Jenny Marrs Shares ‘Spiritual Lessons’ She Learned From Her Sheep
By Movieguide® Contributor
Jenny Marrs is drawing parallels between her life on the family farm and God’s care for us.
“After moving the sheep back to our front pasture (we regularly rotate pastures to keep the ground and the sheep healthy), I thought about how many spiritual lessons I’ve learned from caring for my little flock,” she wrote in a recent Instagram post.
Marrs then cited a passage from “A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23”:
“It is no accident that God has chosen to call us sheep. The behavior of sheep and human beings is similar in many ways… Our mass mind (or mob instincts), our fears and timidity, our stubbornness and stupidity, our perverse habits are all parallels of profound importance.
Yet despite these adverse characteristics Christ chooses us, buys us, calls us by name, makes us His own, and delights in caring for us.
He literally lays Himself out for us continually. He is ever interceding for us; He is ever guiding us by His gracious Spirit; He is ever working on our behalf to ensure that we will benefit from His care.
He is the owner who delights in His flock. For Him there is no greater reward, no deeper satisfaction, than of seeing His sheep contented, well fed, safe, and flourishing under His care.”
“Watching my four-legged babies flourish in a well-cared for pasture brings me such joy. I get the smallest glimpse in these moments of how deeply loved and cared for I truly am, even when I get distracted or I take my eyes of[f] Him or if I’m out in front like Teddy, listening and obeying,” she concluded. “In all times, He is patiently there, guiding me along to the abundantly green pastures He has prepared for me.”
The HGTV star often shares the aspects of faith she sees in the animals she takes care of on the Marrs family farm.
In another Instagram post describing the process of moving the family’s livestock to a different pasture, Marrs compared it to God’s efforts to move His flock to new pastures.
“Sometimes, I can be just as stubborn when God gently calls me to a new pasture,” she wrote. “Because I only see the road ahead as new and scary and would rather stay put in my old, worn out pasture because it’s comfortable and safe. Instead of simply trusting the leading of my Shepherd who can see far beyond my current sight line and knows of all the abundance and goodness ahead.
Marrs continued, “If you’re facing the move to a new pasture today, take a deep breath. Trust and take one step forward. Then the next. Embrace the call to run through the gate toward His voice with courage fueled by simple, honest trust. Trust rooted in the knowledge of His abundantly lavish love.”
The Marrs family is currently preparing for the farm’s annual Berry Fest. In celebration of the occasion, Marrs shared a deleted scene from FIXER TO FABULOUS: ITALIANO.
“Last year, we planted a little blueberry patch at Campo Sasso in order to bring a piece of our farm to Tuscany … and, we actually planted grapes here at the Berry Farm in order to bring a piece of Tuscany to Bentonville!!” she shared.
Movieguide® previously reported on Berry Fest:
HGTV star Jenny Marrs is ready for her family farm’s annual Berry Fest, which benefits people in Zimbabwe and Belize through the Help One Now organization.
“I’ve written before about simply focusing on the one thing before you. And, how the next thing is often a small, seemingly insignificant, step of obedience,” Marrs captioned a video of scenes from the farm. “Till the soil. Install irrigation lines. Build a barn. Plant the berries.”
She explained that, by focusing on the task at hand, “you aren’t yet able to see the full picture. You can’t yet connect the dots to realize how this small step will carry you to the next step and then the next and then the next.”
“When we planted these fields nine years ago, we knew God had something planned for this soil. We thought we knew what would unfold in the years to come, but, of course, we had no idea,” Marrs wrote.
Marrs noted that the farm’s Berry Fest will take place next month, adding, “We are immensely grateful to be able to share this place with you all.”
