remember that Jesus is near. The peace of God will keep us in Christ Jesus.

Prayers for Sandy Hook Elementary School ...
Prayers for Newtown, Conn. ...
Prayers for the heroes, some of whom lost their earthly lives ...
Prayers for the grieving families ...
Prayers for the survivors whose lives will never be the same ...
Prayers for the first responders and all the helpers ...
Prayers for our country ...
Prayers for the world in which Kinley is growing up ...
Prayers for us all ...

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Today, I am linked to Michelle DeRusha's Hear It on Sunday, Use It on Monday feature. You will be blessed to visit there and read thoughts from bloggers of faith from across the U.S.