As I recall, it was early November We were turning fresh calves out on wheat We had hauled them out and kept them in the pens
The weather was turning cold and the wind was blustery I was going to leave the calves penned overnight and turn them on the wheat the next morning Dad didn’t like turning calves out on an electric fence in the evening He liked to do it in the morning, so we could keep an eye on them all day
That’s when it happened… The gate to the pasture came open And the calves started to walk and then trot out the gate I couldn’t get to it to get it closed
And then the wind began to pick up even more and clouds started to build in the west I knew I had to hurry I got in my pickup and headed to the house I called the boys I told them to get ready We had cattle out
I was going to saddle our horses and hook up the trailer And then swing by the house and pick them up
I knew we didn’t have much time The calves would walk down about a mile of fence line Then they would come to an electric fence I was sure they would walk right through it, and get on the county road And then no telling how far they would go before we could catch up to them
The boys were ready They were about 9 and 10 years old at the time We got out to the field, unloaded the horses, and mounted up And we took off at a lope
And that’s when it started to snow The wind was blowing pretty hard and the flakes were getting bigger and coming down harder We had hardly got to going and Ryan broke a stirrup We didn’t have time to fix it, so I told him to go back to the pickup
Reid and I caught up with the cattle after about ¾ of a mile We got them turned around and started heading them back towards the pens It wasn’t easy because now we were driving them straight into the wind and the snow And the snow had picked up and was coming down pretty hard
We were about a half mile from the pens And Reid started to tell me that he was cold And he started to cry a little And then he told me that “he didn’t know if he could make it.”
That startled me a little I was cold too But I knew we only had a little ways to go I knew it might hurt a bit, but we would be okay
Then I thought to myself “This is probably the coldest Reid has ever been in his life” “He doesn’t know how much he can take” “He doesn’t know how tough he can be”
So, I rode my horse up to Reid’s We turned the horses away from the wind and the snow I put my arm around Reid, and I said a prayer
We turned the horses around and drove the calves back to the pens We had made it through the storm
Job had a good life The Lord was with him But things turned bad He lost his fortune He lost his family He lost his health
Job had thought the Lord had abandoned him But the Lord had not abandoned him He was with him through it all The Lord was with Job through the good and the bad And the Lord addressed Job in the midst of the storm
The storm at sea has troubled the apostles But Jesus is at peace and asleep He rebukes the wind Jesus is always in control During the good and the bad He is with us always
Storms come up in all of our lives They come in different shapes and forms
We know that storms will come That’s why it’s good to prepare If we know we are getting a big snow, we prepare We know we have threats of tornadoes So, we are prepared and know what we will do when we have one
Are we prepared for the storms ahead in our lives? They will come They will hit us out of the blue when we least expect it Are we ready?
Have we built a solid spiritual foundation that can help us get through a storm? Have we helped our children build a foundation on the rock for the storms ahead in their lives? Do we know where to turn? Do our children know where to turn?
Turn to Jesus He is with us always He is with us in the storms of our lives
Turn to him Hold onto him When we hold fast to Jesus, even during the storm We will find hope We will find peace
Mary Mail 