I’d like to tell you a story about Hope. Yes, capital H, because Hope is a creature. This year lambing came at an unseasonable time for us. Since our ram paddock needed repairs, we were not able to keep the randy rams away from the ewes (the ladies) and they bred in August instead of September or October like they usually do. That meant we had lambs born in January, during the absolute cold heart of the year, when we had record low temps (in the teens most nights). Many of our ewes had their lambs in the middle of the night, and by early morning by the time we could find them, they were too cold to muster the energy they needed to find mama’s teat and get the lifesaving colostrum they needed.
Some of our lambs perished before we could find them and save them, but this little lamb, named Hope, survived despite the odds being against her. Her mother’s name is Faith, and Faith, on a freezing cold morning, had her twin lambs, Hope and Love. For some reason she picked Love to clean off and nurse, but Hope she rejected (this is sounding a little too allegorical, I know). She didn't even bother licking her off (as all mama sheep do if they are being maternal and helping their lambs survive). A neighbor happened to walk by and see her after she gave birth. He told us, "One lamb is healthy and nursing mom, the other lamb looks dead."
So Pete and I go find the lamb. Sure enough, she is not dead, but certainly right at the door. She was cold, and unable to take a bottle because she couldn’t hold up her head. We brought her inside our home and put her in front of the fireplace and cleaned the afterbirth off of her with towels. Then we put a heating mat on her and brought her temp up. While we worked on cleaning her and raising her temp, I was defrosting colostrum (that we save from our cows colostrum) that I had pulled out of the freezer. After the lamb warmed up a bit she was able to drink from a bottle this lifesaving elixir that is colostrum. She sucked weakly and wearily from the bottle at first, but by the second feeding she was a little stronger.
She did not nurse well enough by day two for me to think she was going to survive. I started to think it was folly to name this creature Hope. I really didn’t want my Hope to die (literally or metaphorically speaking). But by day three she started nursing like a little champ. And now she’s just the most robust little imp of a lamb, so miraculous I can hardly believe it.
Why am I taking the time to share this little lamb’s tale? I’m sharing because I know all too well, that when life is difficult, and the outcome looks bleak, it is quite easy to lose hope. I have lost it before, and know it to be a feeling akin to death, and things often die as a result. Maybe a relationship, maybe a dream, whatever the loss, it’s not good. If you find yourself in a dismal situation today, I encourage you to hang on to hope. As stewards of the land, we get up every day with a belief that our interaction with this created world can actually make it better, not worse. I call it Kingdom come, God’s will here on earth as it is in heaven.
Now I know we are not all farmers and land stewards, but we are all stewards of beautiful created things in the world. And by our interaction with them; kids, spouses, friends, dogs, cats, plants, etc., we can make their life better. We can be beacons of hope and life. We can believe in hope, that we can bring light and life where darkness and death once flourished. Who is the person or creature that needs your light today? Don’t let go of Hope. Even against all odds, miracles still happen.
Bless you friends!
