Pretty COOL

Two weeks ago I was at the grocery store buying ground beef. I noticed that the country of origin label (COOL) said, "Product of Canada, US, or Mexico." Huh? I buy a pound of ground beef, and the best they can do is tell me it comes from one of three countries?! Not cool!

Luckily, we had already planned to visit our ranch friends over Christmas break and buy a 1/4 side of beef from them. Now, not only do we know the country of origin, we know the ranch and the family of origin! We were there when the calves were branded in the spring. We know our meat wasn't pumped up with hormones. Our friends are letting us pay on the installment plan. And their kids played with my kids for hours the day we drove there to pick up the beef. Pretty cool!

(Two happy girls: our daughter, and their younger daughter on the right, after spending time in heaven - AKA with the horses.)

Branded

My daughter and I went to our friends' ranch for their annual calf branding on Saturday. The calves waiting to be branded huddled together in the farthest reaches of their pen as the cowboys rode in atop their horses. The calves shied away, but the skillful ranchers were able to deftly (and magically) get their ropes around the calves' back legs and pull them out of the pen. Some calves immediately rolled over on their backs, which made the dragging out much easier on them. Others fought it with all their strength. They pawed the ground in futility with their front legs until finally they, too, succumbed and were flipped over on their backs.

Once on the ground, the calf was suddenly held down by a couple of men. A team darted in for the shot, the brand, cauterizing of the horns, pouring of the liquid that will keep the flies off the tender skin at the brand site, (and castration, for the males). It's usually over before the calf knows what hit them. They are patted on the rump and sent off with the others to wait until they can be released to pair up with their mothers.

I got to thinking that this is a lot like God calling us to Himself. Of course, He's the skillful one atop the horse. We're the ones cowering in the corner, unsure of that Presence in our midst. He magically catches us and takes us to a place where at first glance, there is lots of pain. But it turns out that the pain is for our own good. It is a part of life, and it is what helps us to thrive. And although it appears we are released to resume our old life, we are forever changed.

We are His.

(photo taken at the Saturday branding)

Let Them Have Dominion

Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." Genesis 1: 26

The kids and I drove to a friends' ranch this past Saturday for the branding of this spring's new calves. Many family and fellow rancher friends came to help, followed by a big lunch provided by the host family. This will be repeated in the weeks to come, as each rancher makes the rounds helping his fellow "neighbors."

As we returned from the branding pasture, two horses in a different pasture adjacent to the house ran alongside the fence, "welcoming" us back to the ranch house as we drove down the lane. They were almost like little children excitedly waiting for Daddy to come home at the end of a long day. Then later, I was able to coax a motherless calf to allow me to pet her. She was a little wary, but she stayed fairly still and let me walk slowly up to her and pet her.

These animals, who are not pets in the traditional sense, have the interest and desire to relate to humans, even sometimes in spite of their instincts to the contrary. It reminds me a little of Isaiah 11:6,

The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb,
The leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
The calf and the young lion and the fatling together;
And a little child shall lead them.