With God EVERYTHING is Possible!

“‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for him who believes.”

Mark 9:23 NIV

Our family has learned so many lessons about the awesome love of God since we moved to this old farm.  The LORD has literally filled it's acres with blessings for us - each deserving to be a praiseworthy tale in its' own right but this miracle is one of the most precious to me.  The world said it was impossible.  I almost believed them.  But they were wrong!

When we moved to the farm, just over a year ago, our pasture was home to three beautiful, strong, forgotten, wild horses.  The man that owned them had become desperately ill several years earlier and was unable to care for them.  Though he loved them, he was unable to visit them and apart from the occasional treats from the man's father, for at least five years, they were largely left to roam without human interaction. 

Both my daughter and I have always had a great love for horses.  Though we had never had any, and in fact had very limited contact with horses, we both had an incredible desire - longing really - to have horses of our own.  We want to ride. 

As seems to be the LORD's practice with everything about this farm, He is providing the most precious gifts from seemingly out of nowhere.  When we purchased this farm, we purposed to be and stay debt free.  There was no money to purchase horses but the LORD has repeatedly honored our simple steps of obedience... the sink I dreamed of for less than half price... more kitchen cupboards than I ever could have dreamed of for - even the exact color and finish - found in a truckload sale!  God has blessed us mightily!  It just so happens that He has been preparing the way for Taylor and I to have these horses for nearly ten years.  Ten years ago, I met a wonderful woman who quickly became a dear friend.  Though we had no thoughts of moving to a farm back then and having horses were just a pipe dream, her brother's horses were soon to go on the land that God was preparing for us.  God is always at work and is the Orchestrator of big and small!

So, this year, the three horses named Angel, Sunshine and Sarah, were signed over to us.  They are ours!  They have never been broke to ride.  Angel is approximately 14 years old as I write this.  Her two daughters, Sunshine and Sarah, are approximately 7 and 8.  All of them have had halters placed on them in the past but that was years ago.  When we started to woo them, they were hesitant to let you close enough to even give them a treat, but we instantly loved them! 

Taylor had asked me, "Mom, do you think we will ever be able to ride them?"  I hoped so but I thought not.  We knew nothing about breaking horses and these horses were so far from breaking.  We looked into having them broke but the costs were great and no one thought it would be successful anyways.  You just don't break old, wild horses.  So, Taylor and I began to pray.  As we got close enough to feed the horses, we would pray, "LORD, could we ride them?"  Every time we would stroke them, we would pray, "LORD, please could we ride them?"  Finally, we contacted a man who said he would come and take a look at them.  He couldn't make it out for at least three weeks so he told us to get them into a corral and start working with them to get halters on.  If we could get a lead rope on them so that they would be easier to handle when he made it out, that was the desired progress.

Well, it was hard work trying to wrangle them into one of the corrals.  No one told them what to do.  It took three of us to direct the three of them.  We dangled treats and ran to shut gates but managed to get them where we could visit them daily and where they were dependant on us for food.  It was hard work.  Just getting them into the corral had them so upset with us that that was the only accomplishment for day one.  We decided to focus our attention on Angel.  Though she was the oldest, she had at one time been leadable if you held a food bucket.  Day two, Angel was frantic at the sight of a rope.  The big success was for her to come close enough to sniff it and to brush her with the rope dangling from the brushing hand.  I'll spare you the little details but it was a triumph to get a halter on her.  It took a strong hand on the rope around her neck and a fearless man to hold on to her long enough to get the halter fastened.  Each day she became a little less reluctant to have the halter on and she let us lead her for growing loops around the corral.  We were excited!

On the tenth day of being in the corral, Taylor and I went out early to visit Angel.  We came with her halter, the lead rope and treats.  As I went about something in the far side of the corral, I turned to see Angel standing perfectly still as Taylor reached up and fastened the halter in place.  I was pretty blown away!  That was progress!  Taylor proceeded to lead Angel around the corral and Angel seemed perfectly willing to follow.  Taylor had just given her some treats when she asked me if she could just try putting a little weight on Angel's back.  Now, Taylor had draped her arms over Angel's back while being brushed but never had she put any real body weight on her.  I was hesitant but we took her over to the fence and I told Taylor that I would try and keep hold of Angel but that she would have to keep a good foothold and armhold on the fence for when Angel darted out from underneath her.  The horse stood still!

