I haven’t had many jobs, so it is pretty bold of me to make that claim, but I believe it is true with all my heart. Here is the quick backstory.

I started as a dishwasher at the age of 16, the only manual labor job I had before the farm. I graduated high school early, moved up to Kansas City at 17, and worked as a Sales Representative for Intel. I held that job for a year when I started my career as a Software Developer for Bartlett Grain when I was 19. After that, I moved from place to place and began a software consulting firm with my friend John at 23. I have been writing software and helping with marketing efforts for various companies since then. During this time, I became a Christian and have given my life to Christ since 2007. During that time, I would read the parables associated with labor and could never draw a good line between writing code and sowing seeds.

Honey, Let’s Start a Farm

In 2021, after the COVID pandemic, we decided to buy the land and start a farm with goats and chickens. From day one, God spoke through scripture and regularly changed my life through our experiences on the farm.  

Nearly every year since I have been a Christian, I walk through the Daily Bible. When meditating on scripture as a whole, you connect the books and start to grasp the big topics at a deeper level. One of the first places I began to better understand was the sacrifice of the best male of the flock. The strength of your flock is not based on the best male in most scenarios. If you are selling IV or prize livestock, it might be. Still, for the average farmer raising dairy, cultivating land, or selling livestock for meat, it is all about the mommas.  

Having a great line requires good mommas. Raising babies is a huge part of the process, but between the two sexes, the momma is busy the whole time during pregnancy, so the dad can be exposed to most of the herd. When babies are born, there is far more excitement with females than there is for males. We find in most scenarios that once you have a good group of intact (non-castrated) males, the extras get castrated so they can continue their lives with the herd for their purpose.

This week has been the start of our birthing season. We are expecting 10 mommas to give birth, and as of this morning, we have had 5 births and 12 babies. Little did we know two nights ago that God was going to teach us a new lesson from scripture.

Luke 15: 1-7, The Parable of the Lost Sheep

Now, the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” So he told them this parable: “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

Our Little Lost Goat

Since I still consider us new at farming, we do things more like pet owners than lifelong farmers. When babies are born, we immediately move them to their own birthing area, put an instant streamable camera on them, and watch them like hawks for the first few days. Two nights ago, we watched Charlotte and her three babies, and I noticed one of them having their heads out of the cage through the panel. Typically, this is all ok as their bodies are more prominent than their heads, and they don’t have horns to get stuck. I went on watching TV with the family and enjoyed the evening. Before we went to bed, I rechecked the cameras and noticed there were only 2 babies in with Charlotte, and the one who stuck her head through the panel was missing. I jumped up and shouted, “Michelle, we have to go to the farm, I think a baby is missing!”

We jumped in the truck and headed the seven minutes to the farm, but it had been an hour since I last checked, so the baby could have been anywhere by that point. My special skill is to process the negative way before the positive, but my thoughts went to that stupid raccoon that was breaking into the barn, the coyotes that have been pushed out of their homes with the recent developments, and all the owls we hear in the evening. I was confident the baby was dead by that point. However, I always have an ounce of hope that I am wrong.

Michelle and I grab the flashlights and start the search party when we arrive. We check nearly every possible area individually and together with no luck. After an hour of searching, our hope is lost, and we decide it is not likely to be a good outcome. If there is any chance, we will check in the light of the morning.

The next morning, I checked the cameras when we got up with no luck. Michelle and the kids went out to do chores and took some time to rewalk the steps we did the night before with no luck. I asked Michelle if she found her, and with a heavy heart, she said no. That was it, the baby was gone, and I had failed again as a farmer. During this time, I prayed a lot with the theme of knowing God does great things, and if it is His will, please let this baby be found.

I know in my soul God is far greater than my faith, but my mind tends to head the other direction. Being sure the baby was gone, that afternoon, we had chats about how nature works and that we eat many animals during our day, and so do other animals. Never fully convinced, and the parable mentioned earlier kept running through my head along with “Oh ye of little faith.” For some reason, I go all King James when I punish myself with scripture.

I Still Have a Heavy Heart

Last night, we headed out for chores. Michelle said to me, “I still have a heavy heart.”

I said, “Cause of the baby?”

She said, “Yeah.”

I replied, “Me too.”

When we pulled up, I needed to plug the water pump into the truck to load the water tanks before the weekend heat returned, and the kids and Michelle went to check on the other babies and mommas.  

When I walked over to the tank, I heard a faint cry and assumed it was one of the other babies, as they were just across the dirt road. Something inside of me said, “No, look for that baby again.” I stopped what I was doing and started looking. I walked around the tanks, but nothing. I checked around a brush pile, but again, nothing. Then I heard the cry again and went behind the tractor and looked under.  

Laying down next to the tire was that little baby. I yelled, “Michelle, come here quick!” while pulling the baby out. She thought I had found the dead body, but when she heard and saw the baby, we all rejoiced. I handed the baby to her and quickly went to the barn and started praying and crying. So many emotions and so much gratitude for God’s protection and care for this lost baby goat. Having the second day of your life spent away from your momma, exposed to all predators, and still having the energy to scream to me shows me this baby is going places.  

Unfortunately, the time away from the mom was long, and Charlotte rejected her when we tried to reunite them. We have a lot of mommas we can get milk from, so this one came home with us. We will bottle-feed her until we can reintegrate her with the other babies after they are separated to join the milking herd. Tiny diapers and lots of love are in store for this little one.

The Greatest Call to Action

However, this passage I mentioned was a parable, and even though I now have an experience of leaving the rest to look for the missing one, that is not what Jesus was trying to teach. God is looking for the lost sheep that belongs to Him. God wants our help as Christians in this pursuit. Just like my missing baby, this is on His mind, and it isn’t going away.  

As the saved ones, we know what salvation means to our eternal life and lives while we are here on the earth. I know I have lost a lot of the desire over the years to be a part of the search party and have lost hope for some of those non-Christians in my life and on the fringes, but it hasn’t for Him. Join God in the search for His lost sheep, grab your light of all the grace and wonders God has done in your life, and share it with those who don’t have that light. The more lost we find, the stronger the search party will be in finding the others.