"Brandin' Time"

When we rise at old dark-thirty,

And the wind is blowin’ surly,

And we know that there is so much work to do,

We’ll saddle, look for cattle,

And through the brush we’ll rattle,

And soon the pairs come trotting into view.

The calves they need a-brandin’,

With their mamas they are standin’,

The little bulls will soon feel the knife.

We’ll gather till we have ‘em,

Each time when they calve ‘em,

Workin’ cattle is a cowboy’s life.

And our friends all gather with us,

They’d never want to miss us,

It’s so much fun when we rope and drag,

There’s laughter, competition,

And good cowboy tradition,

And even little cowboys do not lag.

And when we finally get through,

Done all the work we had to,

We’ll eat a meal and then bid them good-bye,

The moments we’ll remember,

Our history’s fire the tinder,

We’ll think of next year’s brandin’ with desire.

And just before the sleep comes,

Think about what we’ve done,

Thank the Lord for this old cowboy way.

Lord, help us to live grateful,

For what’s put on our table,

And show it as we live each passing day.

“Make it your goal to live a quiet life…” (1 Thessalonians 4:11, NLT)

Most of us would not characterize our lives as “quiet.” No, life in this cultural milieu is more likely loud, chaotic, and stressful. So, how do we change it? We can’t all just move to the country and live as cowboys, though some could. And even life on a ranch can get loud if we let it. There have been times that I thought if I could just change to a quieter environment it would help. And it sometimes has. But sometimes more external quiet only made the noise on the inside get louder. The Lord is the great calmer of nerves, reliever of stress, and author of peace and quiet. When it gets too loud we need to go to Jesus for help and ask for it. He knows how to quieten our lives, short and long-term. When He says, “Peace, be still,” it happens.

Lord, speak peace and quiet into our lives, in Jesus’ name.

Photo by Stephanie Roundy, stephanieroundy.smugmug.com. Used by permission. Thanks, Stephanie, and God bless you.