Some years ago when my grandson, James, was about 6 years old (abt July 4th 1998), we were invited to Wisconsin to visit with some friends who had a farm in southern Wisconsin.  The *Karen was a friend whom we'd met on an eMail support list for children with special needs. While there, James experienced some really neat things.  Things like eating teal (bluish-green) eggs from the Araucana hens on the farm.  He'd also gotten to eat turkey eggs, and for a little boy, that makes quite a meal. He was able to help in cleaning the stalls of the horses, and collect eggs, and so many other things of which so many children only get to dream... One day he came running into the house all excited and we couldn't figure out what he was trying to say.  As we steppped outside, we discovered that *Karen's two goats had gone mountain climbing...   on their car. One standing on the hood and the other on the roof. I suppose the worst part of the stay, actually the only difficult part, was staying in the old camper they had for us.  It was not air-conditioned, and the temperatures were daily over 100 deg F., which was unusual for this area of the country. But none of that is what I'm supposed to be writing this experience about.  So I'll get to that right now. One morning, just after breakfast, James came running into the house, as he did so many times on that farm, and telling me to "COME HERE!  YOU GOTTA SEE THIS!" I'd asked him several times where he wanted me to go and he just kept excitedly saying, "COME ON!!   YOU JUST GOTTA SEE THIS!!! So I did.  As we crossed the barnyard toward the barn, he was tugging and pulling on my arm.  I think it's now two inches longer from that exercise.  The entire way I was asking why I was being dragged by the hand across the barnyard and why it was making him so excited...    I was forced to dodge all sorts of obstacles, some of which I dare not describe. As we drew closer, he let go of my hand and ran to the dutch style barn door, opened it and ran through and he vanished into the darkness of the inside. As I approached the door, James suddenly came bounding back out through the door almost screaming, "PAPPY!  WE'RE GOING TO MILK A COW!" Well now I was starting to feel the anticipation within myself.  As I stepped from the bright sunlight and through the door, James ran to about 10 feet before me and pointed toward a large dark shape, standing there in the darkness.  "THERE!" He exclaimed, "We're going to milk THAT!" I saw before me, in the partial darkness, the shape of a rather large bovine creature.  My eyes were still trying to adjust to the very dim light in the barn...    As my eyes grew more accustomed to the light, I saw before me a large black bovine animal. I looked a bit closer and noticed something was very wrong.  "James'" I said, "I don't think we're going to milk that." "Oh yes!" he exclaimed, "*Karen said we're going to milk THAT." Again, I told him, "James, I really don't think *Karen wants to milk that." "Pappy," he countered, "*Karen said we're going to milk the cow in the barn.  There it is!  We're going to milk it." Finally, as I was nearly giggling aloud, I asked, "James, if you're going to milk that, tell me something;   where's the faucets??" He walked right up to a few feet from the animal, bent down and peered under...   Then he quietly stood up with a very puzzled look on his face.  "There isn't any." He said. "Then," I asked, "do you think we can really milk that?  It's a bull." Knowing that *Karen said he was going to milk SOMEthing in the barn, he very slowly walked around the bull, watching it cautiously.  As he got past the bull's nose, he got a glimpse of the other side of the barn and suddenly, his little eyes lit up and as he excitedly jumped into the air, he squealed, "THERE IS IS, PAPPY!!!  THERE IT IS!!!  THAT's what we're going to milk!!" As I'd stepped around the other end of the bull, there in a stall on the other side of the barn stood a cow...   faucets and all. Sure enough, James, Pappy, and Grandmaw got to have a chance at milking a cow for the first time, and it was quite an experience, and a good learning experience for James. Looking back at this experience, I realized clearly that in life many things in life will look good, and appear like what we're expecting. There will seem to be a great normalcy or beauty about people or situations, but it might not be what we are really expecting.  or even wanting. A situation might arise that seems like so much fun, but could get us into trouble.  A person may seem so attractive, so right...   but what is the spirit like?  We know what they are like superficially (on the outside), but what is that individual like inside.  How do they think?  Are they considerate and caring of others?  Are they unselfish, gentle, joyful, and sweet? We must be sure of what we're really looking into, BEFORE milking a cow.  We must know what's involved, and consider all the ramifications and details, and what might arise from that person or situation. We must allow God's wisdom to work through us and let Him be the Shepherd who leads us.  When He is guiding us in our lives, we will be able to have true joy. The next time you are confronted with a situation or individual, don't get too involved until you have pondered the entire situation or gotten to really know what that person is like.  And that takes time. We must never blindly approach what looks like a cow, and try to milk it. As I was sitting here pondering what I've been writing, I was reminded of a time when we were driving along US-412 on a trip to Tulsa, Oklahoma.  Just a few miles east of Springdale, AR., we were passing a pasture.  Along the back fence were some cattle lying in the cool shade;   And James made sure we knew they were there.  In his innocent excitement, he says, "PAPPY!  There's cows laying in that field!" To help James exercise his thinking abilities, I asked, "James, what do you think they are doing back there? "After a moment of what appeared like intense thought about cows 'laying in a field,' he answered, "They're layin' eggs, Pappy...!!" Hmmm...   (grin)   I suppose there's nothing more to say except that: * Name has been changed as permission was not able to be obtained AEAMT Home Our Mission     Our Vision     Tenets of Faith From Us     The Pastor     Contact Us