**The Rancher**

There is an old west story of an older cattle rancher and his mail order bride. The rancher had come out west when it was wild and no place for a lady. But the west had now been tamed and growing older he longed for a wife and a family to pass the ranch onto. Nan had been raised in a Christian orphanage since birth. She had been well taken care and had been given a basic education, but still longed for the love she had missed by not having a family. When Nan was old enough to go out on her own she ended up being a housekeeper to a financially secure family. Much was expected of her but not much love was given back. And love was what she valued most of all. So when she read the ad in the paper for a bride to come out west and share the life of a rancher, she had replied immediately. To her surprise she received a letter two weeks later asking her to come out, meet, and possibly marry Dan. She accepted and the next day began her journey west. When she arrived out west, she was met by Dan. Dan was predisposed to a problem with his cattle. So Nan rode out to the ranch in the wagon with Tug, the ranch cook. The ranch was not what Nan had expected. Oh it was large enough with a big house, bunkhouse and two barns. But the house was dark and dirty. It probably had not been cleaned for a year. She quickly began cleaning the house trying to make it just dirty from its filthy condition. Just about then the crew came riding in hot, sweaty, and hungry. Dan and Nan sat at the head of the table while the crew ate with them. At last the crew left, so Nan and Dan could talk privately. Dan said he would be brief, that he was a decent Christian and he didn’t want a woman around just for companionship. He wanted to have children and as he was growing older he wanted to have them right away. He realized he was a little older than Nan, not all that good looking, but he would be good to her and let her run the house and make it suitable for the family. He would share everything with her and God willing the family would have the ranch forever. He had worked late today so they could go into town tomorrow and be married by the preacher. He would sleep in the bunkhouse tonight and she could let him know in the morning if his offer was acceptable. If not he would send her back on the stage tomorrow and wish her well. With that he excused himself and left. Nan sat stunned in silence for a few minutes. This was not the knight in shining armor she had dreamed about. It was not even one bit romantic. She felt like she was one of Dan’s prized heifers that was about to be purchased and turned out to pasture with the prize bull. But she could not turn back now. Besides for the very first time in her life she would have her own home. Yes, she would marry Dan tomorrow.

