Have You Ever Had a Realization..

..of just how much God loves you...even if only a glimpse? For every person it can come around differently. For me, it most noticably arrived through horses. * * * * You see, for as long as I can remember, I have truly honestly loved horses. At a young age, I also had a revelation that American Saddlebreds were the breed that would be woven in my life forever. Once adulthood arrived, I married, had children and also gave my life to God. My parents had me baptized as an infant into our church, but as an adult making my own decisions, I completly and totally fell in love with Jesus and commited to serve Him all the days of my life. * * * * Believe it or not, this is where I veered way off course. The world said that to be Christian, I was to be meek (weak), humble (poor) and very very submissive. I started to try to put the horses behind me believeing with all of my heart that they were to expensive and (gulp) a waste of money. It is a funny thing though... you see, the scriptures say "goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life"(not poverty and sickness); Psalms says over and over again that He will prosper whatever I put my hand too...only if I believe; ALL things work for good to those who love the Lord AND last but certainly NOT least, the Bible does not say that money is evil, only the LOVE of money is! * * * * All of the above was a huge revelaton to me...but this was nothing compared to what I was about to experience. Once I understood that it was God Himself who created me and put this love into my being, I stopped getting in His way. Through a maze of miraculous events and circumstances, I aquired a mare. Not just any mare, but the mare of a certain breeding that literaly illuminated my heart every time I looked at her papers. Through a chance meeting of a trainer who was managing a certain stallion and is now a life long friend of mine, I bred her. The resulting foal dropped from her womb BREATH TAKING. He was named Equusport. I had bred several times before yet, I had seen nothing to compare to this colt. * * * * Sport was a slow grower and it was a blessing as full time training took a back seat to other responsibilities, but allowed me the chance to learn how to ride aside. When the time came and I persued God about getting him into the right barn. Once again, His love shinned on me. Not only did I have that wonderful calm only God can give you about doing something, but as it turned out the head trainer for the barn Sport was going to, Sandra Currier was a supurb sidesaddle rider! * * * * When Sport first arrived, he almost fainted, spread his legs so far apart as he traversed the isle, he looked a bit more like a spider. I can only imagine what Sandy and the grooms were thinking. Deep down I KNEW though. Weeks passed and as Sport grew out of his shyness and became more confident, Sandy started to take notice of him more and more. He was broke to long lines, broke to cart and then broke to ride. He then continued even further and was trained as a 5 gaited horse. * * * * Open to whatever it was that God had for me, I told Sandy 'yes' when she asked me if he was for sale. If it was to be, the buyer would come. He improved immensely. No one made an offer. His price went up. His agreeable personality, strength, talent make him the most complete horse imaginable. He was agreeable and worked hard to do whatever Sandy was asking of him...all with his ears up, getting better and better as every week passed. * * * * Again I returned Sport into my prayers. "He is yours Lord. Tell me what to do with him." As quickly as the prayer left my lips, I started to see myself riding him aside. To the natural eye, this almost did not make any sense. His trot is the highest and strongest I have ever ridden, a sure sign of extreme difficulty in the sidesaddle. Another obsticle was the slow gait and rack. In as astride saddle, I would scoot way back into my saddle and push my feet a bit forward, urging him forward with my legs..both of them! ..and his canter..OH MY - his canter. It is so strong, that I only worked him successfully in that gait one time...last weekend! * * * * On my way to the lesson this morning I drove ...and I prayed. I felt the desire in my heart to ride him sidesaddle today. "Okay Lord. I will ride him and You will tell me if this is the direction we are to go." * * * * ..to be continued