The Sylvr Pen

Just launched on Amazon: Denise J. Hughes’ new book on writing. It’s a good one. And until tomorrow (Tuesday) night at midnight, you can get a free download of it! Click over here for how to do that.

It’s an opportunity not to miss. Denise uses her experience as gifted writer, blogger, and teacher of college composition to bring together information and real writerly help you might not find elsewhere.

I like the way she puts into clear perspective  misunderstandings we may have about the writing process and things we may perceive as our own hindrances to it. Whether you have a book project in mind or just want to boost your blog or get a bit of helpful encouragement, take a look at her overview.  And then, yes, go ahead, and download!

Thanks, Denise, for the gift of your teaching!

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Free-writing for five minutes on Lisa Jo’s prompt word, “Remember”…

Remember! Ah, that’s what I need to do.

Bogged down in a mire, wheels churning, getting deeper instead of free from the slop, I try to work up faith, churn it out from within, and all I throw around is confusion.

Faith doesn’t come from me. I’m an empty tank. Unless He fills it. But remembering, ah that opens up the gate, and from all the wondrous interventions of the past, on their tide, the truth that I can trust Him flows in. And washes out the mud, and the mire becomes a pool, fresh and clear, like in Psalm 84.

Count the remembrances. The tiny details that He met, the God-incidences abundant, the supply just when I desperately writhed under the need. The timely ring of phone, or the light of truth specific to my hurt on printed scripture page—as if a sunbeam fell upon that very spot alone.

Remember what you know.

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Why should I praise Him? Let me count the reasons…

(Shepherd-related biblical reasons to praise my Savior)

704 – Because He not only saves, but also shepherds His people… (Psa 28:9)

705 – He bears them up forever (Psa 28:9),

706 – and leads them as a flock (Psa 80:1).

707 – Because feeds His flock like a shepherd;

708 – He gathers the lambs in His arms,

709 – and carries them in His bosom,

710 – and gently leads those who are with young (Isa 40:11).

711 – Because He, the One Shepherd, gives words of truest wisdom (like goads, like well-driven nails) (Ecc 12:11).

712 – Because He knows His sheep, who follow Him (Jhn 10:27).

713 – Because He gives them eternal life, so they shall never perish,

714 – and no one can snatch any of them out of His hand (Jhn 10:28)

715 – That’s because His Father, who has given them to Him, is greater than all,

716 – and no one can snatch them out of His hand (Jh 10:29).

717 – Because He is against the earthly under-shepherds who allow His flock to become a prey,

718 – and against those who instead feed themselves on the flock

719 – Because He makes such worthless shepherds answerable to Him.

720 – and will take the flocks away from them, that they feed on them no more (Eze 34:8,10).

721 – Because, as a shepherd seeks out his flock, He Himself will search for His sheep and seek them out… (Eze 34:11).

722 – He will deliver them from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and dark day (Eze 34:12).

723 – Because He brings out His flock, Israel, from the peoples and gathers them from the countries, and brings them to their own land;

724 – He feeds them on the mountains, in the valleys and in all the inhabited places of the country (Eze 34:12-13).

725 – Because He feeds—and will feed—them in good pasture, on the high mountains of Israel, where they shall lie down in a good fold and feed in rich pasture (Eze 34:14).

726 – …as He promises, “I will feed My flock, and I will make them lie down” (Eze 34:15), so He does.

727 – Because He seeks the lost and rescues those driven away,

728 – He binds up the broken

729 – and strengthens the sick;

730 -but He will destroy the fat and strong “sheep” who take advantage of and oppress the weak and helpless—and will feed them with judgment (Eze 34:16,18-22).

731 – Because He will judge between sheep and sheep,

732 – and between rams and goats Eze 34:17.

733 – Because He will establish One Shepherd over them, who shall feed them (Eze 34:23-24)

734 – Because in Passion Week He painfully fulfilled the prophecy, “Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, Against the Man who is My Companion,” Says the LORD of hosts. “Strike the Shepherd, And the sheep will be scattered (Zec 13:7; Mat 26:31; Mar 14:27).

