Do you live or work on a farm or somewhere rural? Share your stories and thoughts about faith and your environment in this occasional column called 'Faith on the farm'. Email [email protected] if you’d like to know more.
Our first piece is from Shirley Pearce, who lives and works on a 2000 acre sheep and beef farm near Gore with her husband George. Shirley has five children, six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren and attends Gore Baptist Church.
When I was asked about sharing my faith on the farm, I had a few ideas on what I could write about, but I wasn’t sure they were the right stories to share. As the deadline approached and I remained inspired, I asked God, "What do you want me to write about?" Proverbs 3 v 5–6 came to mind.
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight".
At the time, I did not have a story to relate to the verse.
Let me rewind to what was happening on the farm. I had been looking after my daughter’s four dogs and cat for four weeks. The cat, a Burmese called Hudson, went for a walk the first week into the visit and hadn’t been seen since. He was lost. I checked with the neighbours, but they hadn’t seen him.
I was very upset thinking about what might have happened to him.
I prayed for Hudson to come back home, and after a few days decided that I just needed to put my faith in action. Every time I looked out the window or went out to town, I thanked the Lord for Hudson’s safe return. As time went by, I trusted more and became less anxious.
I was feeling upset about what might have happened to Hudson and why he had not come back. I didn’t tell my daughter until she got home from holiday that he was missing. She was upset that Hudson still hadn’t been found. I told her, “Don’t worry, we will find him”.
Hudson is a very loving cat with a crazy character. That is why he was so adventurous and went too far and couldn’t find his way back to our farm.
Where we farm, there is a lot of tussock hill country, making it very hard to spot a cat with a brown face. He just blends in. We also had no idea which direction he could have gone.
I sent a message out to our local women’s chat group with a photo and continued to ask around. On Tuesday night, the day I was given the scripture above, a message came through.
“My son saw your cat. He was last seen by the old house site.”
The old house site is about 12 km from our farm; it’s part of a working farm but there’s no longer a house, just some sheds and a few macrocarpa trees. I got straight into the car with the cat crate and some kitty biscuits and was prepared to walk as far as necessary to find Hudson. I went up the driveway and as I rounded the corner, I saw him sitting near the grain silo. Words cannot express my relief as I picked up the frightened and very thin cat. He was very grateful for the kitty biscuits! Once I had him home, he was the happiest cat with cuddles for all.
I called my daughter to say he’d been found and we both wept with relief.
It is amazing how God put the events in place so I could find Hudson easily. God really had made ‘my path straight’. For example, the son who had spotted Hudson told me later that he only realised the cat he’d seen was someone’s pet when his dog chased Hudson across the road (Hudson doesn’t look like a wild cat). And, if the dog hadn’t chased Hudson across the road to the sheds, I may not have been able to find him. Also, both mother and son were amazed at how they were together that night talking about cats over a birthday tea – if they hadn’t, the information may have never been passed on.
God had a plan, and it took 23 days of Hudson being lost to work that plan through.
I thanked God for his faithfulness at finding Hudson. I felt the love of God in my heart for the answered prayers, and I remembered the scripture from Ephesians 3:20 preached at Gore Baptist Church on the Sundays Hudson was lost:
"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us..." It has made me think, if God cared so deeply about Hudson the cat, how much more does he care about you, your family and friends? Trust God always, because he loves and cares about you.
Photo: Hudson on the move. By Shirley Pearce.
