we all need a helping hand sometimes...

on sunday morning our worker came to tell us that there was a problem. when we went to look, we found this:

she had gone into labor during the night, and in the morning when the sheep were let out, she made it this far.

do i hear you saying eeeww? you shouldn't. it's a miracle of nature.

see? not eewww. a tiny little lamb. we thought it was dead. it was very still, and it's tongue was hanging out.

the man started pulling it out. then, suddenly the lamb shuddered. it wasn't dead! that meant that he had to pull more carefully, because now he didn't want to hurt it.

see those hands? those are the hands that hold my hand. no more hand-holding until those hands are washed...

he soon realized why the lamb was stuck. it's one little knee was catching inside. the man had to reach inside to straighten the leg. believe me, this wasn't pleasant for the poor mama.

after quite a long struggle, it just slid out. the poor lamb and the mama were exhausted! our one worker was moved to tears. he said it made him sad to see the mama suffering like that. when he said that with a catch in his throat, it moved me to tears too.

hello little lamb. welcome to the world. i hope nothing will ever be this difficult for you again.

the mother sheep licks the baby clean, and eats all the afterbirth. this is to replace all the blood and minerals she lost in the birth. now, this is eeww..

come on baby! you can do it! i know you can! you see? a miracle!

sometimes we spend so much time looking for a miracle, that we do not even notice the 'every day miracles' that happen around us.

after this, our cup of morning coffee outside in the spring sunshine seemed to taste so much sweeter!

jacki janse van rensburg - SCRAPPIN TIMES scrapbook shop, benoni, gauteng, south africa