735 – Because when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd (Mat 9:36; Mar 6:34).

736 – Because when all the nations are gathered before Him, He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides sheep from goats (Mat 25:32).

737 – Because He is the shepherd of the sheep who enters by the door (Jhn 10:2).

738 – Because He is the good shepherd Who gives His life for the sheep (Jhn 10:11).

739 – Because He is not a mere hireling, who sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees—because He owns the sheep, (Jhn 10:12)            .

740- Because as The Good Shepherd He knows His sheep, and is known by them (Jhn 10:14).

741 – Because He brings in other sheep not of the original fold, who will hear His voice, and He will make them one flock and be their one shepherd (Jhn 10:16).

742 – Because although we were like sheep going astray, we can return to the Him…

743 – because He is  the Shepherd and Overseer of our souls (1Pe 2:25).

744 – Because when He, as Chief Shepherd, appears, we will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away (1Pe 5:4).

745 – Because He is the Lamb in the midst of the throne who will shepherd  and lead His own to living fountains of waters…

746 – And He will wipe away every tear from their eyes (Rev 7:17)…

747 – Because He makes them fruitful and increase (Jer 23:3).

748 – Because He bids us, “Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Luk 12:32).

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The back door flies open. Husband’s head pokes in, eyes wide.  “They’re gone!”

“What’s gone?” I ask.

“The sheep! I called and they didn’t come.” He’s panting. “I walked out to get them, and they weren’t there!  And the outside gate is standing open!”

I gawk a moment, then hustle into hat, coat, snow boots, gloves; Husband calls to Son upstairs, home from college, to grab wraps and join us, then off we huff and puff (at least I do, asthmatic) to middle pasture for sheep-tracking clues. 

We suspect sabotage… sheep-napping… diabolical meanness.  But investigation rules all that out.  In the snow around the open gate, no human prints.  No tire marks. Husband jiggles the gate to pull it wider, and we see the problem.  Frost has heaved the fencepost and popped the gate latch.

We study the ground. Hoof-print confusion mills through the gate and beyond.  And the whole way up and down the hill, no sight of sheep.

My first thought: the road out front!  I picture three fluff-heads placidly nibbling edge weeds—and a roaring truck sweeping an S curve and plowing them down! 

So I look there first.  No, all hoof-prints lead up the state preserve’s rough trail.

Maybe tracking them will be easy. Their prints cut distinctly into the white. But soon the trail displays too many hoof prints (deer?), too many pathways.

And other tracks—doglike!  Wild dogs?  Coyotes?   Images flood my mind: of winter-hungry predator pack, teeth bared, snarling, circling three terrified sheep.

I press forward with everything in me, yet, asthma-gasping, lag further behind.

Up the hill (mountain?) the land drops at left, a dizzying cliff. I envision three sheep slipping over, plummeting down. (For when one does something stupid, the others follow.) I keep peering over the edge as I climb, looking for tracks, skid marks, or (“Please, no!”) fleecy bundles lying at bottom.

Now snow starts sprinkling. Now it comes faster, heavier, threatening to hide all tracks. And daylight’s fading.  Husband up ahead picks up his  pace. So do I, urgency pushing me, making me sweat, even in ice air. I wheeze, hold my chest, finally pause for oxygen.

“Enough!”  I think.  I must stop.

Standing here panting, I contemplate the Good Shepherd willing to give His life for His sheep – because I’m not!

I love these foolish woolies, fear for them with near panic, even now am praying silently, fervently, for their safe return, but honestly I have no willingness to collapse out here in the wilds, night coming on!

I resume hiking, dragging, watch Husband disappear over the rise, now hear Son’s easy stride approaching from below. Relentless, my climb, but slower and slower.

A shout from the hilltop! “I found them!  They’re here!”

Heartened, I speed up, Son now near at hand.

We see her emerging from among trees, step-step, step-step: lead sheep Susie! The rest lope behind. Choosing to cooperate? Tired of scrubby woods? Homesick?

