The Good Shepherd
“I need you to pray right now.” Those are the first words I heard when I answered Andy’s call. Followed by a brief explanation that all 5 of the Jacob sheep he had picked up from a SC farm were now running in and out of 70mph traffic on i95.
Apparently, the trailer door came undone right after a brief potty break after 2.5 hours into the drive home. So, someone flagged him down to tell him the trailer door was swinging open and when he pulled over, the sheep jumped out. All of them. Into oncoming traffic.
So, I gathered our 3 children (ages 5, 3, & 1) and we hit our knees and I prayed: ‘God, please keep daddy safe on the road. Please help him get the sheep back on the trailer. Please keep him safe. Please protect him.’ Over and over and over because that’s all I could think to pray. Then, I text a dozen women in a few different group messages and asked them to PLEASE PRAY!
They did and they asked others to pray. There were different groups from different churches in different parts of the country praying for Andy and his desperate and extremely dangerous situation. Our friends came to help. Strangers stopped to help. For almost 4 hours they worked to recover the sheep. The traffic didn’t stop. Police never showed up. But, they persevered and people kept praying.
It’s an absolute and total miracle that Andy came home with all 5 live sheep. It’s amazing that no accidents happened during one of the 15+ times that the small flock ran in front of a semi truck or a family vehicle. It’s wondrous that none of our dear friends or their neighbors or the strangers that stopped to give a hand were hit or killed by a swerving vehicle on the side of the interstate. It’s an honor knowing that there are people in our lives that will stop what they are doing to come to our rescue and to pray for our needs.
Even though this incident happened over a week ago and Andy has already processed a bit of it on the blog at www.mccartneyfarm.com and our friends have heard the story multiple times, I’m still in awe. I’m thankful that Andy came home that night. I’m thankful that we got to shear 2 of those sheep the following day. I’m thankful that they are all acclimating to their new home here on Family Tree Farm. I’m thankful for our friends and family and friends who are like family that came to our aid and most of all I’m thankful to The Good Shepherd for watching over all of His sheep.
XO.
