Do they know which color they are?

The large, grassy field next to the Duck and Cherry is full of sheep these days. This morning, as Hector, the Wheaten Terrier and I strolled past on our morning walk, I smiled and thought of how happy these animals make me. The new lambs hop, leap on the soft, green grass and bleat with their tiny voices.
Most of the sheep are white, but as you look closer, they have a variety of colors. Some are warm, chocolate brown, others are grey, fading into charcoal. Some have a beige tone,as if they have been suntanning, just a little.

There is no segregation, no separate quarters for dark or light colored sheep. They don't seem to care. They eat and play alongside each other, happy for a good meal, freedom and open space to run around, and plenty of fresh air.

I wanted my children to grow up to be persons who saw hearts and not skin color. Our world has a multitude of different people. Our job is to see others for their personality, what they do, what they are - and not an outward appearance.

Luke 6:45
A good man out of the treasure of his heart, bringeth forth that which is good, and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil; for of the abundance of the heart, his mouth speaketh.

When my youngest daughter was seven, we lived in Austria. It was a time when refugees from Yugoslavia fled war and suffering in their country, and crossed the border into a friendlier space. Some of these children went to school with our little girl.
One day she brought several of these children home after school. She wanted us to have lunch together, she played with them, and sincerely enjoyed their company.
Afterwards, she looked at me with her large, blue-green eyes and said, "Mamma, the other children at school say that they stink, but they don't."

Bless her heart. She saw beyond the outer, worldly standard and saw these children for who they were.

The photos today are portraits of our neighbor's sheep. As I said, they make me happy.