But, either spooked or deciding to play, with a twist and a gallop, she bounces away, back into woods from which Husband just coaxed her.  And, of course, the other two follow.

Time for the sheep dogs! But we have none. So we are the sheepdogs!  (And Border collie stamina I hardly possess today!)   Husband (head sheep dog) barks out a plan: he and I will make a two-pronged drive, urging sheep out of the woods, back downhill, before snow-night closes in, while Son stands guard near the trail’s base, to block that means of escape. 

I climb feebly, helping chase. They skitter, here, there, till finally our herding works, sort of… The flock heads off-path toward the now-visible barn… plunging through our most burr-infested field!

“Oh, their wool,” I moan, trailing behind them, almost feeling those stickers piercing my hands at my spinning wheel.

Oh well, they are heading home—and happily enough, bouncing blithely ahead!

…

So, did they ever intend to go straying?

I doubt it. So easy to step, unknowing, past boundaries, focusing earthward on what’s ahead…

This just reminds me of… me. Open gates. Earthbound focus… till suddenly I awake to how far and away over the hill, off the path, and into the woods I’ve strayed!  Amazed I wonder, “How’d I get here?” and more importantly, “How do I get back where I belong?”

I need no howling coyote pack or slip-and-plummet down deep, dark ravine to wake me. Coldness, darkness, replaces the love and joy and peace I left somewhere behind.

I bleat, and there He is, to rescue me—tireless, patient, loving.  Even then, too often, I still act ovine: skitter off in fear of judgment, shamed by unworthiness—plow through thorny pastures, ruining further what I still have to offer—when I only needed to follow Him home.

Will I ever get so I don’t go off wandering?  I wish! And pray. But, as shepherds can testify, sheep are stupid, and God’s word says I’m one of His sheep.

I’m learning, however, if I stay near my Good Shepherd, keep him always in view, I won’t likely drift.

Even so, if I do look up and find to my horror I’ve done it again, He will come again to my rescue—I need only bleat out to Him, till I catch sight of His presence (which was there all along), then race back to the shelter of His love.

[Edited, from archives]

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Another oddity. It happened years later, both astonishing me and underlining the truth of sheep loyalty to shepherd like our first flock-of-three displayed (to their original shepherd(ess), not to us!)

Through the years and the expanding of flock came little ones, raised from wee lamblings on our pastures, in the safety of our pens and feedings. Entirely different was their attitude to us, their response to our presence.

These sheep were truly ours, heart and soul. When we appeared, they came running — toward us, never away like those first sheep! So compliant and sweet. They couldn’t get close enough to the shepherd. He was their heart’s delight. 

But the day came (still more years later), when they had to go elsewhere. Ministries called that excluded meadows of grazing ovines. And rather than sell them at auction, we gave them away to a stable family with sheep and pastures, people who would appreciate their fine wool and care for the aging woolies no one else would want. (That was the deal: take the oldies and care for them in their retirement, and you get the younger ones with the fine merino wool, and might I get first dibs at buying some of it for spinning?)

Then one morning I “bumped into him,” at a breakfast restaurant. I wouldn’t have even known who he was if my breakfast companion hadn’t introduced him. Then his name rang loud memory. It was his wife that I had known, had only fleetingly seen him the day they came to get the sheep and take them all to their pastures.

So of course I asked. How were the sheep?

He apologized. “We couldn’t keep them,” he said. “They kept jumping fence!”

“The big ones,” I said, assuming.

“No, the merinos,” he answered. In fact, they were even a bad influence on his own normally reliable sheep! So off they went to other owners with wider fields and more secure fences, too strong and high to jump.

I was aghast! It couldn’t be! Our sweet compliant little Hannah and Flossie, and those other merinos? 

But yes, it was true. They knew their shepherd and his voice. They’d followed him. But they would have no part with “strangers” (John 10:5,27). Just like our first flock of three.

“Ask the beasts and they will teach you” (Job 12:7).

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