Wednesday, July 20, 2011

At the Bosom of Booger






Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” - Luke 9:60



Years ago, we had a barn cat named Booger. Yes, I know, it's not a very flattering name, but her name was still Booger. She was a small, grey-striped cat that was very useful for killing vermin (I won't mention how she also killed things that were not vermin as well, though, like my poultry-- oops, I meantioned it).

One day, Booger had herself a litter of kittens. There were four of them and they all looked alike--- the mirror image of Booger. The kittens grew, opened their eyes, and learned to walk. As they learned to walk, their curiosity led them to some very dangerous places. One of them wanted to perch on the edge of a water bucket, but teetered in and drowned. Another one tried to play with the dogs and got chewed to death. Another one jumped off of my husband's workbench in the garage and decaptiated itself on a saw blade. The last one must have gained some introspective wisdom and high-tailed it out of this apparent death trap, because I never saw it again.

Each and every one of these kittens that died was buried next to the garage. The decapitated one was buried with his body and head placed neatly next to each other. However, one beautiful summer day, I found Booger happily nursing what looked like a kitten in the corner of the barn. She was purring and making that happy/squinty face that cats make when they're really content. I thought that maybe the missing one had returned, so I approached Booger to pet the kitten. To my absolute horror, I realized that she was nursing not a kitten, but the HEAD to her decapitated kitten! She had exhumed it and carried it into the barn to nurse and snuggle. I screamed for my husband and he snatched the head to re-bury it (this time, under a pile of rocks, so she couldn't dig it out again).

My friends, what I saw that day is indeed still very vivid in my memory. It was burned there by it's literal grotesqueness and I've often wished it would just disappear. However, I find myself reflecting on the fact that it's an appropriate image for realizing what it's like when we 'nurse dead things in our lives'. What in the world do I mean by this? Well, I must admit that sometimes, when something bad happens to me, I'm tempted to re-hash the scenario in my mind and nurse those dark feelings long after the offensive occurance has passed. I harbor a demented contentment when I reflect on these things. I don't pretend to understand the human mind, but I know that I'm not the only person who digs up hurtful memories again and again and again. Why, why, why is there the temptation to do it?! What is that sick pleasure? Indeed, it is little more than exhuming and nursing a dead kitten.

Are you bitter over something someone did to hurt you? Are you mad at God over losing a loved one? There are many 'dead kittens at the breast' that we could have in our lives if we don't handle painful memories and offenses in a healthy way. Do not exhume the dead!

"(Love) keeps no record of wrongs." - 1 Corinthians 13:5

Friday, July 8, 2011

Spiritual Mastitis




I'm not the most educated idiot regarding mastitis, but that's a good thing. I've never had it and (as a farmer) my goats don't get it. However, many good dairy people out there battle this odious attack of the mammaries on a daily basis. I've heard their cries and I've seen the struggle this produces in a herd of animals.

Mastitis is caused by the staph bacteria getting up into the teats of an animal. There, it breeds in it's warm, moist environment and causes an infection in the mammary. There are acute cases in which the animal may be running a temperature, have a hot and inflamed udder, and pass nothing but blood clots; or there may be a chronic issue in which the animal will produce off-flavored milk with small, white 'clots' in it. In an acute case, the animal may very well right itself and it's milk will be fine afterward. In a chronic case, the animal will continuously have recurrent or consistent flare-ups as it develops a somewhat symbiotic relationship with the staph bacteria that made a home in it's body.

In our lives, we know we are all fully capable of sin. Though we may have developed a relationship with Christ in which he's given us a new heart, we still are not perfect. The goal is holiness in our lives, but we still live in a world rampant with the dark armies that seek to steal, kill, and destroy. Our flesh likes this world and we are daily engaged in spiritual warfare to maintain our freedom in Christ. A goat is born with the ability to never have mastitis, but if it is in this 'contaminated' world, it will always run the risk. Certain goats are more resistant than others, and this is a blessing. Some goats are walking targets and we're never surprised when they are taken down.

Now, because we are still all able to sin, I consider a person who is free in Christ someone who can have 'acute' attacks of sin in their lives. For example, a person who yells at their children when they've had a particularly long day, or someone who was rude to another person in the parking lot when they were in a particular rush. These are acute 'flare-ups' of sin; they are like nasty, bloody chunks that stand out in our our life and draw great attention from people who know us well. They are normally quickly remedied and our 'milk' will taste fine after it clears up. However, there are those of us who literally function with chronic sins in our lives. We have a balance we've established in our homes and workplaces in which people can count on us being a certain way. Are we characterized as a pessimist? as being temperamental? as being rude? These are sins we've created a symbiotic relationship with and we appear normal on the surface because these are part of our daily walk. However, beneath the surface, there's a smoldering colony of darkness that is creating a literal 'off-flavor' to our lives. Daily, our Lord is drinking of our 'milk' we produce; some people are sweet after their acute case, and some are sour everyday.

