December 22, 1999
CHRISTMAS FEATURE:
The Christmas Lamb
___By Ron Jackson
___ A blizzard raked the Texas Panhandle with sleet that Christmas morning.
___My brother brought news of a new-born lamb frozen in the sheep pen. All of the ewes were lambing, with one in terrible distress, unable to complete delivery. We herded the sheep into the barn. The heat from their bodies and a small gas furnace raised the temperature, but the sheep still were in danger. The lambs were arriving more than two months too early. We were not prepared. The young ewes were not ready--they werebarely able to bear their lambs.
___We might lose the whole flock.
___A veterinarian left his family's Christmas-morning activities to help us. He immediately delivered the lamb that had been partly born outside. The lamb was blue, and we cast it on a rag pile near the furnace. The veterinarian delivered the other lambs by noon.
___We prepared to bury the two lambs--the one outside and the one by the furnace. As the animal doctor lifted the lamb off the rag pile, it softly bleated. The veterinarian placed the lamb inside his coat, cupped his hands around its mouth and nose, and blew warm air into its lungs. The lamb lived, and we buried only the one. Yet if not for the one, we might have lost the flock.
___We had more lambs than expected. Most of the ewes delivered twins, an unusual event for young ewes. Many had triplets, which presented a life-and-death situation. A ewe can nurse but two lambs and is not likely to nurse the lamb of another. Sometimes, liberal use of baby powder on the lambs or a vapor rub on the nose of the ewe suffice to deceive her, and she will adopt another's lamb.
___We placed all the lambs except for the last-saved lamb. Neither its mother nor any other ewe would nurse it.
___For the first few weeks, we kept the lamb in a box in the kitchen. We named him Bambi and fed him formula milk out of a regular baby's bottle.
___Bambi gained weight, fast becoming one of the larger lambs, and he soon joined the rest of the flock. We still fed Bambi. He graduated to a 32 oz. Dr Pepper bottle of formula. Dad told the neighbors Bambi would jump the fence every day at 10, 2 and 4 and knock on the back door to be fed. He was our pet lamb.
___Along about Easter, a truck came and took Bambi and the other sheep. Finances were tight that year, but we made a bit of money because of the large number of lambs and their being born so early. We cut our expenses short by a couple of months and hit the market with a large flock when prices were good.
___I recall little else about that particular Christmas long ago, but I will always remember the one lost lamb, the last saved lamb and the work of the good doctor.
___At Christmas, I will always be reminded of the Lamb of God given to save others, the love of the Good Shepherd for his lost lambs and the work of the Great Physician.
___I also will remember how God met my family's needs at Easter with those Christmas lambs. God met everyone's needs at Easter with his Christmas Lamb.
___Ron Jackson, an attorney, is a deacon and active member of First Baptist Church in El Paso
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