Forever Grateful

I spent about an hour yesterday taking down old barbwire.  I have both put barb wire up and taken it down.  As you can imagine both have to be done with great care.  It is not only very sharp but also very strong and has a spring to it.  The wire that has the barbs on it is very thick and seems to have almost a permanent spring to it because of it being originally coiled into a round tight bundle when you buy it.

I knew I had to get the barb wire down yesterday and knew I had to do it with great care.  I put on an old thick jacket that I didn’t care if I got holes in it.  I also wore some thick gardening gloves to protect my hands from the painful barbs. 

The plan was for me to start at one end of the fencing and slowly walk and recoil the long strands of wire as I went along.  I am not as strong as I used to be.  So I was going to hold the coils up against my stomach as I walked unstringing it and letting the coil return to it original coiled shape.  Kind of like winding up a garden hose.  Once I had a big enough coil where I could not hold it anymore.  I would cut it and tie it off with some barn rope to keep it in the coil position

I have had experiences with barb wire before.  I knew to be very careful, first, watching that I held it just right and firm enough to keep it from all springing apart everywhere and causing injury.  And secondly, to watch, as all those barbs grab onto anything and sometimes so many barbs can be in my jacket, gloves or keep grabbing the rope I am trying to tie with that I lose my grip on the coil and it just explodes all over the place.  Not a safe or fun job for sure.   

I had the kids stay far away from me as I worked at it and as I carefully worked I thought about so many things.  It was such a pretty day, I was making a mental note of all that I was going to try to get done.  We have a field trip of toddlers coming out to the farm on Friday so I was trying to really get some of our “spring clean up” on the farm done before they come.  I worked along having only a few close calls of almost hurting myself.

After about an hour I tied up the last coil, walked it over and put it on the pile of coils I had made.  Whew, I was done.  Praise God.  I walked back over to the now empty, old,  rusty fence posts to inspect the job done.  And as I walked up to one of the posts I saw this.

And I froze.  There was one last small piece wound around an old rusty post and it somehow reminded me of my Lord and Savior.  Of the horrible crown of thorns they had made and pressed into his tender flesh.  How I had been so very careful for the whole last hour to avoid being hurt by those terribly sharp barbs as I didn’t want to feel the pain of it.  Yet Jesus bore a crown of thorns for me. When it should have been a crown of gold.

Oh Lord, May we all remember daily, the sacrifice you made for us all.  Thank you Lord for all you did for us.  For all you continue to do for us.  For all you bore for our sake.  For keeping me safe as I worked yesterday on the farm.  I am forever grateful to you.

Matthew 27:29-38  And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews!

          And they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him on the head.

          And after that they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him, and put his own raiment on him, and led him away to crucify him.