It's All In The Moo

One has to laugh when they can hear a cow "moo" and realize it doesn't sound like one of their cows... Especially when that person is me who has minimal experience with cattle in general and can't possibly recognize a difference in one "moo"from another.  Maybe it wasn't the sound that was different, but the timing of the "moo" itself that was out of place and not something of the norm.  This I expect is something my ears could detect as being different.

We have cows.  If you've read any of my posts you know that already.  I've had this bunch long enough that I'm pretty familiar with their behaviors.  So, when we heard a randomly loud, blasting "MOO" coming from the backyard as we were getting ready for church Sunday morning, I knew something had to be amiss.

I made my way to our bedroom window, looked out, and low and behold there was the biggest cow I'd ever been that close to.  She put our big girls to shame in size.  Or, maybe it was her color that made her look bigger, a dark, rich, reddish brown, and her HORNS!  Yes, nice big scary looking horns!  LOL   No, as I think back, she really was a lot bigger than our girls.  I took in the scene, counting, one - two - three - four - five - six.....yes, six extra cows traipsing through my backyard, walking along our fences.  She was the biggest, and there was another good size one who was rather pretty and had a speckled coat.  Behind her were four others in random sizes, but definitely all babies.

I hurried to tell Johnny and we decided to call our neighbor as they had a big red one who I remembered to be similar looking.  At this point, Johnny had not laid eyes on our surprise visitors.  Maybe the neighbors' big red one is actually a bull if I think about it now, but either way, they did not belong to them.  As I hung up the phone with neighbor #1, the biggest cow was sniffing and smelling Caleb's swing-set.  I swear, she looked way too interested in the wooden contraption.  Finally, she went on around the garage to the furthest part of the back yard.  Neighbor #1 was able to recommended calling a second neighbor, who was able to tell me who they thought the cattle belonged to.

The third neighbor?  Ummmm, yeah, you guessed it.  Not home.  I left a rambling message and hung up.

I will chuckle about this for a long time.  There went my hubby, out the front door in his Sunday dress, complete with neck brace, chasing down cows and trying to get them out of our yard.  We have a small pile of hay to last our cows hopefully another month.  Six extra mouths could do some damage to our little pile of hay.

By this time, the big red one with the horns was already in the street, "mooing" away as though she was trying to call the younger bunch to follow her.  When I asked, Johnny said cows didn't typically do that, but I'm still convinced she was trying to round up her brood and get them home.   I think it was the way she was standing at the end of our driveway, backside to the street, looking in the direction of the wayward souls still in our yard, and, well, "mooing."  Loudly.

How many times have you stood at the end of a grocery aisle, or at your car at the park with the kids still swinging away, hollering out to them - "hey, didn't I say it was time to go??!!"   I don't know, but this bossy mom recognized the body language of another bossy mom, even if she was of the 4-legged sort.  LOL

So, big red "baby-sitting mama," as Johnny called her, was trying to lead her bunch home, but those still in the yard were confused and were following her from our side of the fence.   Needless to say, Johnny has enough experience for all of us and rounded up the cows, shooing them out of the yard without a problem.  I still giggle to myself as I replay it in my mind the scene of him out in the middle of our yard, arms raised, hollering, "yah! yah!"....

Life is the country is oh, so sweet and you never know when something unexpected will pop up and throw a new spin on your day...bringing joy, and sometimes chaos with it.  You can stress and worry about the unexpected, or you can laugh and find joy in the spontaneous events God puts in front of you.

On that day, I laughed and found joy in a bunch of cows that were out wandering.  Honestly, my heart tells me they wanted to just go home.  I also found comfort in the fact that even "baby-sitting-mama-cows" sometimes have trouble keeping control of their young'n's....

And lastly, I find comfort in knowing that my God is there to offer me peace and joy, or maybe something as simple as a feeling of calmness.  I only need to reach out to Him to find it.  God's word is full of exactly what we need and will provide all our needs....

All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.  2 Timothy 3:16-17


Walking with the King,