Beyond Tollesbury is the North Sea...but for us, following the coastline we faced short green grass on the sea wall and reed fronds waving softly in the flood gully at our feet. And sheep. Today we faced a squared walk along the edge of the Blackwater and along the exit path from the village to Old Hall Marsh. Our two teams of two set off into the dull and misty morning and it was as we approached our second sea wall, that Linda and I saw him.
A tall man walking the sea wall with a crook in his hand, he looked about 65 years old. The sheep trotted quietly before him as he uttered his 'Gaa arn' of encouragement. We stood to one side as the sheep slipped down towards us, hesitating in the centre of the path at the sight of us. 'Gaa arn' came again and they passed us as far from us as they could, ewes and lambs leaping over each other to get out of our way. He walked quietly past us as we complimented him on his sheep and said what a pleasure it was to see them. I said "You must enjoy them very much?" "Yes," he replied, smiling,"very much!"
We walked on to meet Gerry and Ann but when we returned, we found him standing at a pen near the farmer's field. It was as if he was waiting for us. I said "Hello again" and he turned and smiled. We commented on how appealing the lambs looked with their mothers in the pen but instead of agreeing, he expessed anxiety about how poorly they were developing and told us that for four day old lambs, they were sickly and weak. We were stunned. I asked him his name and he said it was Peter. He was clearly worried about the animals and, when we offered to pray for him and the problem, was grateful and relieved. We missed an opportunity to pray for him then and there but we prayed as we walked on, quite disturbed by his concern.
We felt he was a sign - I had received a couple of texts when we walked here in February about this land needing a new shepherd - it seemed his appearance could be linked to that. Even tho' that was true, we didn't want to lose the personal sense of connection we felt with Peter and so prayed for him over the next two days. We'd like to go back and find him but time has passed...
As we considered him as a sign, we wondered about the church and its shepherd in this place. His love and concern for the baby lambs which were sickly and underdeveloped seemed symbolic of believers in the church in our land - the more we pondered, the more we found ourselves praying for the church and its foundations here.
Lord, help us to grow into maturity with love, manifesting the fullness of the kingdom of God as we go about our daily business.
A tall man walking the sea wall with a crook in his hand, he looked about 65 years old. The sheep trotted quietly before him as he uttered his 'Gaa arn' of encouragement. We stood to one side as the sheep slipped down towards us, hesitating in the centre of the path at the sight of us. 'Gaa arn' came again and they passed us as far from us as they could, ewes and lambs leaping over each other to get out of our way. He walked quietly past us as we complimented him on his sheep and said what a pleasure it was to see them. I said "You must enjoy them very much?" "Yes," he replied, smiling,"very much!"
We walked on to meet Gerry and Ann but when we returned, we found him standing at a pen near the farmer's field. It was as if he was waiting for us. I said "Hello again" and he turned and smiled. We commented on how appealing the lambs looked with their mothers in the pen but instead of agreeing, he expessed anxiety about how poorly they were developing and told us that for four day old lambs, they were sickly and weak. We were stunned. I asked him his name and he said it was Peter. He was clearly worried about the animals and, when we offered to pray for him and the problem, was grateful and relieved. We missed an opportunity to pray for him then and there but we prayed as we walked on, quite disturbed by his concern.
We felt he was a sign - I had received a couple of texts when we walked here in February about this land needing a new shepherd - it seemed his appearance could be linked to that. Even tho' that was true, we didn't want to lose the personal sense of connection we felt with Peter and so prayed for him over the next two days. We'd like to go back and find him but time has passed...
As we considered him as a sign, we wondered about the church and its shepherd in this place. His love and concern for the baby lambs which were sickly and underdeveloped seemed symbolic of believers in the church in our land - the more we pondered, the more we found ourselves praying for the church and its foundations here.
Lord, help us to grow into maturity with love, manifesting the fullness of the kingdom of God as we go about our daily business.
1 comment:
Great picture when seen on full screen. So natural.
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