Protection

A while ago, someone told me that she'd had a picture of a special sheep pen.  She said that it was surrounded by thorns and brambles to keep predators out and to keep the sheep safe. She said that this is what she felt it would be like for us when I became pregnant - that I would be protected from things that could harm us and would be safe. I wanted to find an illustration of such a sheep pen but really struggled and then last week, on a particularly low day, I found this.....


When I first looked at it I was struck by how thorny the surrounding pen was - I couldn't imagine anything being able to get in without a fight to harm the sheep.  But then I noticed the gap in the fence and my heart sank.  Predators would just be able to walk in and harm the sheep - this wasn't protection at all.  I read on and learnt that the open space at the side of the pen is where the shepherd sleeps to protect the flock.  I found this absolutely amazing and am clinging on to it. I have got the photo saved as the wallpaper on my phone so that each time I use my phone I am reminded of it.  The link to the blog where I found this is http://becomingbubbalooch.blogspot.com/2011/05/whats-sheeps-gate.html.