What sins may we have allowed to colonize in our hearts? Do we have a relationship with sin in our lives that characterize us in a way that is very unholy?

There are ways to prevent mastitis in a herd: Cleansing, and removing carriers of the chronic cases. We must be careful to consistently wash ourselves in the Word of God and ask God to give us hearts that are sensitive to sin. Also, we need to be very careful of who we allow ourselves to be close to. Some people are breeding grounds of harmful material, and we must be careful to only offer ministry to them and not dwell in close quarters to them.

How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart?
Cleanse me from these hidden faults.
Keep your servant from deliberate sins!
Don’t let them control me.
Then I will be free of guilt
and innocent of great sin. (Psalm 19:12-13)


Don’t be fooled by those who say such things, for “bad company corrupts good character.” Think carefully about what is right, and stop sinning. For to your shame I say that some of you don’t know God at all. (1 Corinthians 15:33-34)



In the case of chronic mastitis, many will say to cull the animal (culling means to remove from the herd-- usually butcher). However, we're not just goats with bad milk, we are precious creatures of God that He seeks to restore. No case of sin is so bad that God can't cure it! Many dairy people that want to restore their goats with mastitis will say to massage peppermint and oregano oils into their udder. Peppermint cleanses, and oregano is a powerful agent in killing even the most sinister of diseases such as MRSA.

Search our hearts, O God, and make them new. Decolonize sin in our lives so we may not be breeding grounds for the Adversary's plan. May we be like You!


O Jerusalem, cleanse your heart
that you may be saved.
How long will you harbor
your evil thoughts?
(Jeremiah 4:14)

Saturday, July 2, 2011

Lord, Save the Turkeys





“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing." Luke 13:34

Summertime ushers in the season in which we raise our poultry for meat. In one day, I received my shipment of 50 chicks and 15 turkey poults. I immediately put the turkeys into the outdoor pen complete with heat lamp, hut for shelter, waterer, and food dish full of grain. They were delighted and strutted about pecking at blades of grass and making joyous, squeaky peeps. Shortly thereafter a storm blew very suddenly into our area. Within minutes after the torrents of rain and wind drove us inside, my daughter ran to me with tears in her eyes: "Mom!" she cried, "The turkeys are DYING!"

"What?!" I yelled, leaping from my seat. I gathered my skirts and ran outside to the turkey pen. Each and every one of the 15 turkeys was laying motionless and and soaked to the skin in the grass. Not one of the turkeys took the initiative to seek shelter from the storm and all were in various stages of dying. One turkey was most assuredly dead as it was laying face down in the waterer. The other ones I gathered into my shirt and carried into the house. My son brought in the heat lamp and my daughter brought the hair dryer, and we all set to the task of trying to save the turkeys.

After an hour or maybe two, all of the turkeys were to the point in which their eyes were open and began to peep again. We laid them under the heat lamp and left them to recover. For those of you who don't know poultry, the fact that we were able to save ANY turkeys is a miracle. Turkeys, especially, are very sensitive and die easily. Each and every one of the turkeys that we brought into the house recovered.

Now, I've learned that turkeys have no sense and need constant shelter. What the Lord pointed out to me is that many people are like turkeys and don't have enough sense to come in out of the rain enough to save themselves. What I mean is this: our Lord has offered Himself as a refuge and a hiding place for those who will indeed seek the shelter of His wings. His presence is not a safe place for those who are rebellious, but only for those who truly love Him and trust Him and honor Him in what they do. People, come under the shelter of the Most High and He will protect you from the storms of life. Storms will indeed happen, but they needn't get the best of us. Psalm 91:1-3 says ' Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence.'


May I not be too stupid to see the outstretched wings of our Lord offering a refuge from life's storm. This world is a dangerous place--may we not be so naive as to think that we can save ourselves.

Therefore strong peoples will honor you;
cities of ruthless nations will revere you.
You have been a refuge for the poor,
a refuge for the needy in their distress,
a shelter from the storm
and a shade from the heat.
For the breath of the ruthless
is like a storm driving against a wall
and like the heat of the desert.
You silence the uproar of foreigners;
as heat is reduced by the shadow of a cloud,
so the song of the ruthless is stilled. (Isaiah 25:3-5)