My voice

 In West Africa we had Moscovy ducks which are very hardy ducks that could survive the harsh arid climate. Living on the farm here in Georgia for the past 12 years, we have enjoyed having Moscovy ducks. We have two small ponds, and the ducks love the habitat. However, for ten years I had to buy new ducks each year because of predators. A hawk has consumed about 3 dozen over the years, but the biggest varmints are the raccoons, possums, and foxes. On really cold nights when the ponds freeze over, the varmints can consume a large portion of my duck population. 

The biggest feasting for the predators is when baby ducks are hatched, and one single predator can eat its way through a dozen ducklings. Sorry for all you animal lovers who don’t like to hear stories like this, but I am just stating farm facts. I got tired of losing baby ducks and then having to buy ducks to replenish my flock, so I decided to start looking for the duck nests and then trying to capture the mother duck and the ducklings and place them in a secure varmint-proof pen. 

Late last winter (2019) I had a male and four female ducks to survive the predators. I was able to raise a dozen ducklings to maturity. At the end of this winter, I had nine ducks to survive—partly because some of those I raised spent the night up near our barn and guardian dog and not on the pond. So far this year I have 31 ducklings in three separate pens.  I am having to be mom to ten of them because their mother did not cooperate to raise them as a captive in a pen. 

The ducklings are naturally afraid of people, and when I am near their pen they run away and cower in the farthest corner of their pen. I discovered yesterday that when I am near their pen, if I talk to myself, it has a calming effect on the ducks. It is almost like they know my voice. I am not sure about ducks, but my goats and cows definitely know my voice.

A few years ago we were having a board meeting at my colleague’s farm south of Atlanta. During the meeting, we took a break and walked out to the fence line behind my colleague’s home because he wanted to show his cows to our board member friends. Unfortunately, the cows were nowhere near us. It was a hot muggy July day, so he said that the cows were probably down in the swampy area keeping cool. He said we would have to wait and come back later when the temperature was cooler to see the cows. 

My cows have made their annual “conjugal visit” to this farm every year for the past 14 years, so at the time our board meeting was going on, my cows were mixed in with my colleague’s cows. I said to the group that I could call the cows up to the fence. They looked at one another and one of them said, “Oh sure” in kind of a smart aleck tone. Then the group had a good laugh at me, but I was undeterred and all of a sudden I let out a yell that startled the group. After their shock, they all had another laugh. Nothing happened, so I let out another yell, and we heard the faint moos of a cow. The sounds grew louder, and after a couple of minutes the large herd of cows led by my alpha cow, named Jolene, came running right up to the fence where we stood. 

All my board friends just stood there with their mouths open! I just said to them, ”My cows know my voice and they come when I call them.” A fellow board member from Australia said, “Indeed they do old chap.” 

Today I read John 10.  Verse 27 says, “My sheep hear my voice... and they come.” I had a phone conversation with a friend this morning about the biblical elder role. Foremost among the qualifications outlined in the Bible is that an elder is a shepherd. The role of the elder is to smell like the sheep that he leads. How does that happen? By living among those sheep and sharing life with them. One of the things that I miss most during this shelter-in-place season is being around other sheep. I miss my family, my friends, my fellow church members. I miss sharing life with them. 

Zoom is good, but it is a pitiful substitute for shaking hands, sharing hugs, and just being close to family and friends. Thank you, Lord, for this season, for it has taught us much about what we enjoy in life and how little we have thanked you and praised you for those opportunities to share life with our family and friends.