They Missed Him

written by

posted on

December 26, 2012

They missed him, the inn keeper and his family did. But you can't blame them, really. They were flat-out frantically busy! Town was full! Thousands, even millions, were traveling from all over the world for the special decreed taxing by Caesar Augustus.

I can identify with the inn keepers; in fact, my heart goes out to them. I'm familiar with that pressure! This flood of travelers must have seemed like a heaven-sent blessing. When again in their lifetime could they expect 100% occupancy every night, for weeks on end? 100% occupancy even at the inflated prices of a sold-out inn!

So they missed him that first Christmas Eve. He was at their door, but they turned him away. Their inn was full and their life was busy. Their inn, their family inn at Bethlehem, came so close to being forever remembered as the birth place of Jesus, the Christ, the Son of the Living God... But they turned him away. Instead, all the honor, even 2013 years later, goes to the stable and the manger. We only remember the inn from this unfortunate line, "There was no room for them in the inn."

Deep irony here, friends.

"Important busyness" distracting us to miss a visit from God himself? This touches a tender spot with me and I suspect you feel it, too. I'll not flesh out my meditations since I don't have much time to write and you don't have much time to read and you get the point.

But please stick with me for just a bit... This is not all historic.

Thirty-three years after the inn keepers missed him, Jesus, as a teacher, warned his inner circle of students that the same "missing" is very likely to repeat when he returns to earth the second time. Here are his tender words to his closest friends just before he died, "Take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that day come on you unexpectedly." (Luke 21:34)

The cares of this life. The simple cares of this life. Take heed! The absolutely-important-must-be-done cares of this life are just as insidiously damaging as carousing and drunkenness if they cause us to lose focus and miss him.

Think about it... every day!

May God bless all of you this Christmas and New Year's season.

Your Farmer ~ Edwin Shank

Family Picture Night 2024

It's been two years since our last pasture picture, as our family calls them. Since then, our family has grown by five, so I believe it's high time! But first, just a little nostalgia...

Rodrick & Jeanette are moving to Colombia, South America

Good morning Family Cow friends, Today I have some news that's a bit personal, but it only seems right that you should know. Our oldest son, Rodrick, with his wife, Jeanette, and family are planning to move to Colombia, South America next month. Yes, you heard right. Colombia South America. Just above the equator. We still can hardly believe it either :) Our church conference is starting a new congregation there at the request of local Colombians asking for a Biblical church and faith community. But it's also located on the border with Venezuela, so a big part of their work will be to help relieve the ongoing Venezuelan refugees crisis. This new congregation, "Amigos del Prójimo" (Friends of the Neighbor), is located near the border town of Cúcuta, Colombia. Jeanette grew up in Guatemala, and Rodrick has spent time there so both of them are fluent in Spanish and understand the Latin American culture. For this reason, Dawn and I were really not totally surprised that the mission board thought of them when looking for families to establish the new church plant. Their combination of skills and cross cultural experiences made them seem a natural fit. But that did not exactly make giving them up any easier! We are still working on that process! Here are a few pictures from the area near Cúcuta. Distributing meals to the homeless... Música, anyone? 😉 I'm not sure what the point of this car was, but Rodrick said they heard it coming from several blocks away... Checking out the countryside... Sofia with a new little friend Exploring a mountain road (part of the Andes mountain range) After months of prayer and consideration and several visits to Colombia, Rodrick and Jeanette made the tough decision to answer the call to move there for an indefinite length of time. Though it is hard for us to let them go, we do give them our blessing.One comfort is that Rodrick is not abandoning The Family Cow. With today's technology, he'll still be able to do much of the management work and accounting work that he has done before... so this change shouldn't necessarily impact you, but it will represent some definite changes for our family and team.Rodrick plans to work remotely, doing many of the same business administration duties, but he will turn over the General Manager role to his younger brother Wesley. Rodrick also plans to continue giving management support to the Olde Tyme Meats butcher shop team.The other four brothers tell Dawn and I not to worry about the farm and business management, but I know there will be changes. We'll just need to find our way one step at a time.Dawn and I are not sure who's making the greatest sacrifice—the ones staying or the ones moving. :) I guess it is all of us. And that's ok.As far as Rodrick and Jeanette's Amen Acres farm, if all goes as planned, we'll have one of the other brothers live on that farm to manage the care of the grass-fed beef and pastured pork.There is no doubt about it... we will greatly miss having Rodrick and Jeanette, Andre, Clara, Sofia and Leo nearby. But they remind us that airplanes fly both ways, that they will return a few times a year for visits, and that we of course can come down to visit them too.Who knows—maybe someday Rodrick and Jeanette can grow cacao beans and make single origin organic specialty chocolate for our Family Cow tribe. How neat would that be? Don't think it's impossible. Just last week we introduced single origin organic coffee straight from Jeanette's family in Guatemala. :)In spite of unknowns, some things never change. We do know that "all things work together for good to those who love God." (Romans 8:28) So... we'll just focus on loving God and we'll trust Him to work out the good that only He knows! Faith, Hope and Love,Your farmer - Edwin for Dawn too

NEW: Organic Coffee direct from family in Guatemala!

Good morning Family Cow tribe! I have exciting news: Organic Coffee direct from Rodrick & Jeanette's family in Guatemala! Yes, this dream is finally happening. 😊 Know your farmer, know your food... taken to a whole new level! This single origin coffee is Chemical-Free, Shade-Grown, Hand Picked, and Small Batch Roasted to create a premium brew. It is a Medium-Dark roast to highlight the delicate coffee notes without the strong "burnt" flavor of many cheap brands. Coffee is often dark roasted to burn away undesirable flavors of low-grade coffee... Definitely not the case with these specialty beans! :) Taste the difference and enjoy with confidence. It's fresh organic coffee direct from a single source you can trace and trust. This specialty organic coffee is always: Single Origin from family in Guatemala (pictured below)Shade-Grown and Bird FriendlyRegeneratively FarmedSmall Batch RoastedChemical-FreeHand PickedSun Dried100% Arabic2,200 foot ElevationRetalhuleu RegionMedium / Dark RoastWhole Bean so you can fresh grind for optimum flavor! :) Meet your coffee farmers: Virgil & Jolene along with Sheldon & Dianna carefully manage each step of the process to bring you the best coffee possible without any chemical contamination. Know your coffee source and enjoy fresh brew with confidence. Coffee farmers: Virgil & Jolene with Sheldon & Dianna Stay tuned for coffee updates in the future!We plan to share more photos of their regenerative farm along with details of how they use "good bugs to fight off the coffee pests" instead of relying on harsh chemicals the way most coffee is raised.I'll do my best to show the Hand Picking, Sun Drying and Small Batch Roasting in action! :) Blessings on your day,Wesley~5th generation on the farm P.S. If our coffee is sold out when you are ready to purchase, please check back in a few days. We fresh roast a small batch every week or two coffee so it won't be sold out long! :)

Friday & Monday Real Food Sale NOW Live!

They Missed Him

More from the blog

Family Picture Night 2024

Rodrick & Jeanette are moving to Colombia, South America

NEW: Organic Coffee direct from family in Guatemala!

The Family Cow

God Designed it... We Respect it... That Explains it!

"We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it."