Wanted: One Goat

Our daughter, Alannah, wants a goat, a pygmy goat to be exact because they are just so cute. She would also like a cow and a couple of chickens, a sheep or lamb, and a houseful of children, a few more dogs and a partridge in a pear tree. (Actually the partridge was my add on.) She loves to bake and is creative. She cooks, sews, scrapbooks, makes jewelry, grows things and decorates.


 She is not your typical 17 year old girl. She doesn't listen to horrible music. She is respectful towards us, her parents. She is kind. She loves children and has been teaching Sunday School since she was twelve. She is a wonderful person to have as a friend. She reads good books and her word is her bond. And, have I mentioned, she'd like to have a goat. 


We are not farm-y type people. We have never had farm animals and really don't know the first thing about them. But she has been researching goats and sheep and yes, cows. She is a girl out of time. We aren't getting a goat or any other kind of farm-y animal in the near future and there is a good reason for this. We love our daughter and would do just about anything for her, but the timing for a new venture involving animals is just off for right now. She has just finished grade 12 and is almost finished her floral designer course and is looking into universities and colleges and praying for God's will in her life. I don't want her to feel tied down by the care of an animal and feel that she can't follow the Lord's leading when she hears from Him what it is that He wants her to do. 


So while the pygmy goats are the cutest things on earth, or just about, we have to say no. We can all get weighted down by obligations and possessions and use them as an excuse, if we are not careful, to not heed God's calling. I know, I've been there. When the Lord first called us into ministry, we had just bought our first house and used it as an excuse to not go into ministry. Then we had a child and said that surely God wouldn't expect us to uproot our child and go into ministry. Then we had another child and another. But then one day we realized that when God calls we must answer and by making excuses we were answering 'no', and we certainly didn't want to do that. 


Alannah loves the Lord with her whole heart. I have no fear that she won't do whatever God asks her to do. Right now, at this point in her life, she is waiting for Him. Waiting is a hard thing to do but she's doing it and I'm proud of her for it. Maybe someday she will have a goat, a few chickens, a sheep, a cow, a houseful of kids and even a partridge in a pear tree, but that day isn't right now. Now is the time for her to wait before the Lord and be willing to say 'here am I, send me' when He calls.

³⁰ Even youths grow tired and weary, 
   and young men stumble and fall; 
³¹ but those who hope in the LORD 
   will renew their strength. 
They will soar on wings like eagles; 
   they will run and not grow weary, 
   they will walk and not be faint. Isaiah 40:30-31