lovely
Member
We came home from worship and there were chicken feathers all over our yard...red, white, and black ones, just everywhere. I walked up to my barn, and three of my beautiful mallard ducks were dead. Then, I found dead chickens all over my barn, and the back field. My husband had to ring the necks of the chickens that were suffering. We lost a large part of our flock of chickens, nearly half, and four of our ducks. The pack of dogs that did this were still in our barn, trying to get our rabbits when I walked up there. They got a little aggressive with me, so I had to retreat to the house. My husband ended up taking a BA gun back up and shooting at them...they ran off. We were both pretty upset. Well, then drove around town to find the dogs. Our goal was to just let the owner's know what had happened, and ask them to make sure their dogs stayed on their own property. It didn't take us long to find the culprits at an old cattle farmer's home down the road. As we pulled up, all the dogs were there laying on the porch. I knew the farmer from some help he had given me with my sheep a few years ago. Anyway, we explained things to him, and he sure was sorry, and said he would watch the dogs better. We thanked him.
Then, he proceeded to tell us that he had lost his wife of 60+ years, and his only living son. (both within the past year) This man, at age 86, has outlived his wife, and children, and recently suffered two strokes. He has a few grandsons, but that have robbed him, and now he sits alone there with is old cattle dogs. We felt so sad for him. He shared with us how he was getting rid of his belongings, and had long since gotten rid of his guns because he had some very low thoughts at one point...our hearts just broke listening to him, and the frustration over the chicken incident was replaced with compassion for our neighbor. We told him that we were so sorry for his loss, and that we would love to have him over for dinner, and to come by for a visit when he could. He seemed genuinely grateful, and thanked us for visiting him. He saw us coming by as a visit, even though he was very sorry for our chickens he was glad for the company. He told us that if we see his dogs at our house again to shoot them, but that he didn't have the heart to do it himself, and couldn't anyway since he didn't even have a shell on his place anymore. As we drove away, our older son asked if he could just use the BA gun to scare the dogs off if they happen to come over again, because he couldn't shoot that older man's dogs with a clean conscience.
We all agreed, and we all discussed how sorrowful it is that there are people so lonely in the world that the only companions that have are dogs. It was a convicting day for us in many ways, and we went away resolved to be more hospitable to those around us, and mostly to him now that we are aware of his needs. I am going to make him some iced tea, bake some banana bread, and boil about 18 eggs tomorrow, and then the children and I are going to take them over so that he has something to eat around the house. I noticed that he had dropped quite a bit of weight since I last saw him, and had some empty whiskey bottles on his porch. Please pray for me as I go, and ask that the Holy Spirit give me an opportunity to foster a relationship with him that could be a witness for Christ. Funny how a trail of chicken feathers led us to our neighbor today, and to an opportunity to be hospitable, and share the Gospel. We are still sad about our chickens, and ducks, but sadder still that our neighbor has been suffering so much. The Lord bless all of you today.
Then, he proceeded to tell us that he had lost his wife of 60+ years, and his only living son. (both within the past year) This man, at age 86, has outlived his wife, and children, and recently suffered two strokes. He has a few grandsons, but that have robbed him, and now he sits alone there with is old cattle dogs. We felt so sad for him. He shared with us how he was getting rid of his belongings, and had long since gotten rid of his guns because he had some very low thoughts at one point...our hearts just broke listening to him, and the frustration over the chicken incident was replaced with compassion for our neighbor. We told him that we were so sorry for his loss, and that we would love to have him over for dinner, and to come by for a visit when he could. He seemed genuinely grateful, and thanked us for visiting him. He saw us coming by as a visit, even though he was very sorry for our chickens he was glad for the company. He told us that if we see his dogs at our house again to shoot them, but that he didn't have the heart to do it himself, and couldn't anyway since he didn't even have a shell on his place anymore. As we drove away, our older son asked if he could just use the BA gun to scare the dogs off if they happen to come over again, because he couldn't shoot that older man's dogs with a clean conscience.
We all agreed, and we all discussed how sorrowful it is that there are people so lonely in the world that the only companions that have are dogs. It was a convicting day for us in many ways, and we went away resolved to be more hospitable to those around us, and mostly to him now that we are aware of his needs. I am going to make him some iced tea, bake some banana bread, and boil about 18 eggs tomorrow, and then the children and I are going to take them over so that he has something to eat around the house. I noticed that he had dropped quite a bit of weight since I last saw him, and had some empty whiskey bottles on his porch. Please pray for me as I go, and ask that the Holy Spirit give me an opportunity to foster a relationship with him that could be a witness for Christ. Funny how a trail of chicken feathers led us to our neighbor today, and to an opportunity to be hospitable, and share the Gospel. We are still sad about our chickens, and ducks, but sadder still that our neighbor has been suffering so much. The Lord bless all of you today.
