Miss A and the Little Donkey

There are several “wild”, rescued donkeys at the farm where Mamatoo boards her horses. Perhaps due to former mistreatment, they are generally untrusting of and avoid interaction with people. Over the past few weeks, Miss A became intrigued by the donkeys. One afternoon, she stood at the fence watching them graze off in the distance as Mamatoo, Ken and Miss M went about their barn chores. After a while, they noticed that she’d gone through the gate and ventured out into the field. While Mamatoo and Ken called out to her to be careful, they were certain the donkeys would never let her get near enough to them to pose any danger. Miss A stood in the middle of the field softly calling “Come to me, Little Donkey. I won’t hurt you”, as the donkeys huddled under the trees on the far side of the pasture. Ten, twenty, thirty minutes passed and Miss A was still standing alone, patiently beckoning the donkeys to come to her. After about 45 minutes, it was time to leave the barn. Mamatoo walked toward the field to call Miss A in and, to her disbelief, Miss A was surrounded by the donkeys. She was patting one on his neck and feeding him horse treats out of her hand. Ken caught some pictures of our little donkey whisperer before Miss A told them goodbye.

A couple of days later, guess who was thrilled to play a donkey in the kindergarten nativity?

Just a Little Donkey

Just a little donkey,
But on my back I bore
The one and only Savior
The world was waiting for.

Just a little donkey
But I was strong and proud—
I gladly carried Mary
Through the chaos of the crowd.

I brought her to a stable
Where she made a tiny bed. . .
A place for Baby Jesus
To lay his little head.

I pray the world remembers
That special Christmas night
When just a little donkey
Carried Heaven’s Precious Light.

--Rita S. Beer