"Mom, could I try putting all of my weight on her?"  My mind raced.  What were we doing?  I examined the ground for rocks - certain that Taylor would fall to the ground but she was determined and Angel was motionless.  Though I don't remember silently praying, I'm sure that I did.  This sort of thing caused a mother's fear to rise.  "Go carefully."  I said.  Slowly, quietly, Taylor draped herself over Angel's back.  Angel didn't move even to look back and see what was happening.  Dumbfounded, I hear Taylor ask if she can swing a leg over.  I don't even remember answering.  I watched as Angel didn't flinch for Taylor as she straddled her and sat upright on her back!  What did we do now?

I started to lead Angel around the pasture with Taylor sitting tall on her bare back.  The tears were streaming down my face!  Even now, as I write this, tears flow freely.  Who is this God who cares about the longings of our heart?  We made it once around the pasture and Taylor cautiously dismounted.  I ran to the house to get Kent!  He thought we had had an accident when he saw me coming.  Running in tears, what else could it mean?  I told him that Taylor had ridden Angel!  He couldn't comprehend it.  How was that possible?  He ran back to the corral, camera in hand, to witness it for himself.  Several times that morning, Taylor sat atop Angel's back as I led them around the corral.  I even sat on her bare back for a ride or two.  It was like a new found calmness had come over our old horse.

I have to confess that I struggled to believe it all.  I even phoned my friend to just make sure that Angel had never had anyone on her back before.  No.  Angel had been halter broke and led around when she was about three years old.  Never had she held a rider.  God is awesome!

And the miracle goes on!  In the two weeks since Taylor first sat atop Angel, we have added reigns to her halter - sparing her a bit - and she is learning to follow the direction of the reigns and the pressure of a rider's knees.  Angel has become familiar with the scent of a blanket and saddle.  Even these were heavenly provision!  My dad, who has been in heaven for seven years - this weekend - had saved his tack for me.  I wonder if he knew that some day, the LORD would provide... Less than 48 hours ago, we cautiously placed the saddle on Angel's back.  She didn't flinch.  First try.  She patiently stood as we figured out how to fasten it.  It was like she was the veteran who had done this a million times before.  I am convinced she hears the silent voice of the LORD telling her to "Stand firm.  You are alright."

Where do we go from here?  Only God knows but I can tell you this, I know Angel will be ridden - free from lead ropes with rider in stirrups!  God answers prayer!  He heard the prayers of His girls and He answered.  His answers rarely come in the package that we would think.  God didn't use a horse man.  I found out that he was only planning on driving out to our farm to tell us what the others had indicated - that you can't teach an old horse new tricks and that she was beyond breaking.  God used an old horse and a family of "city slickers" - all of which have no clue what they are doing - and He worked a miracle!

Maybe I do know what comes next... Sunshine and Sarah!  We are praying with increased fervor as we take to wooing them!

May He give you the desire of your heart...

May the LORD grant all your requests.

Psalm 20:4a, 5b NIV

I know that the LORD's answers to our prayers are sometimes "no".  It is according to His Sovereignty that He chooses what gets a yes, no or wait awhile but I can assure that, in His time and according to His way, it is all for our good. (see Romans 8:28, http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%208:28&version=NIV1984)

For more praiseworthy tales and lessons learned through "no", "wait awhile" or through wooing our horses see:
http://praiseworthytales.blogspot.ca/2010/04/glimpse-of-cross.html
http://praiseworthytales.blogspot.ca/2009/02/note-from-lord.html
http://spaciousplace-karrie.blogspot.ca/2011/01/wooing-wild.html

An Unlikely Promise

Your testimonies are wonderful...

The unfolding of Your words give light;

it imparts understanding to the simple.

Psalm 119:129-130

May 30th, 2011, I was "sitting with the Lord" and I found myself in Psalm 144.  When I got to verse 12, I wrote in the margins, "Father, I'm asking this..." 

May our sons in their youth be like plants full grown, our daughters like corner pillars cut for the structure of a palace; may our granaries be full, providing all kinds of produce;

The verse continues...

may our sheep bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our fields, may our cattle be heavy with you, suffering no mishap or failure in bearing...

By the time I got to verse 15, I sensed the Lord was saying "Amen.  Let it be done."

Blessed are the people to whom such blessings fall!  Blessed are the people whose God is the LORD!

