It’s not very often that I tend to share my faith on my blog and I know that I need to do this more but I just had to share a brilliant story narrated by a dear brother in Christ (for the purpose of this blog he will be known as Keith) who visited our church a couple of weeks ago.

This brother is in his 80’s and was a child during World War 2. He has seen his city of birth being destroyed during the war but getting rebuilt from the rumble and has witnessed an ever evolving 21st century cosmopolitan city grow throughout his long life.

So of course I was all ears in terms of wanting to learn how he copes with life’s changes.

Keith shared the following story which blessed me immensely:

As a young man, Keith rebuilt quite a troublesome relationship with his father by taking him fishing. Over time his father opened up to him and they grew to enjoy each other’s company whilst sat by the peacefulness of a water’s edge. Their greatest joy was the tranquility brought about by the gentle swishing of the water against its banks and the excitement of getting that special catch. He explained that he thought his father was quite Victorian when he was smaller and very strict, and he had never perceived back then that he would be able to sit with his father and converse about just anything.

On one usual peaceful day, Keith as settling down to what he thought was going to be a great day out fishing. Both him and his father were very much looking forward to the day and were just about to settle down by the water’s edge, when they heard an ominous distant rumble of thunder in the distance. Keith recalled looking towards the horizon and seeing the telltale dark clouds signifying a thunder storm. Both him and his dad exchanged glances but both decided that the storm would not be that bad so as to pack everything up and return home. They chose to sit it out.

As soon as they made that decision however, they both felt the wind blow a moist cooler air in their direction. The rain was coming their way. Yet, they still took the decision to stay put and ride it out fishing.

True to our wonderful British weather, when it was too late for both men, the heavens opened and as he said, “the mother of all storms” opened over their heads and they decided to grab what they could and take cover under a nearby tree. Both men had to make a run for it and once they were under the shelter of the tree they exchanged another look between the two of them and smiled. They were happy at least due to the fact that they had narrowly missed a heavy downpour.

On the face of it all seemed well for Keith and he even began to take in the beauty of a fresh fall of heavy rain. His eyes slowly took in the field that they were stood in and the various sounds that accompanied the rain. One sound that he hadn’t accounted for though, was the sound of numerous ‘moos’. Keith noticed that the very thing he was not overly keen on was approaching him and his dad en masse. A herd of dairy cows.

He explained that due to the rain the herd was also looking for shelter and the only shelter they could find was the very same tree that Keith and his father were sheltering under. Cows were not Keith’s most favourite of animals and he contemplated making a run for it and away from the farm animals but at the same time he didn’t want to leave his dad nor did he want to give up the only dry spot for quite a way around. Both men decided to stand their ground and before long they were surrounded by a good 15 or so smelly, heavy cows.

Keith felt a little unnerved by the fact that he was surrounded by one of his least favourite animals. His fears began to surface as well. He wondered what would happen if one of the cows got spooked and created a stampede – they would get crushed. He also wondered what he would do if either his dad or himself had their foot crushed by a cow stepping on them. All these fears began to fill his head and he was just on the cusp of sacrificing the dryness and fun of a day out fishing, when the rain began to subside and the sun began to peek through the clouds. His fears began to also subside when he saw that the cows began to mill away from the tree and back onto the field. As he heaved a sigh of relief, he looked over to where his father was standing and was taken aback at the big grin on his dad’s face.

The dad had thoroughly enjoyed the whole affair and he had not seen his father smile as much as he did after being stuck under a tree with a bunch of cows.

So what he concluded with was a moral to this particular life experience.

Through life we strive to only have those kinds of days when everything appears to be going well when perhaps we also need to take focus on those things which make us laugh even when things are not going according to plan. He concluded with the phrase, “afterall, why let a bunch of cows ruin your day!”

The lesson for me has been the fact that I focus on the “cows” and not on the many things that transpired both before and after the event that made my day blessed.

I have taken this approach these past few weeks offline and have been encouraged when things had not gone according to plan by the fact that I serve a Heavenly Father who will always bless us with the things that make us smile even in the midst of events which are not meant to be enjoyed.