Seeing the ewes with their hind ends full of whatever color the buck they’re in with has painted on his chest (it’s the only way to tell whether they’re bred or not) has a way of putting reproduction in some sort of perspective for me, especially since I’m pretty full of “lamb” myself. Watching the buck walk around the pen, checking out his assigned lot, with the seriousness of a fighter pilot, has a way of making me forget the lewd jokes I would have had ten years ago to describe the situation.
Breeding season reminds me of God’s purpose for things. Seeing these sheep, reproducing as God intended, with none of the disorders we humans struggle with, reminds me that sex isn’t a bad thing. Our bodies aren’t what’s wrong, and that beautiful design God has for our bodies and our sexuality is really not hard to understand. The marital love between a man and a woman is quite simple. What makes it hard to understand is us (collectively), the warping we’ve allowed in, the sin we continue to – intentionally or not – advocate.
This time of year also makes me (all of us, really) look ahead to January, to those weeks that will be sleepless and full of lambs and hope. Breeding season is always hectic and full of breath-holding weeks when Shepherd Dan will test and find out for sure if the ewes are really bred, if the buck really did his job. This time of year, though, is nothing to the stress that awaits him in January and March, when most of his lambs will be born in three or four weeks. Dan knows it, and he works hard to make sure he’s made the investments right, that he’s planned well, that he’s ready. Even so, there are plenty of surprises, lots of times when he’ll lose a ewe or a lamb because of a bad birthing, and quite a few disappointments. (“Guess that ewe isn’t going to work out with that buck,” the conversation with Prince Charming will begin, and two hours later, I’ll see them emerge from the barn. If they were women, there would likely be cheesecake involved.)
Isn’t that just how life is, though? Even when we think we’ve planned everything out – from our sheep breeding program to our child breeding program – there are surprises, losses, and disappointments.
I was telling Jon during dinner that I felt a bit guilty eating State Fair lamb chops from Kroger knowing that your family shows sheep at the fair. I hope you’ll forgive us when we eat the two remaining chops either tomorrow or Monday!!!! Don’t worry; I treated them very nicely in a garlicky marinade.