Sometimes, Love is Unexpected Like That.

Our donkey Jake is a funny little creature.

He brays at strange times of the day,

usually when my Farmer pulls into the driveway from work

and he knows he is getting some hay.

Sometimes he calls when we come out on the porch in the morning;

I guess he's letting us know he's happy to see us.

Occassionally we hear him when he sees the cows in the other pasture;

I suppose to let them know that even though he's not with them

he's still in charge over there.

But often,

for no apparent reason,

just out of the blue,

Jake starts at his,

"Heeeeeee-awwww

Heeeeeee-awwwww."

I love Jake.

It's funny because I never thought I'd actually love a donkey.

I've always wanted a horse,

and,

to be honest,

when my sister-in-law offered for us to have Jake for Violet to ride

as her girls had outgrown him

and he's as gentle a creature as one could ever find,

I actually didn't especially want him.

He's funny looking and slow

and little

and just an old donkey:

 not the grandeur of a horse.

But Violet saw beyond his quirky looks

and loved him;

and even after we got a mini horse,

she still wanted Jake...

because Jake is a sweetheart.

Yes, you know I'm smitten if I call a donkey a sweetheart.

(Just so you know:

he is wearing a muzzle for his own safety: he had problems with his feet

 a few years back from gorging himself on green grass.

He can eat out of this muzzle, but it limits him).

Often during the week,

in between a school subject,

I see Violet don her horse-riding helmet,

wander up to the pasture,

tug Jake along out through the gate,

and take him for a walk.

This week she even mounted him bareback and rode him up by the pond;

he trudges along at an even pace:

micro-slow.

I enjoy watching the two of them.

Violet is content to just be moving along,

her feet not far from the ground,

and Jake looking like he actually enjoys the company of a human

and the change of getting out of his field.

As I glanced up at Jake in his pasture,

I was reminded that today is Palm Sunday.

It's always funny to me to see how the God of the universe,

the creator of all creatures,

including man,
does things so differently than man would.

Mankind ranks all things

in matter of importance and prestige;

but God chose such different approaches when He was here on earth:

born in a stable

to common folk,

grew up learning the trade of carpentry under his 

mother and step-father's roof.

Jesus life was so different in every way to what we'd expect

GOD

to have done with His only Son.

His triumphant entry was no exception:

 a donkey.

Not a horse,

or a camel,

not even walking on His own feet...

but a donkey.

As I looked up at Jake,

this creature with so much personality and sweetness

and strength in his little body,

I smiled at the humility and wonder of God.

He is amazing to me.

And that He loves me and chose this way 

to receive his praise before His perfect sacrifice...

Well,

there are no words.

I can only smile and truly thank Him for being

so far above what I am,

 and yet,

so completely willing to love me

that He uses the simple things,

like a donkey,

to remind me.

"Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem:

behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation;

lowly, and riding upon an ass,

and upon a colt the foal of an ass."

Zechariah 9:9