I was thinking about
the gift of God’s presence when he gave me that sunrise (Present of Presence)
and was reminded of another time he gifted me with his presence in such a
special way that others could not believe my peace!
It was the previous
fall. I was very excited to be taking my
dream horse, Dazzle, to the Parelli Center to participate in an advanced class
with Linda Parelli. I had had to ship
her rather than transport her myself, but she was a good traveler so I was not
concerned.
When I got to the
house where I was staying, I was a little frustrated to learn that I had no
cell reception but I figured I could take care of business when I was at the
study center or in town each day. I fell
into bed and slept soundly awaking early enough to go into town for breakfast.
I had just gotten to
the restaurant and ordered when I got an urgent call from the center. Dazzle was found colicking when the crew fed
that morning around 6am. When I could not
be reached, a vet had been called, been there and left. I skipped breakfast and went straight to
Dazzle. I had experienced many cases of
colic in my 40+ years of owning horses and all had resolved within a few hours
of a vet giving the colic protocol of oil, banamine, and fluids; but by 10am
Dazzle seemed no better. I called the
vet again and was told he would call me back.
After an hour and no response from that vet, I called a different
vet. It was now a little after noon. There was still not a lot of
concern, but we did the protocol again and put her on an IV since dehydration
from traveling was a possibility. Late
in the afternoon the vet suggested a blood draw but it could not get analyzed
until the next day because it had to be sent out of town. So it was decided, if she was still doing
poorly in the morning, we would do it then so it would be fresh. The vet tried to reassure me by saying that
she had seen horses behave like this for days and still recover.
The Parelli Center staff—Ann and
Jim Kiser, who were friends of mine—set up a scheduled so Dazzle could be
watched around the clock and, if she took a turn for the worse, we could notify
the vet immediately. I had the first watch.
It was about 11pm
and I was sitting in a lawn chair…wrapped up in a blanket…alternating between
weeping and praying. I looked up through
my tears into the night sky. The clouds
had parted in such a way that there was a face in the design and there—shining
brightly—were two huge stars that seemed to me to be the eyes of God…and I knew
beyond any doubt that God was watching and that he was with me and that
regardless of what happened everything would be all right.
“The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his
ears are attentive to their cry;”
Psalm 34:15 NIV
Shortly after, Jim
came to relieve me and I went to their house on campus to try to get some
sleep. Apparently, I did, because Ann
had to wake me. It was about 5:30am and
she said Dazzle had taken a turn for the worse.
I hurried to get dressed and rushed to the paddock. It could not have taken 10 minutes, but she
was already gone.
Ann and Jim were
besides themselves, but I felt a supernatural calm and peace and strength. I actually consoled them as we waited for a
skid steer to come a take her body. She was
buried under a tree beside a meadow, free to run in heaven. (Yes I believe there will be horses in
heaven, otherwise how could Jesus return on one?!)
“May your unfailing love be my comfort, according to
your promise to your servant.”
Psalm 119:76 NIV
As I think back on that experience of God’s incredible presence and an event that followed
where I was able to “preach” at the Savvy Summit (an annual event on the
Parelli campus. There were probably
about a hundred people there), it was another huge step in God setting my heart
free and creating a boldness to share his love and provision and care.
What about you? Where are you today? Do you know his love for you? Are you going through a time of mourning or
facing challenges that seem to be just too
much?
Psalm 33:18 NIV
“The Lord himself goes before you and will be with
you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be
discouraged.””
Deuteronomy 31:8 NIV
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do
not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do
not be afraid.”
John 14:27 NIV
Trust God and do not
be afraid. He IS with you! He WILL free your mustang heart if you will
believe in him, trust him, and wait for him.
P.S. If you are blessed by this blog, don’t forget to leave me a comment or send me an email. Feel free to share it on your social media. If you receive this in your email, you may need to visit the webpage (link is in the footer) to find the share buttons. Thanks!
P.S. If you are blessed by this blog, don’t forget to leave me a comment or send me an email. Feel free to share it on your social media. If you receive this in your email, you may need to visit the webpage (link is in the footer) to find the share buttons. Thanks!
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Teri