Making Ruts

During the Spring and early summer, I set up step in posts for our portable electric fence in our yard, separating the yard into different paddocks for the cows to eat in. I'm sure we get odd glances from passersby, but it sure saves time mowing to let the cows do it.  Up until the other day, I didn't even bother hooking the portable solar charger to it as the cows have been shocked before and generally respect just the sight of the poly wire that normally carries a charge!

Oh, but the lure of greener, more lush grass on the other side of the paddock fence is so irresistibly strong.  So strong that our two Jersey cows, Rosie and Daisy, that were in the pasture leaned against the fence in the yard and quickly figured out that there was no electric charge popping them.  Those old girls walked right through the fence and were on the side of the road quicker than poop goes through a goose.  We were eating supper when we heard a knock at the door and were alerted by a passing motorist that our cows were out!  We ran out and put them back in.  Bad girls!!

That's my fault and a lesson learned.  Now I walk across the pasture everyday before I put the cows out eating in the yard and unhook the charger, pull up the ground post and carry it all out to the temporary fence in the yard.  While I'm walking, I just observe and think.  I snapped the following photo of something while walking across the pasture:

Ruts

It is very hard to make out but if you look closely, running horizontally across the photo, you can see some ruts.  They aren't very deep.  There is a slight indentation where your foot sinks into the valley created by the tire tracks.  The ruts are not new. In fact, they were created by yours truly roughly 13 years ago.  Grass covers them and hides them from sight.  You wouldn't notice it if you drove by, but I know it's there.

I can be a very hard-headed and impatient man.  My wife will attest to this.  Years ago, I was borrowing my Dad's Kubota tractor with a bush hog attached to cut the grass in the pasture.  This was before we had cows and I was rushing to mow the pasture.  Trouble is, it kept raining and just when it was about to be dry enough to mow, it would rain again, making the pasture a muddy swamp.  Meanwhile, the grass was getting so tall that I was worried that the little bush hog would be overwhelmed by the height of the grass.  So even though it was wet, I made a decision to go ahead and mow anyway.

The pasture isn't precision leveled and there are some low spots out there.  I can remember turning around as I was mowing through the low spots and seeing ruts that I was leaving, but I kept going.  I had to finish, you see.  Those ruts remain to this day. Oh, they aren't really a hindrance and they aren't going to hurt anyone or the animals.  The ruts are more of a nuisance.  No, they are an ever-present reminder to me of how bad decisions made in a rushed fashion can leave ruts for a long time - for a lifetime, actually.

Beyond ruts in the pasture, I began to think of how foolish, careless words spoken without thought or hasty actions without consideration to the consequences can do the same thing.  They can leave ruts or scars on the heart that linger long after the deed was done.  They can alter the landscape of our lives, leaving grim reminders of relationships lost or damaged.

In the case of the physical ruts, I can purchase some topsoil and fill in the 13 year old ruts in no time flat and I intend on doing that at some point.  More importantly, this reminder of the ruts convicted me to do some self-examination and determine areas that I might need to try to repair figurative ruts I've created over time - while there's still time.

Ephesians 4:25-27   New American Standard Bible (NASB)

Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth each one of you with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity.