Cow Paths

Have you ever considered how a cow path is made?  
They are uniform in width and they are not straight, they are curved--for no apparent reason.  Each path is 'the way' for all the cows to travel through a field, one after another ... with just one leading the way ... in front.  The grass gets worn down, dirt exposed, then pressed down to make a more pronounced path by which to follow.  Its very creation is maintained by obedient trail followers, walking that same path over and over, following the cow that is in front.

~~~~

While considering my options today I chose a path.

My options were to drive to town alone, attend an exercise class for 45 minutes then go shopping with girlfriends which would be an all-day fun outing.

OR

Drop everything, put on my farm clothes and go with my husband to the other farm where I would gather walnuts and he with Rocky's help (one of our horses) checking fence and cattle.

It's a beautiful October day, the tree leafs are turning and I chose to go with my husband.

You see; I have spent my life driving away to do ... that was the well-worn path I had made (alone, away from ...).  Life is changing with my new retirement 'freedom'.  My mindset is more flexible, and time with my husband can be more than just evenings and weekends.  It can be about just being where he is and seeing what he does in his day, and this has brought me a new perspective ~ a new path.

I packed a lunch and we rested on a log in the shade eating leftover chicken, apple and peanut butter.  

Just the two of us.

There is so much quiet.  

Yet so much beauty.  

There is something about walking along a cow path, in a field, doing something so simple as picking up walnuts.

Just spending time in my husbands world, no other purpose.  

Seeing what he has as obstacles, stresses, joys and struggles in a day made me appreciate him (and farmers) all the more.

I learned today in our Beth Moore Children of the Day Bible study that the antonym for the word 'marvel' is 'despise'.  I wonder how many women marvel at their husbands.  I know I do.  I also know how easy it is to despise your husband. 

As Gary Thomas writes in Sacred Marriage; 

"Love must be learned, and learned again and again, there is no end to it." 

"Hate needs no instruction, but waits only to be provoked."  

"Christian love must be chased after, aspired to, and practiced."

In the Beth Moore study there is a section where we examine the concept of our destiny and our God-ordained ministry.  She had us look at 

Acts 26:14 'It is hard for you to kick against the goads.' 

Because I won't be satisfied until I am living out my God-ordained ministry because God wired me with "a compulsion to do it."

'In the many instances where the proverb occurs in Greek literature it always has the meaning of resisting one's destiny or fighting the will of the gods.  We kick against the goads too when we resist our God-ordained destinies.  The more we ignore His will for our works, the more discontented and out of sorts we will be.  Sometimes we can misread our squirming as discontent with our human relationships.

'If you are married and dissatisfied, don't leave your husband.  Embrace your calling.'

Cow paths ... who would have guessed .... 
One following another ... 
The clarity that comes over time and use ... 
All going in one direction ...