| Skipping calves
“Forbid that I should walk through Thy beautiful world with unseeing eyes: Forbid that the lure of the market-place should ever entirely steal my heart away from the love of the open acres and the green trees: Forbid that under the low roof of workshop or office or study I should ever forget Thy great overarching sky.”
JOHN BAILLIE
“Forbid that I should ever forget Thy great overarching sky.” When I came across this quote this morning I had to stop and give some thought to my position in life. Many times I find myself directing my feet as I place them one step at a time. Sometimes when I stumble and fall back I find myself putting a little skip in my step to catch up. God’s grace is always there with me holding my hand, never so far ahead that I struggle to catch up. The reason this quote from John Baillie got stuck in my spirit is because many times I am so busy that I fail to take note of the majestic beauty of God’s creation that surrounds my life. It matter not, if I am on some secluded gravel road, in the timber, or standing on a street corner in downtown Kansas City, God’s beauty in the sky alone arches overhead. I take this daily occurrence of God’s created beauty for granted. Oh I have marveled at the combinations of colors in the sunrises and sunsets. I have enjoyed the partly cloudy days with the big puffy white clouds. I even enjoy when the storm clouds roll in and the sky darkens. But most of the time I “walk through Thy beautiful world with unseeing eyes,” too busy being about my own business. Thanks for letting me share this.
Today I finished reading the New American Standard Bible; I think that it is a wonderful translation. It took almost two years to finish. I started with the New Testament and then read the Old Testament. During this time I also have been reading the King James and the New Living Translation. This morning as I finished reading the Book of Malachi, I was drawn to one verse at the very end of the Old Testament. Share this with me:
“But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall.”
(Malachi 4:2 NAS)
This promise of God’s Word reminds me of the first calves that I raised. It was in January of 1986 when I received them. January is not the best time for birthing of calves, but in the dairy industry to keep cows fresh they must have calves that are born on a regular basis. They were only three days old when I received them. I had five altogether. It got extremely cold that January and I had to keep them in the barn in a stall. They needed to be bottle fed and closely attended to for the first few months. I remember when we had a warm spring like day in February, that I turned them out into the calf pen. At first they were reluctant to go outside the stall, but once they got out and the warm sun hit them they began to run and jump and skip about just like the scripture verse describes. Today when I take it one day at a time and give the glory to God for my progress and increase, I receive healing from a hopeless state of body and mind that I call drunk and addicted. Today I skip around just like the calves because I have been set free. I am grateful because God has done for me what I could not do for myself………………JRE  | 
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