Thoughts of Cyrus were floating through my brain this morning.  I love the way Susan Wise Baur wrote about Cyrus in her Story of the World.  I had never known that he was the grandchild of a king, but was given to a shepherd to raise.   Susan wrote that the one who was to have Cyrus killed, could not do so.  Instead, he left  him with a shepherd who had longed for a son.  Fully grown, Cyrus looked so much like his grandfather, the king, that he was recognized when he went into a village.  The king heard the news that the grandson was alive and sought to have him killed.  But the grandson overtook the throne.  He was raised up as a battle axe to conquer Babylon.  Because of his leadership, the Jews were freed from captivity.  They were finally given a true shepherd who would lead them out of captivity.  As the son of a shepherd, he learned how to properly care for sheep. 

I believe the Lord is raising up good shepherds at this time.  We are all meant to be good shepherds of the flocks we have been given.  Do we know who our sheep are?  Our flocks may be larger than we think!