| ||||||||||
 
Dr. Ronald P. Rogers CHIROPRACTOR Support for your body's natural healing capabilities 270-384-5554 Click here for details 
  
Columbia Gas Dept. GAS LEAK or GAS SMELL Contact Numbers 24 hrs/ 365 days 270-384-2006 or 9-1-1 Call before you dig 
Visit ColumbiaMagazine's Directory of Churches Addresses, times, phone numbers and more for churches in Adair County Find Great Stuff in ColumbiaMagazine's Classified Ads Antiques, Help Wanted, Autos, Real Estate, Legal Notices, More... 
|
George Rice: The Lord's Calf and the Devil The following story tells of a mighty test of wills between the Lord and the Devil, with both sides getting the edge several times. You know the outcome? In a story better than Erskine Caldwell wrote about a similar conflict in 'God's Little Acre,' Adair County's great storyteller weaves a tale of suspense on the farm. Read it all, alone or to a group for the outcome. It's far better than cable. - CM A true story of the Lord's Calf and the Devil, written 2015-01-24 - GEORGE RICE George Rice It was in the spring of 2014 when Beth and I (Beth is my dog), were circling the farm in our old farm truck checking for a new calf or dead cows or maybe a tree on a fence when we noticed number 50 cow had a new calf. When a cow has a new calf I attempt to catch the calf and ear tag the calf to match the number of it's Mother. This calf was several hours old and it would not stop long enough for me to catch it and tag it. So we had to let it go for then. However, the next day as we were circling the farm we found the little one curled up in the grass sound asleep. It isn't unusual for a cow to leave her little one asleep while going off to graze grass or in this case to stand in the shaded trees on the far edge of the field. A Mother cow always knows where she left her baby, so she had not forsaken the calf. When little calves are young they can sleep so soundly that you can slip upon them and often put a halter on them and they never wake up, which happened this time. After I had put a halter on the calf and secured its head to its back legs I was about to implant a ear tag when it woke up and you can imagine how terrified it was. After I implanted the ear tag in its ear, I helped it up and pointed it toward its mother and other cows off a distance in the shade and took the halter off thinking the calf would go to it's mother. But, instead of going to its mother the calf cried out "Bbbaaaaa,"ran around the truck and across the field in the opposite direction. I supposed it would run up in the field a short way and stop until it's mother came to it. After putting my ear tagging tool and halter up I looked for the calf which was no where to be found. I searched and searched but no calf could I find. Hoping the mother would call the calf to her and all would be alright, I left the scene. The next day I returned, hoping the cow and calf would be together, but no calf and now the mother was searching for the calf and bawling constantly. What apparently happened was the calf ran all across the field, crossed Hwy 551 and into the wooded area of Mr. Chris Watts land. Again I searched the bean fields and the woods but no calf so after about the third day I resolved that the calf without it's mother would soon die of starvation and I couldn't do any thing about it. Fast forward seven days: The veterinarian and I are at the barn working some cattle when my phone rings. It was my good neighbor, Chris Watts. He asks, "George do you have a calf missing?" I answered, "Yes I do. Is it black?" Chris answered, "Yes, it is, with an ear tag number 50. It's down here in the holler lying under some weeds. When I get my son to help me I will bring it to you." Now that is a good neighbor. Soon Chris and his son were at the barn with a little calf. It was thin but in surprisinglyly good condition. Now there was no way a new born calve would live a week without some milk, but it was alive after traveling a good three quarters of a mile from my place to where it was found. I'm wondering: As God supplied manna for the Israelites as they traveled through the wilderness, if maybe God supplied some calf manna for the little one as it went through the wooded wilderness on its way to the Chris Watts farm. As soon as the vet finished I went to the house and fixed half a bottle of milk hoping that the calf would drink some milk. It did. In fact, it almost swallowed the bottle and all. I knew I must not give it too much milk at once, so I decided I'd come back soon and gave it another half a bottle of milk. As I looked at the calf I'm thinking, "the Lord gave me this calf and I lost the calf and again the Lord gave it back to me, so I guess I'll call it "The Lord's Calf" and when it is sold I'll just gives the money to the Lord. Now the devil heard what I had said and immediately began to plot against me, the Lord, and the calf. Then one night in the darkness of the night the devil said to the calf, "Have you noticed that little crack in the barn?" and the calf said, 'Yes, but it's too small for me go through." So the devil said "If you will push I'll help you get out" and the next morning when I went to the barn with my bottle of milk the Lord's calf was gone. So again I was searching this barn, that barn, and the other barn. But no calf. So where was the Lord's calf? As the calf got a few weeks old, I had another calf to develop pink eye in both eyes and after doctoring it and putting a patch over both eyes I put in the barn with the Lord's calf. Shortly after that I had a cow to give birth to a set of twins in the field. Most of the time when twins are born to a beef cow in the open field the cow gets up and walks off one twin will follow and the other twin is left behind, which happened this time, so I brought the odd twin to the barn and put it with the Lord's Calf and Bad Eye. Now the calves are numbered and named Lord's Calf, TW for twins and Bad Eye. After a few weeks Bad Eye could see once again, the twin is growing, and things are looking good until the devil strikes again. I have gates in the barn and always keep a chain with a good hook to keep the gates closed. I have no other expiation how that gate came unhooked, but it did and all three calves were gone. The devil had struck again. But again the Lord helped me catch the three calves and put them back where they belong. I was again boosted with encouragement. The calves were now old enough and mature enough to put on full feed without the bottle. What a relief! So I moved the calves to another barn where they were on full feed and grass. All was well now for a few weeks, until one Sunday afternoon the family and I were enjoy good fellowship on the front porch when someone says "Look, the calves are out going down the lane toward the highway." Thank goodness for a family of young men and girls who can run. Off went