05/23/2026
Tonight I was jolted awake by a huge crash of lightning.
I didn’t check the clock. I just grabbed my robe, pulled on my boots, and scrambled to the barn to call in all the animals.
My horses, bull, and donkey share nearly 20 acres of pasture, with access to the barn as lock-in or lock-out only. They all get along, but a mixed herd in tight spaces can be dangerous. It would be no trouble at all for my bull to send my thoroughbred through a wall or for one of my horses to accidentally injure my beloved little donkey.
When I got to the barn, I flipped on the lights. My pasture is shaped like a giant “L,” and I have a large bell I ring so they can hear me from a distance.
I rang the bell, trusting that if they heard me, they would come.
While I waited, I filled their feeders.
Minutes later, the horses came flying in. One by one, they filed into their stalls, perfectly orderly. Then the bull came moseying in, heading straight to his own.
But Poncho, my sweet donkey, was missing.
He’s the smallest by nearly 1,000 pounds. He’s the oldest by ten years, except for one. Somewhere out in the storm, he had tucked himself away alone.
So with everyone else safe, I climbed into my SxS and headed back out, already praying:
“God, help me find him quickly. Please make this easy. Help this boy come with me.”
I drove to the highest hill in the pasture and slowly turned in a circle, stretching my headlights as far as they would go.
Nothing…
I knew then he had to be hidden in the dense patch of woods, the thickest, driest place he could find. The horses have made little trails through there, but my SxS won’t fit.
So I parked on the edge and called for him.
Silence.
I repositioned the headlights, trying to shine deeper into the trees…
there he was.
His little wet backside was hunched away from the storm, tucked into the safest place he could find.
I called him again.
And still… he made me come get him.
I didn’t have a rope. I didn’t have a halter. But I had an imaginary one in my pocket.
I reached out, pretended to clip on a lead, and he followed me! Carefully at first, then trotting alongside my SxS all the way back to the barn with his little nose pointing the way as if I was pulling him, back to comfort, safety, and shelter.
At 3:45 a.m., I finally crawled back into bed, at peace knowing all my animals were safe and comfortable until morning.
Laying here in the darkness, I cannot rest. Im reminded of Jesus’ words:
“Whatever you did for one of the least of these… you did for Me.”
Matthew 25:40
I know the context is about people, the hungry, the stranger, the sick, the imprisoned.
But I think the heart of it applies here too.
How easy it would have been to roll over and go back to sleep.
How easy it would have been to shut the gate and say,
“Well… he should have come when I called.”
But love doesn’t act that way.
Love goes looking.
Love notices who’s missing.
Love leaves comfort behind to bring the vulnerable into safety.
I think that’s the reminder tonight:
You don’t have to be big to be worth protecting.
You don’t have to be useful to be worth pursuing.
You don’t have to be expensive to be deeply valued.
Sometimes the smallest one, tucked away in the dark, is exactly the one love goes back for. 🌙
*side note. I check the weather constantly and most days it’s pretty accurate- but sometimes it just be like this. 🤷🏻♀️
