Rejection Rescue: Hope for the rejected and abandoned

God is in his holy Temple.

He is a father to orphans,

and he defends the widows.

God gives the lonely a home.

He leads prisoners out with joy,

but those who turn against God will live in a dry land.

—Psalm 68:5-6

If a dam (mother cow) does not bond with her calf immediately after birth, there’s a good chance she will reject it. In the case of twins, it is not uncommon for the dam to reject one twin while bonding with the other. If this occurs, the owner usually rescues the rejected twin, removing it from the herd and placing it in the safety of a barn where the twin is then bottle fed until mature enough to be returned to the pasture.

This is what happened with a twin born earlier this year on the farm where I live.

When my daughter, Rebekah, and her two sons, my grandsons, came to visit, I told them about the rejected calf, now bottle fed by my sister-in-law Katie. Hoping to get a glimpse of the process, we walked to the barn at the time we thought the calf would be fed. Unfortunately, Katie had finished and was cleaning up, but she called the twin over to the fence so we could see her, “Come here, Terry.”

Valentines for the Soul: Can't Stop Thinking About You!

How precious it is, Lord, to realize that you are thinking about me constantly! I can’t even count how many times a day your thoughts turn toward me. And when I waken in the morning, you are still thinking of me!

—Psalm 139:17 TLB

Have you ever had such an enjoyable first date that you didn’t want it to end? The two of you seemed to connect on so many levels, and the chemistry was undeniable. You went to bed that night and tossed and turned. You couldn’t sleep because you kept replaying your conversation over and over again. The next morning you couldn’t stop thinking about your love interest. You could hardly wait to hear from them again.

That’s how God feels about you. About me. He never stops thinking about us. His thoughts toward us are precious and immeasurable. They are “thoughts of peace,” says the Lord, “and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11).

Dear Lord, How precious and wonderful to consider that you cherish me constantly in your every thought! O God, your desires toward me are more than the grains of sand on every shore! When I awake each morning, you’re still with me (Psalm 139:17 TPT). Thank You, Lord.

Personalized Stocking: Do you have one?

“Because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.”

—Luke 1:78-79

Do you have a personalized Christmas stocking? I got mine more than 50 years ago. Mom took my siblings and me to a store to purchase ours. The personalization was done in store. I don’t know how it was done, but it appears to have been written by hand. While we waited for the personalization, Mom took us to see Santa in the same store. But I was too afraid to sit on his lap.