In his message on Sunday, our Pastor told the story of a donkey
who would not give up. As I started scrolling through the blogs to choose one for this
week - this was the first I read, made me laugh and thought it appropriate.
, March 1, 2013
"Rejoice greatly, O daughter of
Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king
is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, Humble, and mounted on
a donkey. Even on a colt, the foal of the donkey" (Zech. 9:9)
Hey gang, as a child in the mountains of
Pennsylvania I had a very special friend, Penny, the donkey that pulled the
coal carts out of the coal mine shafts. Penny was blind from her
many trips in and out of sun to utter darkness, so she was dependent on her
human care-takers to get her to the shed where she spent her idle
times. When she was in harness and hooked up to the coal
carts, she was amazing. She could navigate the various shafts without the
help of human hands.
Shortly after we opened Eagle Village a very
good friend called and asked me if we would like to have two ponies. This hit
my hot button. I had been advised by my mentor that when offered a
bucket of dung, do not turn it down because the donor may one day give you the
cow. I found throughout the years that was very sound advice.
After many hours of cutting Poplar Trees and
building fences, the day for delivery of the ponies finally
arrived. When the truck finally backed up to the gate the two
ponies were quick to vacate their prison on wheels. But the surprise of
the day was this long droopy eared burro by the name of Scrapiron that lingered
in the front of the trailer. I believe I could write a book
about this young friend who gained a place in not only my heart and our family,
but the hearts of all the kids who had the privilege of getting to know
him.
As I sit here this morning and recollect the
many stories about this amazing animal, one seems to stand out as a
favorite. We were blessed to receive other gifts of horses and ponies and
learned a great deal about the old adage "Be careful, all gifts are not
what they are cracked up to be.” On one occasion we were blessed to
receive a magnificent animal, Geronimo, but he had one problem, he thought he
was still a stud and riding him was out of the question.
During the months that followed we tried
everything in our repertoire to settle Geronimo down, but with no
success. As a matter of fact, I believe he became even more hyper with
each attempt to make him civil. And then one day an old codger and his
side kick came to trim the horse’s hooves and happened to see Geronimo in one
his finest hours. I was certainly impressed, but not Fuzz. He simply
walked into of the tack room and came out with a halter for both Geronimo and
Scapiron and a lead rope. He tried the two together!
It was an amazing experience over the next
days as I watched the transformation of
Geronimo, not into a docile horse, but one that still provided a challenge for
our more experienced riders. I thought of that experiment many times when we
received a boy who was like Geronimo, a ‘Wild Stallion’.
Soooo, I believe Abba Father has a very special place in His
heart for these long eared docile animals. He could have chosen a fine Arabian
White Stallion for Christ’s entry into Jerusalem as their king, but, instead,
we read in Matthew 21:2-3 that he sent two of His disciples into the city
saying, "Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will
find a donkey tied there and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to Me".
In Revelation we read, "And I saw the heaven opened and behold, a white
horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness
He judges and wages war" (Rev. 19:11). Yes, then He will be on a
white stallion but I would not be surprised if his warriors will be on donkeys.
Blessings,
Gramps
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