Leaving the 99 to find the 1

The other day when I was watching over the sheep a sheep was lost. Now this is not a good thing. Losing a sheep often results in a hurt or dead sheep. But the out come turned out good and God used it to remind me of his love for us.

Matthew 18:12-14 says:
¹² “What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off?¹³ And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. ¹⁴ In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.

It was about 5:00 in the afternoon when I started to return home from pasture with the sheep. I wanted to make it back before the sun set because darkness and shepherds don't mix. But as I was heading back I noticed that one was missing. I let the dog continue with the sheep and I back tracked to see if I could find her. Not 5 minutes later I found her!!

She had fallen down into an old well about 7 ft deep. This hole has been here the entire time Nissim has had sheep and no sheep has ever fallen in the hole. There is no food in the hole so the sheep usually go around it.
After I saw the sheep in the hole I called Nissim and his son Amir to help me get the sheep out. I asked Amir about the other sheep on the phone and he assured me they would be fine and to stay with the sheep in the hole.

A few minutes later Amir and Nissim arrived in the truck. I got in the hole with the sheep and we lifted her to safety. We all thought she would be fine and run back to the herd (sheep do not like to be alone). Instead she ran opposite the herd towards the road and Amir ran after her. Nissim got in the truck and I took the rest of the sheep home. I prayed the whole time that the sheep would be okay. I put the sheep back in the barn and in the distance I saw the headlights of the truck heading back. When they arrived I saw the sheep in the back and rejoiced.

It turned out that the sheep that fell down the hole was blind and it explains why the sheep fell and ran towards the road. She was able to go undetected in the herd because she used smell to follow them. Sheep can go blind from parasites that like the mucus of their nose and brain. Disgusting, but the truth. So we gave her some medicine and she can see clearly now since it has been a few days. She will rejoin the herd and be fine. But I still think it is crazy that I had a 99 and 1 experience. Just thought I would let you all know.

Also, I have chosen a name for 391. Many of you have given some great names. I like them all, but the name I have chosen is....drum roll please....Daisy. I looked up the meaning of this name, and in Old English it means eye of the day or vision. God gave the blind sheep eyes to see and I pray that one day all will have eyes to see God's will and God's plan. So that is why I have chosen Daisy.

Here is the latest picture of her:

This will be Daisy's last picture with her mom. That blue mark signifies that  Daisy is around 1.5 months old and  it is time to separate her from her mom. Daisy will no longer need mom's milk and will move on to grains and hay. It is a sad day, but a good day because it means she is growing up.

 PS It also looks like I might be in Bethlehem on Christmas. How cool would that be?!?!


Talk to you later.


Your Friend,


Patrick

My Favorite Sheep!!

I don't really know if I should have a favorite sheep or not. They are all wonderful, but 391 is my favorite. 391 was born just over a month ago while I was watching the sheep in the pasture. I was also lucky enough to get a picture of her being born.

Here she is 5 minutes old

To be honest, I really do not know why she is my favorite. But because of her being my favorite I have taken a lot of pictures. And I thought it would be cool for you back home to watch her grow up on the farm, because I know must of you have probably not seen a sheep grow up before. Also since God calls us his sheep, is there a similarity in how they grow and how humans grow? I don't know just a thought.  

This is her at 2 days old and back in the barn. Newly born babies stay in , what we call, the hospital for  6-8 days. The hospital consists of 10 separate living areas for the sheep. It allows us to keep an eye on the baby and make sure she/he is developing normal.

391 has moved out of the hospital and to a cage with about 20 other babies  and mothers.

She is playing with a friend and showing affection by touching heads. She is 17 days old in this picture.

Getting ready to drink milk from her mother. She is 23 days old in this picture.

Same age as above, but with a close up.

In this picture, she is towards the back. She is 26 days old and starting to get  use to being without mom.

This is the most recent picture of her and she is 31 days old

I hope you all like watching her grow up with me. She has been a great lamb. One question I do have for you is: What would you name her? 391 is not the best sounding name. So if you have some time submit the name you think is the best and I will try and pick one before the next post.

Prayer Requests:

• I want to thank you all again for your prayers for rain. It is suppose to rain again tomorrow, and please continue to pray for more rain. This area of Israel cannot have too much rain.
• Please pray for the family I am serving. Pray that I bless them with everything I do. I was reading the other day in Genesis about Jacob and his service to Laban. It says in Genesis 30:27 that the Lord blessed Laban because of Jacob. I think that is so cool, and I hope Nissim's family can be blessed just like Laban's.
• I also pray that God continues to teach me new things, and gives me ears to hear and eyes to see his work.

Thank you again all of you who pray for me and follow me on this blog. Talk to you soon.

Your Friend,

Patrick

Before I came to Israel, I got an email from Blogspot (the website I use to host this blog). The email was called the "Top 10 Dos and Don'ts of Blogging." The number 3 rule on the Don't List I am about to break. It is never say you are sorry for not posting. So, I want to say I am sorry I have not posted in awhile. The series of events that have caused me not to post have been crazy, but kind of awesome.

So we finally had rain, as I told you about in my last post. It rained for almost 3 days straight, but on day 2 the rain found a hole in my roof. The hole was directly over my laptop. I ran to the laptop and tried to dry it off. It seemed to work fine. Then I noticed the wifi card, the space bar, the letter n and the letter b were not working, This meant no more internet and blogging for awhile. To top things off, the next morning the router was no longer working due to some power surge. These events are the reason I have not blogged for awhile. But it has really given me some time to think and not run to facebook or my blog all the time. God has me here to do something special and the internet could ruin that if I let it. So this has been a reality check for me.

For those of you that are wondering how I am online now, I am currently using a usb keyboard and a net stick to get online and post this. Because I think it is important for all of you to see what God is doing here.

  

Pictures follow of my last 2 weeks. I hope you like them.

Her name is Goody and she had puppies!!

A beautiful sunset after a rainy day

I made breakfast! American Style
Toast, bacon, eggs, and pancakes (buttermilk and chocolate chip)

Ready to eat

We are all eating, but one person did not want a picture.

Mai, Nissim's daughter, holding a puppy

The puppies are getting bigger.

Me holding a puppy.

*More to come!! Talk to you guys later =)