"Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!"

“Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!" I can almost hear our sweet Josie channeling Jan Brady from The Brady Bunch: “Faustina, Faustina, Faustina!”

What does a shepherd do when one lamb (Faustina) has oodles of charisma, curiosity, and spunk, and so naturally wants/gets the attention while the other lamb (Josie) is shy, suspicious, and scrambles like a quarterback about to get sacked whenever we approach?

My goodness, she puts the flight in flighty. When pressed, she’s proven she can leap over muck buckets like a gazelle when she wants to get away from us— but most of the time, she doesn’t want to. She simply hovers barely past our fingertips and calmly stares at us.

I can see the desire for connection peering out from underneath those wild Valais curls. In fact, she’s perfectly happy to venture near as long as she’s hiding behind Faustina’s fleece. That said, once corralled, she seems to enjoy butt scratches every bit as much as her sister does—in spite of herself! What is it that we’re missing about Josie?

If lambs could sigh, I’m pretty sure she would. And since humans can, I do.

Josie, Josie, Josie.

Maybe it’s time to borrow a page out of the horsey playbook: How long does it take to get a shy little lamb to love you?

Answer: As long as it takes.

We’ll be here for you, Josie, when you’re ready to take a leap of faith instead of a flying one over the muck bucket.

Someday you’ll understand that just like humans in their walk with Christ, the closer you are to the Shepherd, the safer you are from the wolves.

“Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.” ~Ephesians 4:2