On Thursday, May 31 only about an hour behind schedule, the Byrd van set out from Lonny and Netta's house. We were headed out on a great adventure. As we began to travel on the windy roads, our trip began with a wise word of advice from Ronan, my three year old nephew. "MarMai," he said to my mother-in-law who was driving, "don't forget to stay on the road." Thus began our exciting journey. A little less than an hour later we drove up to a wonderland of peacocks, goats, donkeys, chickens, a pond, a river, a playground and so much more.
As all six of us piled out of the van, we were happily pleased to see the accommodations for the week far exceeded our expectations. After unpacking, no one had to ask where we were headed next. We were going down to see the animals.
The first animal to greet us was almost literally right outside our front door. It was a shy llama.
It didn't take long for us to discover that there were actually three llamas. All of them are quite curious and come up to the fence every time we pass by. However they are not too sure about us touching them. They are a bit shy.
As we trekked down the dusty trail we soon spotted the goat pin to our left. I was thrilled to discover this fun little critters. I would love to have a goat farm, and I think now that Arlen has seen the fun animals, he may agree.
This is me with Emma. Emma is the sweetest goat of them all, and I quickly fell in love with her. As we stepped inside the goat pin she looked up at us and quickly came running over. That's just how Emma is. Every time we visit her, she comes trotting right over as soon as she sees us. This little goat loves attention, especially if it includes a good neck scratching. Not only is Emma a sweetie, she is quite curious. When Arlen was taking pictures, she saw the flash on the camera, and immediately she was there, trying to figure out what that flashy thing was. She even climbed Arlen in a effort to figure out her discovery.
The thing about Emma is that although she is a sweet heart, she is very jealous. She wants all the attention, and doesn't want to share with anyone around. These are a couple of goats that very much wanted our attention, but were afraid of Emma. (She has a tendency to head butt any of the other goats who get too close to the people giving her attention.) All of the goats are well behaved, but when Emma is around, they are much more cautious to approach humans for attention.
I'm looking at the time, and I'm realizing that I'm going to have to end this blog here pretty soon. I'll continue part two tomorrow. But, rather than ending abruptly, I'd have to say that as usual, God has taught me a lesson through little Emma. She is very sweet, however her jealousy often gets in the way of her enjoying the attention she craves. When people come to the petting zoo Emma typically gets put in the barn, away from all the excitement. Her selfish battles tend to scare the kids and her behavior to the other goats is completely unacceptable. The thing is, if Emma allowed the other goats to come over and get some attention as well, she would end up with a lot more loving pats, scratches, rubs (and even a few more treats).
I can't help but realize how much I take after this little goat. I often am so afraid of loosing the gifts that God has given me that I become protective of them. I don't want to share my time, my stuff, my husband, I want these things all to myself to be used how I think they should be used. I wonder how many times God has to give me a "time out" because of my selfishness. God has created us to share all the blessings that He has given us. Only by doing this will our blessings continue to grow and our joy increase. I pray that God will help me learn to share...ALL of the blessings He has given me!
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