My Encounter With a Thousand

Dieser Blog ist bestimmt schwerer als der letzte. Wahrscheinlich, weil ich irgendwann letzte Woche angefangen habe Deutsch zu denken. Ich denke auf Deutsch, träume auf Deutsch, und bin irgendwie ein bisschen mehr Deutsch als vorher. Etwas hat in meinem Kopf klick gemacht, und ich kann nicht wieder auf Englisch denken. Deshalb ist mein Englisches Grammatik unglaublich schlecht. Bitte entschuldigt mich, aber ich muss es trotzdem für euch auf Englisch schreiben.

Abstract Tree Picture

In short that means I’m thinking in German! Which makes this blog harder to write but I labor in love for you all. My success is beginning to bud into a beautiful flower!

Man on Instrument

 I'll give you guys a brief about New Year's then a more extensive story that is so far my favorite to share. I got to share New Year’s Eve with my friends Claudia and Chiara. I don’t believe that January 1^st is more significant than any other day in the year but I am nevertheless happy to be living. I spent the night playing guitar and snacking on ‘American Chocolate Chip Cookies’ I baked.Claudia’s host father along with other neighbors played in a band. Afterwards we joined the village in lighting fireworks and this vegetable firework house. Don’t ask me I have no idea the significance of a vegetable house. New Year's or 'Sylvester' is a very celebrated holiday. My host family was shocked when I told them I never 'truly' celebrated it. My host sister went to her friends house lit fireworks, watched movies, and ate. My host brother went to Berlin where thousands of people met to drink and set fireworks, a little dangerous I think! And my host parents went to a Ski Resort to socialize and dance with their friends. I went the earliest to bed at 5 a.m. everyone else stayed up until dawn. As for anything, it is what you make of it.

Vegetable House!

And now the story. It was Saturday. Upon my daily casual stroll I heard something faintly in the distance. I heard them before I saw them. Without a doubt there were at least five hundred maybe even a thousand. With the sunshine on their backs they shined like a diamond. If you have never personally seen a flock of sheep, let me tell you it is a vision. Let me tell you the story or more precisely share with you an entry from my journal.

‘Just got home from a walk. As I was trottin’ along my way suddenly I heard something, and saw a sort of grazing animal. I listened closely, trying my best to tune out the sound of the wind. I heard the soft sound of sheep. For a moment I hesitated, wondering if I should cross the large field between us. Seconds later I was trekking through the grass. ‘I’ve never seen a thousand sheep before’ I said to myself as I continued to march. With a confident pace the sheep were coming closer into view. The wind was sharp and the sky was bare. The thought that sheep have a guard dog came too late, I already reached the orange wire fence.  ‘Wait Genevieve, I’m pretty sure sheep have a guard dog right? Or is that only a herd dog? Wait, do they bite?’

In a small panic I looked in every direction, no guard dog. Now in safety I stood looking dopey eyed at the sheep, gawking at how cute they were. The majority of them where white but when I looked closely each sheep was unmistakably different from another. Long noses, short noses, dark brown eyes, narrow eyes, wide ears, small ears, red ears, and pink ears. The Shepard must know them by name. Minutes passed without them acknowledging my presence. Then when one noticed they all turned their heads, but they wouldn’t come any closer than five feet to me. I reached out my hand to pet them or to touch their soft little ears but none would meet my hand. After five minutes I noticed they all broke into a ‘mahhh’ frenzy and looked to the hill. I turned and saw two men in a small white pick-up driving toward us. They drove past me and waved, the sheep were ecstatic. One man got out of the car and stretched over the small mesh fence with wooden Shepard’s staff in hand.

The sheep mobbed around him as he lightly whistled and walked in my direction. I watched them as their ears twitched and the baby lambs bucked beneath their mother’s side. We talked briefly about the weather, but the conversation was short considering I wouldn’t respond about my personal information. We glanced together at the back of the white truck where the other Shepard was letting the herd dogs loose. I stiffened as they approached and ran by me, thinking they would be aggressive to someone without a staff. But their job was only to herd the sheep they barked and ran the length of the fence. With the sun beginning to set I turned for home and thought about these little sheep and how they interacted with me, one another, and their Shepard. 

They didn’t come to my voice, approach me, or let me stroke their head. Instead they stayed in the safety of their flock and waited for their Shepard’s whistle. I should know the sound of my Shepard, The All Mighty Shepard. After seeing how these two Shepard’s walked through the ocean of white, softly patting each sheep on the head I saw a side of Jesus’ tenderness. As a helpless sheep in God’s flock, my greatest strength is to first stay with the flock and listen for my Shepard’s voice. All so that on one glorious day when He calls me home, I will know that it’s time.’

Last Saturday was without a doubt one of the most memorable days of the year. In 2011 I had my share of beautiful, unforgettable moments but what I witnessed will stay with me until I die. I have read dozens of times in the New Testament about Jesus being our Shepard, but until seeing these little, breathing sheep with my own eyes it made me feel so much more alive. Amidst the struggles that are sure to come this year I will simply remember the realness of each and every different sheep and how the Shepard cares for them. Surely, God’s love is stronger than this. Although I may not ‘feel’ it every day I have learned not to live by my feelings. Simply the fact that He supplies me with breath this moment and the next can I begin to understand His love.

Share with me your thoughts, I would love to hear them!

Blessings and Joy, Genevieve!