The Good Shepherd

As a young mother of four sons and a former preschool teacher, I herded the boys to count them and found comfort in knowing they were all together, close, and in my sight.

Our collie Brandy was a much better shepherd than I, though.  She would bark and even snip the heels of a wayward boy, circling the pack of children until they were together in a tight-knit group in our large backyard. 

Brandy’s dogged determination was nothing compared to my resolve to get a group picture.  Before our party of six became a party of eighteen with daughters-in-law and grandchildren, I would line-up the boys in one spot in front of the refrigerator. (I don’t know WHY I used the fridge as a backdrop, perhaps because someone was looking in the refrigerator for food and that’s where they happen to be standing.)  The photo arrangement was usually in birth order, and the picture was snapped when everyone stopped shoving and attempted a smile.

Several years ago an elderly neighbor Kathryn attended a family birthday party.  Kathryn had watched our boys grow up, but since all four had married she had not seen them in one place together.  She requested that all four sons line-up in birth order in front of her wheelchair so she could see how they had grown.  I can see them now, lined up in front of Kathryn, grown men being obedient and complacent for an elderly woman and a doting mother.

A memory picture I keep close to my heart is the sight of them carrying their golf bags and walking the golf course together with their dad. Not long ago a friend ran to the fence at the sight and introduced herself as they walked the fairway.  Each son politely shook her hand, told her his name and added his birth order.  

The last picture taken of all four sons will forever be cherished by this mother. They are not in birth order, but they are together, having a good time, and enjoying brotherhood.

I want to go find that missing boy and line him up with his three brothers.  Like Brandy shepherded and circled the yard looking for the missing one, I am looking for my missing son.  

Jesus tells us He is the Good Shepherd and He knows His own, and His own know Him.  He gathers His sheep into His fold, and He loves them. My missing son is in Jesus’ fold, gathered into His arms, waiting for us to join him in eternity: his wife, his children, his father and me, and his brothers. One day we will gather together, hold hands, and smile for the perfect picture, united in Christ forever. (John 11)