Champ's story...

Champ is a purebred Charolais Bull Calf. Some arrivals announce themselves with a strong cry and steady legs. Champ arrived at Butterfly Ranch in silence. 

Born in the daylight hours — a big, beautiful boy by every measure — he came into the world so still and so quiet that when we found him, we thought we had lost him before we'd even had the chance to get to know him. But the moment he was touched, something stirred. He was still here. He just needed help finding his way back. What followed in 24 hours tested our patience, faith, and stubbornness... and this little guy was worth it.

Honey, electrolytes, colostrum...

We tried everything that day and into the long hours of the night, with his mama Opal and all the other animals standing watch nearby. By the time exhaustion finally won and we had to leave them both out in the woods together at 1 am, we weren't sure we'd done enough. We weren't sure he'd make it to morning, but he did! By sunrise, Champ was able to stand on his own with help getting up. Wobbly, but up — and that was everything. We brought him into the barn, inside the corral, and got more fluids into him. Our vet then had us bring him in, examined him and said the words we'd been hoping to hear: he's going to be okay. He's currently in her care, getting all the medical attention a calf this special deserves. 

Now here's where Champ's story takes on a weight that goes beyond the pasture... 

We had previously dedicated our new bull calves — that would someday become the BR steers — to be sold, with the proceeds going to benefit orphaned children through Allies in Youth Development — a ministry very close and dear to our hearts. Champ would have been one of those calves. But after this experience, Holly decided she just couldn't let him go. So rather than let the orphans lose what had been promised to them, we decided to make a donation to Allies approximately equal to that which would have come from an auction sale had we gone that route. Essentialy paying the price ourselves to keep him — to be sure the children's portion is honored.

"For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." — 1 Corinthians 6:20

Champ will come home to stay. We didn't plan it this way. But looking back, it's hard not to see the shape of something older and deeper in that transaction — a price paid so that a promise made to the innocent and vulnerable would not be broken. James 1:27 tells us that "Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world." And Hosea 14:3 reminds us "For in You the fatherless find compassion." 

Champ is STILL very much a part of that story, it just turned out very differently for him. He'll now live out his days here on the Butterfly Ranch as a pasture pet — because he has been purchased and redeemed.

This story is still unfolding — check back for updates on our newest big guy!