The Boy Scouts motto is BE PREPARED. That is a good motto for any age. One never knows today what might be waiting around a curve in the road of life. I was in for a big surprise a few days ago as I drove from a hunting lease in central Texas. As I rounded a small curve on the gravel road near Richland Springs, Texas, there in the middle of the road, staring at me, were three Llamas. They had no ropes or caretakers. One was a huge male, black in color. Another was a large brownish female. A third was about half the size of the others. As I edged closer they began to trot down the road in front of me. It was an easy gait, but at twenty-two miles an hour. These were BIG animals; larger than the deer I had been hunting. The male was on my right with the others on my left, so I slowed to allow him to join them again.
They rightfully belong somewhere in the Andes of South America, but they are here. They are still an important beast of burden but don't serve that purpose in our land of horses, trucks, and four-wheelers. They are kinda cute but not a good back yard pet. Just ask a man in a small town in Texas who received a wound last week that took 500 stitches to close. So, if your son or daughter says, "Mama, I want a Llama" , research the situation real good.
Imports are an important part of life today. Goods of all kinds are unloaded daily at our nearby Port of Corpus Christi. Imports of people, invited and uninvited, stream into these states. Years ago most of our ancestors were among those imports. Like the Llama who attacked a man, some can be dangerous. Most are not. It is now a way of life for us all. We must accept the fact and simply remember the scout motto, BE PREPARED. We also need to be prepared to reach out a ministering hand in the name of our Lord. Jesus did not walk the shores of South Texas in His thirty-three years. He walked the shores of a foreign land. Someone brought that far- away message to us. We are expected to share it with equal fervor....so...BE PREPARED!
