January always draws us back to the sheep shed. The cold settles in, the nights stretch long, and the ewes are round with promise. We pull on boots and slip out into the dark, flashlights in hand, and make the last check. The sheep breathe little clouds into the air, and the whole barn seems to hold vigil with them. New life is coming.
Children sense this mystery. They watch us lean close to a ewe, notice how gently we move around her, how we whisper instead of clatter. They see that life—even life not yet born—asks something of us.
Pope John Paul II wrote in Evangelium Vitae, that “life is always a good.” He meant every life, from the spark in the womb to the elder with trembling hands. Children don’t need a theological treatise to understand this. They learn it by watching, by listening, and by taking their cues from us.
WATCHING FOR WOLVES: FORMING PRO-LIFE INSTINCT
On the farm, tending new lambs means helping our boys notice the signs of predators. We don’t stir up fear, but awareness. They come to understand that some things in the world threaten life, and that our calling is to guard and care for those entrusted to us.
As a girl, I heard the word “abortion” without understanding what it meant. Even as a nurse in surgical and emergency departments, I didn’t quite see that abortion was the ending of an innocent, beautiful, unseen life. I simply never thought deeply about it. Now I want my children to recognize the dangers (ideological and otherwise) that prowl and stalk human dignity as surely as the bobcats in the brush. Again, not to fear them, but to recognize them. To respond with courage, clarity, and compassion.
Where to start? I’m certain it’s not with politics or arguments. We begin with the truth they already know: that tiny lives are precious, that mothers need support, and that sometimes people are hurting or afraid. Just as we teach our children to pray for our leaders or the sick, we teach our children to pray for everyone touched by abortion: the babies, mothers, fathers, and even those who cause harm. We teach them that love is always our first response.
SHEPHERDING YOUNGER GENERATIONS
Children already grasp more than we expect. They know how to wait for something precious, how to hope, how to lower their voices when ewes grow heavy with lambs. We can nurture that instinct by speaking with wonder when they ask about a pregnant friend, by praying aloud as an emergency vehicle zooms by, by naming the goodness they show a struggling friend. These small, ordinary moments gently teach without ever needing the charged language of politics.
When the fuzzy lambs are born—wobbly, blinking, searching for their mother—we try to witness the miracle. We all watch with hushed excitement as the ewe nudges her newborn, stands guard, and offers warmth and milk. It’s undeniable: life begins long before the first bleat. So did our duty to protect, and our charge to care.
Like good shepherds, may we step into a new year determined to lead younger generations by our words and our witness to understand that life is precious. And may this season of lambing remind all of us that God is still bringing forth abundance in quiet, hidden places.