Joey, Jeff, Janet, Eligah, and Kyndal to run the calves back to the barn. I don't know what really happened but the devil may have dis-attracted me when I was at the barn and left the barn door open. Then there was the occasion when I was in the hospital for a few days and Cherita was bringing Momma home after visiting me in the hospital. As she was coming up the lane to the house she met a whole heard of cattle including the Lord's Calf, TW, and Bad Eye coming down the road. After getting Momma to the house,. she attempted to head the cattle off from the main road until Joey got there and put everything and everybody back where they belonged. Again it appeared the devil must have been involved. The three calves were back in their barn, the big cattle were back in their pasture field and I was back home. The Lord's Calf, TW and Bad eye had a barn to themselves with full feed and good pasture outside. All should have been well. Then one day the devil told the calves that if they rubbed hard enough on that lower gate, he would help them get it un-hooked. So the devil kept his promise. I was at work at Burton Ace Hdware when Joey came down the road and noticed the calves where they ought not to be. He got them back in their right field and, tired of running the Lord's calf, he re-chained that gate and instead of hooking the gate he got the hammer and nailed it shut. The next episode occurs about 10:00 o'clock one night as I was watching the news and the phone rang. It's Joey, who said, "George, there is whole herd of cattle coming up the road from your house. I quickly got dressed and hurried up the road. By this time Deputy Rainwater, Kenny Brock, and Joey had the whole herd in Joey's yard. Thanks to good neighbors. Running the herd around and around Joey's house and trampling his soft dirt which he didn't want them in, they all went through a wide gate back into my field except the Lord's Calf, Bad Eye and TW, who would run right by the open gate and around the house again. After about the third time around the house TW and the Lord's Calf went through the gate but Bad Eye bolted and run the opposite way. In the meantime Joey was in his Toyota and running ahead of Bad Eye. The calf hit his vehicle and bent a place in the side; but by now Bad Eye was ready to go through the gate back into my field. I closed all gates and the cows were kept in this front field until the next day when the Lord helped me get those three calves back into their right barn and the other cattle in the back field. No the story isn't over. The calves then weighed about 500 pounds each and were ready to sell, but there was a clover and orchard grass field adjacent to the calf lot and I decided to let them into the area of extra good grass and were they could put on a few extra pounds before selling. A few days later it rained all day, and of course the grass was wet from the rain. The next day my Grandsons were at the barn when one of them called me saying "Pa Pa, you have a dead cow up here," I asked where, and they said "Where the three calves are." I panicked, thinking that the devil had killed the Lord's Calf. I grabbed my coat and went racing to the barn with my heart going thump, thump, almost like a John Deere tractor. When I got there it was Bad Eye, not the Lord's Calf, who was dead. I kept the other two calves on full feed for another two month or so and decided to sell them the next Thursday. I called Sammy Baker and he said he would pick them up in the morning, I told him I would have them in the barn. Now those calves always sleep in the barn at night, so all I have to do is close the barn door and they are caught. When I go to the barn that afternoon to close the barn doors . . . this time they are standing just outside the barn looking in. I talk to them, I tried to coax then with a bucket of feed but the devil keep telling then not to go in the barn tonight. So I left thinking they would come in as usual later and I'd catch them in the morning. But the next morning, the devil had those calves sleeping near the far side of that field. The next week I did catch them in the barn and Sammy delivered them to the stock yard the next day. The Lord's Calf weighed 800 pounds and TW weighed about 750 pounds. As I had promised, the Lord's Calf was sold in the church's name and every penny went to the Lord. Now the moral of this story is: I can't combat the devil, but the Lord always wins. But truthfully. they are really in good shape. It's just that I am no match for the devil. And after the Lord's calf was sold, I haven't had any more trouble with my cattle. --George Rice This story was posted on 2015-01-26 06:41:36
Printable: this page is now automatically formatted for printing.
Have comments or corrections for this story? Use our contact form and let us know.
More articles from topic News:
Update: Shoes for H.O.P.E Drive reaches 300 pairs Hailey's Birthday Snowman project 24 Jan 2013 D. Branham: Gas supposed to drop 13 cents, not go up 26 cents Drivers warned of possible slick spots on roadways this morning Comment, gas prices, Columbia: Why 26 cent increase overnight? Judy Wallace Irvin to co-host on Susan & Carol, Unscripted Carol Perkins: Ma and Pa Kettle Cedar Creek Lake to receive stockings of trout Canada geese in flight a reminder of Christmas dinners, her dad Remembering Sen. Ford: Misses already, his wit, common sense View even more articles in topic News |
 
115 Jamestown St. Columbia, KY. 270-384-2496 
  
   
 Provided by the Adair Co Fiscal Court and the Adair Co. Emergency Mgt. Agency 
|
||||||||
|
| ||||||||||
|
Quick Links to Popular Features
Looking for a story or picture? Try our Photo Archive or our Stories Archive for all the information that's appeared on ColumbiaMagazine.com. | ||||||||||
|
Contact us: Columbia Magazine and columbiamagazine.com are published by Linda Waggener and Pen Waggener, PO Box 906, Columbia, KY 42728. Please use our contact page, or send questions about technical issues with this site to webmaster@columbiamagazine.com. All logos and trademarks used on this site are property of their respective owners. All comments remain the property and responsibility of their posters, all articles and photos remain the property of their creators, and all the rest is copyright 1995-Present by Columbia Magazine. Privacy policy: use of this site requires no sharing of information. Voluntarily shared information may be published and made available to the public on this site and/or stored electronically. Anonymous submissions will be subject to additional verification. Cookies are not required to use our site. However, if you have cookies enabled in your web browser, some of our advertisers may use cookies for interest-based advertising across multiple domains. For more information about third-party advertising, visit the NAI web privacy site.
| ||||||||||
