Thursday, December 24, 2009

Of Sheep and Shepherds


When I lived in St. Louis, God introduced me to some wonderful Godly women at our church home. The young women were amazing examples of the Proverbs 31 women, and the more mature women were examples of the Titus model of mentoring. Two of those mentors were Barb Lochmann and Donna Hollingsworth.

Barb and Donna were our MOPS mentors, and so much more. On Sundays, you often found them in the nursery, jiggling babies so that a young mom could hear a sermon. On Fridays, they were in MOPS, giving devotions and advice and holding an infant so a mom could grab a bite of food. On Wednesdays, you saw them in Bible study. They held small groups, called "home church", in their houses, and every summer they opened their homes to young women for bible study and fellowship. Truly amazing women with a heart for Jesus and ministry. They were shepherds to the flock that God placed before them.

At the time, I was a periodic columnist for a local newspaper. One December, I had written a column called "All I Want For Christmas is a Sheep", where I highlighted the mission of Heifer International. You can read the column from the archives here:

http://suburbanjournals.stltoday.com/articles/2006/12/19/opinions/sj2tn20061212-1213wcj_opshaper1.ii1.txt

Barb gave a wonderful devotion at our MOPS meeting that month. She brought in her family's creche that was handpainted and handmade in Germany more than one hundred years ago. I remember that she talked about the hurting at the holidays, loved ones out of work or struggling with cancer. She didn't know that my family was dealing with my Dad's cancer at the time. There were tears in my eyes when she spoke of God's love and his gift of a Savior to us all. It was heartwarming.

After she was done, she told me "Mary Rose, I have a sheep for you."

She handed me the most precious sheep that you see in the photo here, one from the flock of her one hundred year old creche. I was so moved, and I told her it was the best present I would get that year. I look at that sheep every day, and remember the Godly woman who gave it to me. It reminds me that there are a lot of sheep out there who need shepherding, and who need to know the love of our Great Shepherd.



I made today's card for the Ways to Use It Challenge to add background stamps to a card. It will be a nice card to send to someone who may need to be reminded of our Shepherd's love.

{recipe: Sheep and Saltbox House and sentiment from The Saltbox Studio, checkerboard background (SU), polka dot background (SU), French Flair background (SU), baja breeze ink and cardstock, old olive ink and cardstock, kiwi kiss cardstock, versafine onyx ink, prisma markers}

Blessings on your Christmas season!

"And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night." Luke 2: 8

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