Nan somehow made it through that first adjustment period of newlyweds. She enjoyed being a ranch wife, having her own house. Time passed quickly and soon Nan had a son and daughter. The Lord had blessed her richly and she was very content being a wife and raising her family. Then as old saying goes, “Up popped the Devil.” Dan had just hired a new ranch hand. Ted was nice and polite, but he somehow stirred feelings in Nan that she never felt before. She loved and respected Dan, but it was nice to be noticed as a woman again. It was simple flirtation, foolishness that as a grown married woman she should be over. Still deep down she loved that feeling of being noticed as a lady. Then it happened. Nan was riding with the crew gathering cattle and when she stopped for a drink at the creek Ted was there. Soon she was openly flirting with Ted and he was flirting right back. Then Dan saw them. Dan angrily told Ted to go to the line camp and work there until payday. Then he would have enough to leave the area and if Dan ever caught Ted around his wife again he would kill him. Ted replied that nothing happened and if Dan took this out on Nan he would come after him. Ted jumped on his horse and headed for the line camp. Nan furiously road home angry that her husband would treat her this way. She was a grown married woman able to take care of yourself. She would just wait for Dan to cool down and apologize for the way he had treated her. But when her anger subsided she realized the situation had gotten out of hand. So she decided to secretly solve the problem herself. Late that night she quietly left the house and headed out to the line shack to give Ted enough money to leave the area. As she was leaving she thought she heard someone stirring in the House, but no one ever bothered them with all the ranch hands around. She rode hard to the line shack so she could get back home quickly. Her approach woke Ted from his sleep and he walked out to meet her. She told him to take the money and leave because she was a married woman and didn’t want any killing. Ted refused at first but finally agreed and saddled another horse for her, as her horse was wore out from the ride. They both agreed never to tell anyone about the meeting and Nan took off at a gallop. As Nan was nearing the ranch she saw lights and all the cowboys scurrying around. Sneaking into the barn with her horse on the opposite side of the commotion she was able to unsaddle and get half way to the house before a cowboy saw her and yelled out. Suddenly Dan was there with a bloody bandage on his shoulder breathing a sigh of relief that both Nan and the children were alright. She soon realized that sound she had heard when she was leaving was someone robbing them. Dan had been shot but seemed okay and the children were already back in bed. Nan walked quietly back to the house with Dan, sat down and had a cup of coffee with him. Dan said he surprised someone who was robbing money from the safe and was shot in the shoulder. The escaping robbers had also killed a ranch hand as he came out to stop the robbers. Dan had been very worried because he could not find her. All Nan could think to say was that she had gotten up for a drink of water and hearing the intruder she had run out to the bunk house to get help. She had fallen stunning herself and was just recovering when she was found. Nan knew she was lying but she couldn’t tell the real truth because it could be misconstrued and just cause more problems. About an hour later some of the cowboys rode in with Ted, whose hands were tied behind him. They had found him with some money and a horse in the stable that had been lathered after a long ride. Ted vehemently denied stealing the money and claimed he had just been asleep when he heard somebody riding by. He had gotten up and saw two men take off galloping when they saw him. They look like some of the trash from the local saloon. Dan’s voice then boomed out asking if anyone knew anything about these riders, had they seen their tracks, or anything else about this horse or money Ted had? Ted looked real hard at Nan. He hoped she would tell the truth. If not now, maybe later when she came to her senses before he was hanged. Nan could not look back into his eyes because she had so much guilt in her heart. She should come forward with the truth, but would they believe her? Most would believe she was meeting Ted on the sly and trying to help him. She did not want to be thought of as a tramp cheating on her husband. No, it would be easier to keep silent until she could talk with the sheriff. A few of the crew headed out towards town to bring Ted to the sheriff. The only problem was the sidekick of the cowboy that was killed was riding along with them. A few miles down the road he convinced them that they were wasting their time bringing Ted into town. They lynched him in a lonely valley on the road to town.

In the morning when Nan heard the cowboys talking about it she went quietly to her bedroom and just broke down and cried. She was crying when Dan walked through the door. “Crying over your dead lover? I finally figured it out when I found the horse from the line camp here. Ted had an extra horse and you were going to run away with him after you stole all of our money. The only thing you didn’t count on was falling and stunning yourself so you couldn’t get away. I understand your attraction to a younger handsome man, but I never thought you would do this to your family. For the sake of our children there will be a ticket on the first stage out off town. Take it and never come back, or I will tell the sheriff the real truth.”

Nan had alot to reflect on riding the stagecoach back home. At first she felt very unlucky for what had happened and blamed God for her problems. But then she looked inside herself and realized she had been caught up in her own lies. She would not admit her vanity, that she liked other men noticing her. That was not an overwhelming problem. She should have just apologized to Dan and it would have all been over. But her pride had kept her from admitting a mistake. It caused her to try and solve the problem by sneaking around behind her husband’s back. It seemed like it was getting easier to tell lies while she was getting dragged deeper into deception, and turning a simple problem into a drastic one. When she could have straightened everything out she had remained silent, hoping there was an easier way to solve the problem. It was like the lies were controlling her actions. Then time ran out on her and she was caught up in her own web of deception, a small indiscretion which had gotten out of control with lies and could not be turned back into the truth. An innocent man was dead, and Nan had nothing.

Here are a few thoughts one might want to consider:

- It is easy to steal with a lie, but you are only stealing from yourself the many blessings God wants to give all who live in the truth

- The easiest person to lie to is yourself, hiding your own short comings

- When you tell a lie you are only fooling yourself, for God knows the truth

- Secrecy causes a void where gossip grows quickly and makes the ugliest falsehood the truth.

- Don’t be a party to gossip, if you want to know something about someone ask that person, and never say behind one’s back what you would not say to their face.

- Standing by silently when a lie is told makes you become part of that lie.

- When you tell one lie it usually forces you to tell a few more and soon you are entangled in a web of your own deception.

- All lies are sin, whether big or small, and push us away from God.

Only in truth can God be found and only truth can we serve Him.

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