I wondered what some of these verses looked like to someone who owns no sheep or cattle - symbolic, I thought at the time - but...

By the middle of June, we were brand new to the joys of cattle on our pasture land!  They didn't belong to us but they quickly stole my heart!  I would never have dreamed that I would love cows - but I do!  One tiny calf, "154Y" was barely visible from our yard.  She was extremely weak and near death.  I had absolutely no clue what to do but the maternal instinct in me kicked in and decided there was no way that she was going to die on "my watch".  For 3 days, my family and I helped provide shelter for her.  I bottle fed her and for a day or two even had to massage her throat to get her to swallow.  Her owner gave her all of the medicine that she possibly could but the prospect was grim. 

Our family and friends prayed and prayed.  I had completely forgotten the verses above.  They didn't register to me or come back to mind.  After three days, the owner was preparing herself to tell me that sometimes calves just die.  She didn't know how this rookie farmer would take the news but by the time she arrived at our yard, I was beaming!  Little 154Y had made it to her feet and had the strength to nurse from her mother!  We both knew it was a miracle!  That's when the Lord brought these verses back to mind!  He had given the promise in advance - even though I had had no context to put them in!

The story doesn't end there... 

May 16th, 2012... The cattle had started coming back to pasture at the farm.  I was delighted but I was really unwell at the time and on pain medication.  I had taken everything that I could for pain that night and it had pretty much knocked me out.  I crawled into bed early and my family all came to kiss me goodnight.  Kent peeked out the bedroom window and "happened" to see a tiny little calf - the first one of the year!  Despite being in my pajamas and in pain, I wanted to go and see it.  Out we went - pj's and all.  Being very unknowledgable about these things, we noticed a cow that had either just given birth or was about to.  I recognized that we were out there for a reason because the circumstances surrounding us being out there were highly unlikely.

All of the sudden, the horses began chasing this poor cow!  She'd lie down - to give birth - and they'd chase her to her feet.  The tiny calf was intrigued and kept going between the horses legs.  The calf's mother was distressed!  It was not a good situation!  We worked to get control of the now wild horses but for nearly 15 minutes, this cow tried to birth her calf and instead found herself running across the pasture.  Finally, we had the horses corralled into another area and we watched as the cow labored.  I found myself praying aloud for the safe arrival of the calf.  I worried about how long the labor had been delayed and how much stress the prolonged process had had on the tiny baby.  Out of nowhere, I found myself putting the Lord in remembrance (as we're instructed in Isaiah 62:6-7) of the words He had given me in Psalm 144.  Finally, we watched in awe, as a new little calf entered the world!  What a miracle!  We watched speechless as this mother and another cow worked as a team to lick the sac off of the baby.  How awesome to see how the Lord instructs nature!  Though it wasn't until the next day that we saw this tiny little girl with the white face and chocolate colored body get to her feet, she had made it and we were extatic to have played a small role in the drama!

I laid in bed that night and gave thanks to the Lord for prompting us to be out there so that we could handle the horses and for allowing us to witness the miracle of birth.  I continued to pray for her safety and drifted off to sleep. 

Despite the medication, I awoke - wide awake - at the first crack of dawn!  I poured myself a coffee and headed out to see how the baby had made the night.  There were just the two cows and their calves in the corral area.  They had stayed close to the barn.  I talked to them as I gave them a wide berth but tried to get a closer look at the new baby.  I knew the cows would be protective.  I had also learned that they liked to let their babies lay down and rest for a couple of days before they joined the herd.  When they started to bawl, I wondered why my somewhat distant watching was causing such a stir.  Then as the new baby was forced to her feet and nudged to a trot, I saw a coyote just a few metres from where the baby had been lying.  Not on my watch!  In pajamas, with one hand holding a coffee cup, I chased that coyote out of the corral!

Do you know what I learned in all of this?  I learned that the Lord is faithful to His Word.  When He gives a promise, no matter how unlikely it appears to us, He means it.  He knows what is to come.  He's also able to use the most unlikely, unskilled, unknowledgable cast of characters - just like us - to play a part in the fulfillment of His plans.  I don't know about you but that does something to me!  When I take a look at some of the other promises that He has made me, some that seem too great to hope for, He has used this praiseworthy tale to bolster my faith!  May He do the same for you!

"Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to Your Word"...

Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment

of what was spoken to her from the Lord.

Luke 1:38, 45