You Made a Promise Now Don’t Be Late, Meet Me at the Garden Gate

Greetings everyone! 

    We are wrapping up week two here in Romania which means: QUARANTINE IS ALMOST OVER! This realization brings up a mixture of emotions in me since I have truly enjoyed bonding with my Quarenteam and serving our ministry host from within these four walls. Mainly, I have enjoyed how God has been teaching each of us SO MUCH just from sitting still. I will do another post on everything I feel God has taught me while being confined, but in the meantime, I’ll share something He laid on my heart most recently. 

During a discussion, one of my squadmates, Madison, brought up the 7 “I AM” statements Jesus uses in scripture. While she was reading them

“I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved” (John 10:9)

stuck out to me and I spent the next few days praying, asking God “Why, of all the statements, does THIS one resonate?” Then, in the quiet early hours of Sabbath, I felt the Holy Spirit move me to write the story below:

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     A small group of sheep lay peacefully in an enclosed meadow. The meadow, while small, was plush and fruitful. There was always plenty of feed and the watering trough never emptied. One day, a curious lamb stood up and wandered to the perimeter of the meadow and peered over the fence. What she saw amazed her! A vast expanse of sand; this was new and exciting! She could feel the warmth beaming off of the sand, almost calling to her, “Come and experience this; it’s nothing like you’ve ever seen before! Come where you can play freely. Come where there are no worries!”

     Longing for that feeling of freedom, the lamb tiptoed over to the gate, as not to disturb the others, and quietly exited. She slightly shuddered as she heard the latch of the gate close behind her, but she quickly remembered her new surroundings: FREEDOM! She started running with abandon away from her meadow. It felt good. The wind blew through her wool as she danced in the comforting warmth of the sun. The new texture of the sand felt soft and forgiving under her hooves. This was where she was always meant to be. Turning back she could no longer see her meadow or the rest of the sheep. She shuddered again. “This is what I wanted. This is freedom.”

     Her movement slowed during these thoughts and she noticed that the sun was no longer warm and comforting, but hot and overbearing. These were new feelings since she had never felt anything but a constant breeze in the meadow. Other new feelings of thirst and hunger filled the lamb as she started to resent the desert, but she lingered still. “I have all the space in the world to dance and play. THIS is freedom!” However, she had no energy to dance. As for playing, she looked around…there were no other sheep. As loneliness set in, she around to head back to the meadow but quickly remembered that it was out of sight; she had wandered too far. In a panic, she gathered new strength and started running in what she thought was the right direction. With each stride, she notices that the sand is no longer comforting, but harsh and irritating. “Please be the right direction!” she desperately cried out. 

     Off in the distance she saw the meadow and joy reentered her heart. With new vigor, she picked up the pace. As she got closer, she thought she could surely run right through the fence. “I’ve got this!” she confidently stated. Dropping her head, she ran with all the strength she had left and crashed into the side of the fence. It knocked her backwards with such force, it took a moment for her to realize what happened. Angry, she tried to jump over the fence. “I got this,” she snorted.  Run, jump, fail. Frightened, she tried to dig to go underneath the fence, but the barrier was so deeply rooted that it was impossible for any intruder to enter. 

     Defeated, she limped to the gate and collapsed. She cried out, “I am thirsty. I am hungry. I am hot. I am lonely. I am tired. I cannot get back into the meadow. I need help.” Just then, she heard the gate unlatch and swing open. She joyfully looked up and locked eyes with the shepherd. He picked up the lamb, carried her through the gate, and into the meadow. Instantly she felt the familiar comforting breeze. The shepherd fed her, gave her water, combed her wool, removed the sand from her hooves, and placed her down with the rest of the flock. She turned to tell the shepherd “thank you”, but he was already out of sight. The lamb rolled over in the grass with a smile on her face. She was full. She was happy. She was home. This was the freedom she always wanted. 

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Peace & Blessings, 

Claran