Goat in a Coat
I burst out laughing when I saw this picture of my friend Amanda’s goat wearing a rain jacket. Amanda and her family have started raising goats, and twice a day, she takes her four young children out to feed and care for all the goats and sheep dogs on their family land. These goats are always getting into trouble and take up so much of my friend’s time and energy and sanity. These goats stress me out, and I live two states away. But here we are with Goldie the Goat wearing her own comfort fleece.
My friend Amanda has ten million amazing qualities, but for the sake of this story, one thing I need to mention is that she is extremely frugal. So the fact that she paid good money for a goat coat really adds to the dynamic here. But her reasoning was simple. Apparently Goldie the Goat was going to become a Mama Goat soon, but her baby goat died on Christmas Day. Amanda told us that ever since then, Goldie has been very puny, sickly, and well, despondent. Since the weather was freezing and rainy and altogether terrible, Amanda got her that coat.
At the time, I felt a little bummed for the goat, but then I remembered that IT IS A GOAT, and I moved on. But then I was driving my kids to preschool and was trying to drown out the Silly Songs with Larry Veggie Tales cd (which no one broke into my van and burned for me, per my request), and my thoughts wandered back to Goldie the Goat and her Goat Coat.
I thought about how as silly as this situation is to me, Amanda knew her goat was struggling, so she did what she could to meet her need. A goat coat to me is 100% ridiculous, but the analogy here is worth noting.
I remember when we adopted our second child Joshua, our lives went from normal to chaos in the matter of one day. He was a medically fragile 4-pound preemie. We had to write a check for $20,000 to the adoption agency which was every last penny we had (and were saving up for potentially doing IVF). We were initially told he would be coming home in a month, but then that changed to he was coming home the very next day. We had zero boy clothes, no money, our daughter was still in a crib, I was having pregnancy symptoms….. the scary list goes on.
And then Alison Rudd showed up at my door with her hands full of supplies. We moved furniture around to make room for another nursery, cleaned the house, ate the reeces she had brought, and when she left at midnight, I found the pregnancy test she had brought too. Alison had brought this Goat a Coat.
The next day, with the fresh news that we had an 18-month old, a baby we had just adopted, and one on the way, I went to the hospital for training on how to care for Joshua’s medical needs. Changing an ostomy bag on a premature baby is terrifying and disgusting. The smell. The smell. The smell. I almost passed out and left the hospital feeling absolutely defeated and overwhelmed. At home, there was a knock at the door, and it was Roz Dorsett from church with a meal. She told me that her community group had started a meal train for us to help during the adoption transition. I didn’t know most of the people who brought us meals over the next few months. Yes, strangers from a community group we didn’t even belong to fed us. The Bookers, the Waites, the Daughterys, and countless others took care of us. They brought boy clothes and even maternity clothes for me! They knew we were struggling, so they met our needs. They gave this Goat a Coat.
Back to Goldie for a sec, if Amanda wasn’t paying attention, she would have missed the fact that the goat needed help. It’s the same for us. It’s so easy to get distracted with all that’s going on in our own family, in our own career, in our own finances, etc. At the Covenant Member Meeting in Mobile a few weeks ago, Mark made the point that getting to know people in the church starts with you. We all want authentic community because that means we know each other well enough to notice when there is a need. It means we’re paying attention to each other.
Jesus paid attention. Surrounded by a mass of people, a woman in blind faith reached out to him to merely touch his clothing (Mark 5:25). Jesus noticed her and ministered to her. He cares about our needs. He noticed a lonely woman at the well and transformed her life (John 4:4-42). The disciples missed her because they were busy. With all that was going on at the time, Jesus still reached out to Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10), noticed a widow give all she had (Luke 21:1-4), humbled himself by washing his disciples’ feet (John 13:1-7), and on and on. Jesus knows how to minister to our needs because he knows us. He pays attention to us, and he cares about us. He is the Good Shepherd.
There are plenty of ways at Mars Hill Church to get to know people, but Mark’s right- it starts with you. Come to events like Family Day, Covenant Member Meeting, Dinner for 8, A Call to Arms. There are Ladies Bible Studies happening on both campuses this semester. Men gather every Tuesday for Fraternal Life. Join a Community Group.
Another great way to get to know someone is to serve alongside them. Volunteer in Mars Kids. Join the Security Team or the Stories Team or talk to Brad about local missions opportunities.
If all else fails- sign up to take a meal to a family you don’t know. It might not seem like much, but I remember a time not too long ago when a girl I didn’t know showed up with a pork loin, potatoes, and rice. It was delicious. She said she and her husband Clifford led a community group, and they’d love it if we could ever join them. Thanks to Caitlyn Waite and the others who provided for us when we felt like we were drowning, we did give their group a try. We made really close friends, like Jamie Beagle who I talk to almost daily. We didn’t feel alone. We felt cared for. These Goats had Coats.
Tricia Butts - Tricia is a Covenant Member of Mars Hill Church- Mobile Campus. She also serves as Communications Director for both campuses. Tricia is wife to Caleb and Family Circus Ring Master to Abby Bette (6), Joshua (4), Ella (4), and Lucas (2).