Friday, June 5, 2009

One Cow

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On a very cold, snowy Sunday in February, only the pastor and one farmer arrived at the village church. The pastor said, 'Well, I guess we won't have a service today.' The farmer replied: 'Pastor, even if only one cow shows up at feeding time, I feed it.'

I found the above short story on a site of amusing Christian stories. Once, not too long ago, I thought I had only one of my Sunday school students show up. I was thinking about what to do--perhaps send him to another class or what? The "problem" was solved when two more students arrived that day. But after reading the above, it really touched me that even if I have just the one on any given Lord's Day, I should do all the Lord allows to give to that one young soul all God has for him or her at that particular time. What a lesson for not only pastors, but Sunday school teachers as well.

8 comments:

Connie Arnold said...

Thanks for sharing this great lesson!

LisaG said...

Jesus said, wherever two or three are gathered I will be there in their midst.

I think once his message gets across to one person at a time, he will be very satisfied.

I found your blog from Lindenville Cafe. I have a blog here on blogger, but my blog on the Cafe is Simply Spiritual. I'm just trying to acquaint myself with the other blogs on the Cafe. I love them all so far.

Nice meeting you.

TO BECOME said...

What a wonderful lesson, thank you for sharing it with us. I agree totally. Have a great week, dear Maxine. connie

Susan said...

Amen, how true.

I'm so blessed Jesus would of died, just for one!

Hope you are enjoying your summer Maxine♥

Mimi said...

this is indeed a great lesson..there have been occasions when I had only one student show up for a while and I was thinking of taking her to combine with another class...when a couple more showed up together and I continued with my class...

there are times when it may be in God's will for you to have one on one time with a child...

good lesson and well taken..thanks

Anonymous said...

I love this story! And with the cute image you provided I will never forget it!

Aliene said...

Yes, just one soul is worth all the efforts. It is truly a good story. Sometimes we think our efforts are in vain, but reaping day will come. Suppose it could be that one small soul found the Lord?

Elizabeth Mahlou said...

I am sure that the one cow (and the farmer) was grateful. I once was the only one who showed up at RCIA. I thought that the elderly priest leading the group would want to cancel, but he said that it would be a good chance to get all my personal questions answered. He stayed the entire two hours and answered question after question that I had been reluctant to ask in a group. In time, that priest, who had been an interim priest in our parish and directed a retreat center at the same time, was replaced by a full-time regular-term parish priest, retreated to one job only: director of the near-by retreat center. Also, in time, he became my de facto spiritual advisor, the first person to read the pre-publication manuscript of my first spiritual book, and simply a good friend. I, in turn, have helped him re-build the retreat center after it burned down through contributions, discussion on my blog, and simply my big mouth. I have also become a candidate in the Secular Franciscan Order, which is hosted at that retreat center. Who would have thought what feeding just one cow would have led to?