Riding in January
In past years, our winter weather has made riding impossible……
Neither horse nor human has any desire to be out in this kind of environment….
This year, we have had the blessing of dry weather and above average temperature days……
When our temps hit 70 degrees a few days ago, our itch to ride overcome our need to finish projects…..
Together with the 10 yr old little boy who comes to our house every day after school, the kids and I gathered in the horses…..
Fat horses groaned in their winter complacency as we approached with our halters, but faithfully lowered their heads and complied with our request….
Little hands brushed out thick winter coats until they gleamed…..
The two younger ones still need assistance lifting the heavy saddles onto the horses backs, but the oldest is an old hand at this and can do it by herself…
They have all learned to do the straps and buckles on the saddles on their own now and are very proud of their accomplishment!
When we teach anyone, but especially children, how to handle the horses and care for them, our goal is safe independence–
We only do for them what they cannot physically do for themselves-
It’s always amazing to me how something even as little as leading their own horse to the arena, can make the chest swell and the head be held high!
We rode for almost two hours that day in the warm afternoon sun….
The peace of the prairie caused even the kids to fall silent…. listening to the clip-clop of the horses hooves in the arena dirt and the cry of a distant hawk….
God’s creation surrounding them, they rode in silence for quiet a while, but as the shadows lengthened, and horse and kid stomachs began to rumble, it was time to call it a day….
Our 10 yr old friend summed it up as we packed away the tack and turned out the horses….
“That was fun….”
Legacy
“We have some hay we would like to donate….”
With a few simple words, a legacy of Christian heritage came full circle….
Over 50 years ago, a young girl moved from Ohio to the Front Range of Colorado with her parents and to attend university. Lonely in a large town, she was uncertain how to go about meeting new people. Another young girl took a job selling organic eggs to people in town, and as the first young girl’s mother paid for the eggs, she saw an opportunity for friendship for her daughter.
The two girls hit it off right away. Karleen, the first young girl, spent many hours at Jean’s house. Jean’s father was a man of great faith and modeled that many times for Karleen, taking her under his family’s wing and praying for her often. That man’s faith was instrumental in the formation of Karleen’s faith which carried over into a life time of ministry service as she married and raised her family.
Karleen is my mother. She and my father modeled selfless service and faith which has led to full time ministry service for my family and I…..
“We have some hay we would like to donate….”
The voice on the phone was Jean’s….
After many years of lost contact, the trigger of reconnection to her old friend was our purchase of a ranch in Northeastern Colorado, near where Jean and her husband run a family farming operation.
A grandmother herself, with her own family legacy of faith, they were choosing to pass on some of God’s blessing upon their farm.
Any hay donated is a tremendous gift and our expectation was of a regular gooseneck flatbed trailer, holding any where from 8-10 bales of hay.
A 54 foot semi truck and trailer pulled into our driveway that day.
30 large bales of hay and 12 large bales of straw was the gift that was deposited upon our doorstep…..meaning that feeding and bedding down the animals that God has given us stewardship over, will be one less worry on our minds….
But an even greater gift was meeting the woman, whose family’s legacy of faith so many years ago, is the cornerstone of our service to Christ today.
