The Lamb by Susan L.

  During the last year of my marriage on the farm and the last year with animals, my son and I were on our own for a good chunk of the time. We were having problems with coyotes taking sheep and goats despite the stalwart protection of the llamas. The coyotes were bold, even coming into the farm yard right beside the house to kill. In broad daylight as well.
  One afternoon while my son was at school, I heard the cows kicking up a fuss. Looking out the window, I could see something was wrong. The cows were milling and circling around in a frantic manner. Their voices were loud and panicked. Jumping into the car I went flying up the road to see what was wrong. The normally gentle cattle were attacking a lamb, driving it mercilessly into the ground with their big heads. I could see the lamb was bleeding and trying desperately to get away. A coyote stood nearby, dancing, hoping to get back its prey. The cows created a wall of angry confusion around their calves.
  Running down the driveway and leaping over the gate frightened the coyote away. The cows were still attacking the lamb. I chased them off but it was too late for the poor thing. Its throat was torn open, a sure sign of a coyote attack. The cows had attacked it because it smelled like a coyote from such a close encounter. I held it in my arms as it gasped its last, the blood flowing over my arms and clothes. It didn't matter.
  I knelt on the ground for a long, long time simply holding the lamb as the heat left its body.
  "I can't do this any more, I just can't" was the only thought running through my head as I grieved yet another loss. Perhaps it was a prayer, I don't know. The Lord wasn't part of my life that dark and terrible summer or should I say, I wasn't aware of Him.
  It still hurts.
  Yet, in all things, the Lord is the Great Redeemer. He has taken a moment that broke my heart and spirit and used it time and again to remind me of His love. My pain is only a fraction of the pain He holds for those in His flock who die senselessly, who never come into His grace. But mostly, the Lord has used it to remind me time and again that I  have been washed clean by the Blood of another Lamb, the Most Holy Lamb of All.
  "The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him , and said, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" Jn 1:29