The Purpose Driven Donkey

The Purpose Driven Donkey

AuthorHouse

Chapter One

Jake carefully took a look around at the stable one last time, and smiled with pleasure in his heart as he knew he had finished all that needed to be done. He walked over to Daisey and patted her on her back and scratched her between her ears and said, "Girl, it's up to you and the Good Lord now, I figure by the first light of day you will have a special little gift from God! Now you rest and I will be back to check on you first thing in the morning."

Master Jake slowly walked over and turned out the light in the barn and headed for his own warm bed. As he crawled into bed he closed his eyes and asked God to watch over his loved ones and keep them safe. Master Jake rose up the next morning as the sun came creeping through the window and the old red rooster began to call from the barn yard. He prayed to God thanking Him for keeping everyone safe through the night, he asked the Lord to lead him in His will throughout this day, and went to the kitchen and made himself a cup of hot coffee. As he sat at his table drinking the coffee , he wondered just what he would find out in the barn this morning. Jake finished his coffee and slowly made his way out to check on Daisey.

The moment he opened the barn door the smell of the hay made him smile. Then as the light shown in, he could see standing there looking back at him was Daisey and her special baby and just for a second Jake sure thought he saw a smile on Daisey's face as well. He walked over rubbing his hand down her neck and across her back , and said "Well old girl, looks like we have a new friend to let everyone see this morning. He bent down on one knee and patted the new baby on his head. "What shall I name you , my little friend ?" As Jake looked into the small donkey's eyes, the little donkey let out a bray as if to let everyone on the farm know he had come into the world . Master Jake fell back in the hay and laughed out loud. "Well little guy, you sure have strong lungs to be so small, and I am glad to meet you too," Jake said to the little gray donkey as he pulled himself back onto his feet. As Jake stood there looking at the new little foal and trying to think of just the right name for his new little friend, the small foal lay his soft muzzle against Jake's hand. Jake remembered reading in the Bible in the book of Ruth about a man named Boaz who commanded his helpers to let Ruth gather from his harvest. Boaz called it handfuls on purpose, Because Ruth had trusted in the Lord. This was Gods favor upon Ruth and her Mother in law, it was God's redemptive purpose. And Jake lovingly bent down and looked into the little donkey's eyes and with a smile on his face and the love of Jesus in his heart said, "that's it little fellow, we shall name you Purpose, for surely you have a special purpose."

Master Jake turned and walked over to the barn doors and opened them wide to allow the warm sunshine into the barn. Every day Master would come into the barn and bring his Bible and sit and read it out loud to Purpose. As the days passed little Purpose would run and kick his heels up as he began to spend more and more time apart from his mother. There were lessons he learned every day, like not to reach too far through the fence to try to reach the green grass on the other side, for when he did the barbs on the wire would sometimes cause him pain as they would cut him. As Master Jake had once said, that is how it is with people when they do the things the Lord tells them not to do, then it causes them great pain.

One day Jake came out to the pasture and Purpose came running to see him knowing that he would surely have treats to give out. But today there were no treats , but instead he had a rope, a halter, a bit, and a bridle in his hand. As he held them out he said "Purpose, you are not a foal any longer but you are a yearling now and its time that we teach you to wear your head gear, for soon you will be doing work here on the farm." And it wasn't long before Purpose was not only wearing those things, but he was learning to pull a cart and skid logs from the big woods. Master Jake was a hard working man, and at times it seemed he worked from sun up until past sun down, and there was Purpose right alongside him. Many times as they worked side by side, Jake would share his knowledge of the Lord with Purpose. Once he said, "Purpose, you and I work so close together, why at times it seems like we are one, and that's how my life should be with the Lord. I should become as one with Him." Purpose loved working with Master Jake, The only problem was at times it seemed as though Purpose's legs were so short that he had such a hard time pulling the load of heavy logs through the mud. And at times Jake would have to hitch a horse to Purpose's side to get the load of logs out of the woods.

One rainy fall morning Jake came into the barn and said, "Purpose, it seems that you are just too small to pull the load of what I have to get done. I sure thought that you would be much larger when you grew up, but I just have to trust the Lord to help me get all this work done. You will have to stay behind this time." Jake went over and took the old mare out of her stall and took her to work in the woods with him leaving poor Purpose behind. Purpose stood there and in his heart he wondered, couldn't master see how I want to please him? And one day turned into two, and two turned into four and it wasn't long until Purpose found himself turned out into the back pasture. He watched as Jake would go into the barn at the close of the day, and he sadly remembered back on the days when he was in that barn and Jake would come in and so lovingly stroke him between his ears and talk to him. Oh, how Purpose missed those days. He remembered how so often Jake would say, "Purpose the Lord knows all things, why He even knows the very intent of our hearts." How poor Purpose missed the time of day when master would read to him out of that Bible!

One day a man came by when Jake was out in the barn cleaning the stalls. Purpose ran to the fence to see what was going on. As he stood there he overheard this stranger ask Master Jake if he had a donkey that he might want to sell. Little Purpose felt his heart sink as he heard Jake say "I have one but he is so small he cannot pull a very big load. There he stands over at the fence now." Purpose laid his ears back and dropped his head and slowly walked away from the fence in sorrow to think that Master Jake would sell him. After all, it was Master who had told little Purpose all his life that the Lord surely has a special plan for him. The two men walked out to where Purpose stood . Poor Purpose couldn't even make himself raise his head to look Master Jake in the eyes, he just stood there brokenhearted. As this stranger lead little Purpose away and put him into the big trailer, he just could not understand how the Lord had allowed this to happen unto him. He felt so alone. Though he longed to be back home on the farm with Master, to be in the warm barn, to have his ears scratched just one more time, but with time he began to warm up to his new owner .

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from The Purpose Driven Donkey by Jamie Lynn Warren Copyright © 2012 by Jamie Lynn Warren. Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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