214-325-3559 SEVEN POINTS, TEXAS 903-432-4163
~~~~~~~~~~~~~ BARNEY ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"OUR LITTLE MULE"
ONCE UPON A TIME, GOD HAD SOME SPARE PARTS LEFT OVER THAT
WERE JUST GOING TO WASTE. ALL THE PARTS WERE FUZZY & CUTE,
BUT THEY DIDN'T ALL QUITE MATCH. SOME WERE TOO LITTLE AND
SOME WERE TOO BIG. BUT SOME WERE JUST RIGHT.....
So he decided to give the "assorted fuzzy parts" to some ANGELS-IN-TRAINING to see what they could do. A week later, they came back, all excited, with a tiny little bundle of fur.
They presented their "gift" to God. He looked at it for awhile from all different angles.
He finally said, "Well, Angels, I suppose it's the best you could do with what you had to work with, but..... it has the head of a horse, the ears of a donkey, the body of a pony and the legs
of a zebra. Do you think anyone will ever love it?" "YES, YES!!" replied the Angels,
"Because we put NOTHING BUT SWEETNESS inside the little bundle
and we know You will give him a precious heart filled with LOVE!!!"
So God sent the little bundle to earth to begin his life in the world. He was given to a
beautiful little pony mare who loved him dearly. She treasured her beautiful little "gift"
bundle. When she nickered softly to him as he lay close beside her, he could feel all that sweetness welling up inside him. But the owners of the little mare were disappointed in the little bundle because they thought he was ugly and they didn't think he was worth anything. Not much is known about his life for the next few years after that. Only that he was made fun of and treated badly as he was passed from one human stranger to another. Without his mother, he soon learned to stay far away from people. He seldom got enough to eat and the other animals, most of them bigger than himself, stole what little food he got. He would squeal and stomp in protest, but they wouldn't stop pushing him aside, time & time again.
Oh what a sad, little lonesome mule. Hungry, frightened, lonely, pitiful. His last owner decided he was worthless and took him to the last stop for most horses, a horse auction.
Mama Lu & Daddy Gary, two old highschool sweethearts, now married 37 years, were driving that day out in the country looking at the pretty piney woods of East Texas. They passed by the Auction House. You couldn't miss its massive metal frame standing high on a hill with a huge plastic horse on a big sign out front. The sale hadn't started yet, so there was time to look at the cages filled with all kinds of lonely looking horses. It seemed to Mama Lu that the horses somehow knew their fate. Her heart broke to see the tired, sad eyes and lowered old heads of once proud, faithful companions who were no longer useful or wanted.
Way in the back, in a small cage all by himself, Lu spotted what looked like a little pony. She thought he was cute. She bent down and tried to talk to him. But he was busy eating the handful of hay that she gave him. With no other horses nearby to steal his food, he was very happy. As soon as Lu walked away, he hollered out loud. This was NOT a pony. He brayed like a donkey!!!!! This made Lu turn around and hurry back to his cage. She couldn't help laughing at the BIG funny noise this LITTLE fuzzy fellow had made. He liked the sound of her laughter and laid down and rolled over in the sawdust, flinging his stubby legs in the air. This made Lu laugh even harder. She saw he had a precious heart and she took him home.
All the new sights and sounds, and all the large animals at his new ranch scared the little fellow. He ran and hid as far away as he could get. Humans had always been cruel to him. Could these new humans be different? Mama Lu & Daddy Gary talked sweetly to the little mule in warm, soft tones. He wanted to trust, but it was too hard. Lu reached into her pocket and found a small piece of candy. She offered it to the little mule. He took it into his mouth. It was sweet! He liked it! He crunched down on the piece of candy. Sweetness burst into his mouth! He loved it! He remembered the sweetness he felt with his mother so long ago. He liked the lady who gave him the sweet candy. In no time at all, BARNEY, as he told us his name was, became the ranch mascot. He has the complete run of the ranch. He is the first to greet guests when they come over. Everyone knows his name and he loves to be petted and talked to. He fusses over all the new births on the ranch... whether it is a new foal or a new baby goat. He makes it his duty to take care of all the new babies. He is never caged or penned up. He has all the fresh hay, food and water that he wants. His new mama loves him dearly & gives him his candy treats, too. She thinks he is absolutely BEAUTIFUL.
His shape is JUST RIGHT and he will live with us FOREVER.
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COPYRIGHT ~~ LU MATHEWS ~~ 2005 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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