Do It!

Ah, summer vacation. I remember as a kid sitting in a stuffy classroom, gazing out the window and counting down the days until freedom! Every year my family and I would pack up our green station wagon (with wood on the sides) and drive to our cousin’s farm in Wisconsin. The nine-hour drive was awful, but it was so much fun visiting we endured it year after year. The farm was filled with cows, pigs, horses, dogs and a new litter of cats each summer.

While there, I would jump out of bed every morning anticipating the daily activities. I could choose to ride the dirt bike, shoot cans with the BB gun, swing in a barn full of hay or fish in the creek. When I wasn’t doing that, I would often help my cousin with the chores. We would feed and water the animals, clean out the horse barn, pick vegetables in the garden and snap beans for dinner. I was having a blast because basically I was too young to know these things weren’t supposed to be fun.

My absolute favorite thing to do however was ride the horses. I would beg my cousin to saddle them up and take us out in the pasture. They had a sweet little mare named Sheba. She was white as snow and always behaved. I loved riding her. In the beginning, we would go slowly, but by the middle of our vacation I had become confident enough to take the horse from a trot (which truthfully is not comfortable) to a full run.

One particularly cool August evening we decided to ride a little farther so we crossed the road into a neighboring pasture. The plan was to allow the horses enough distance to give them their head and let them RUN! Now this was real freedom – exactly what I had been waiting for. When we got to the far end of the pasture my cousin started out first and I quickly followed. Before I knew it we were in a full run, everything was perfect, the horse had a nice smooth gate, I was laughing into the wind, in complete control of this 1000lb animal, when my world came to a crashing halt, literally. The horse ducked as I went flying over its head into a corn patch. I hit the ground rolling to a stop and as I looked up trying to make sense of what just happened I swear I saw a smirk on that horses’ face.

As the horse happily munched on fresh field corn, my cousin came around to collect me. I was trying to get my legs back, wobbling to a stance when she informed me I had to get back on the horse. What? No way! My confidence had just taken a flying leap and that was the last thing I wanted to do. Unfortunately, it was either that or limp the full three miles back home. I reluctantly chose the horse. I think I finally stopped shaking by the time we reached home.

Have you ever taken a serious detour into a corn patch? A time when you felt in complete control when BAM your feet were pulled right out from underneath you. These unplanned and often unavoidable bumps in the road are something we all have to deal with. Here are a few things I have held onto that have gotten me through. The first, God is Sovereign, He sits on the throne and nothing misses His gaze. In other words, He sees me, He knows exactly what is going on in my life and the affect it is having on my heart. The second, nothing surprises Him. I may be floored, but He has a plan, I just need to ask. I hope to come to a place where I start asking as I am flying through the air and not wait until I hit the ground. Lastly, real freedom lies in our choices. Every detour is an opportunity to make a choice. Will I let it pull me off my path or will I ask what to do and then DO IT! I choose, no matter how much my legs are wobbling, to get back on that horse and RUN toward home. Who’s with me?