A New Day

How do you celebrate Father's Day when you've been unchilded?

When your own father and both your fathers-in-law are deceased?

There's still one father you can turn to, and that's what the Good Rancher did.

He cast himself into the care of his heavenly father, asking Him to show His love to him on this yet another sad day.

And he was not left unfathered.

The rain sputtered and spattered indecisively throughout the day; nonetheless, the gauge Sunday morning showed 9/10ths of an inch ... 

And by the evening it had quietly crept up to 1.4". 

(I have learnt that tenths matter.) 

He went to check the calf who should have died after having been attacked a couple of weeks ago by what the GR assumes was a coyote: he is recovering slowly but steadily each day, and this Father's day he seemed to have taken a giant leap forward. 

To push his heart to capacity, a beautiful foal was presented to him by Chopper, a horse others had written off as too small and not horse enough. 

Trooper is one of the most spectacular little colts in recent memory. His legs are long - almost as long as his mummy's - and yardstick  straight. He is silky to the touch, like all newborn babies are. His temperament is calm. He loves his mother, who reciprocates one hundredfold.

After church we went out to lunch with a couple of couples, both of whose kids were not close by. The three men talked of ranching and the fathers from the Bible Pastor Walter had mentioned in his Father's Day Quiz just before the sermon. Some of them had had quite a time of it!

After the Church @ Endiang service that evening we had an ice cream social: floats, banana splits, sundaes, waffle cones. Coffee and chatting. Celebrating Dads. 

It's not always easy being a dad these days, Pastor Allan had commented. And yet kids of all ages need good dads more than ever. 

So to the GR and to all those men out there who are dads or who are about to become dads, don't be discouraged; don't lose heart. Your job is to love your kids and trust God for the rest. Keep letting your light shine... 

And happy Father's Day!