Horse Heaven

The strangest obsession has come over me in the past few months...although it subtly began over two years ago.  In September, 2008, I attended a retreat south of Lubbock called Soul Purpose Experience...a small group of five women attended that weekend and we had lots of group discussion about our purpose in life, what we loved to do, etc...etc.  The setting was a beautiful ranch with gorgeous horses who were our co-counselors for the weekend.  We never rode the horses, but got in a small pen with them and spent time with them.  It was then that I fell head over heals with a striking Paint horse named Prince.  I had the opportunity to take photos of those beautiful horses that weekend and ever since then, have been on a journey to continue to photograph beautiful horses.

This past year, I took notice of a location at Bell and I-27 where there are about 20 horses roaming around Horseshoe Lake.  It's a beautiful setting for horses to strut around....the lake, the trees, the open pasture for them....I have been mesmerized by those horses for some time now and would occasionally stop and take pictures of them.  The fence was usually in the way, though and I could never get a great shot.  One day, the owner of the horses approached me while I was gawking at those beautiful, majestic creatures and I asked if he minded me taking their pictures.  He assured me he didn't and I could even get in there with them if I wanted.  That was about the jest of the conversation and ever since then, I continued to drive by, hoping to get a glimpse of those gorgeous horses.

The more I thought about them and drove by to see them, the more I wanted to be close to them...really close; not just to photograph them, but to touch them...  So after several mornings of prayer and asking God to let me know if He has heard my prayers and was interested in them at all...I cried out for Him to show me He WAS in fact interested in the smallest details of my life...even the detail of the fact that I longed to be near those horses.  There, in the middle of my living room while I lay on my back, tears streaming out the corners of my eyes, God gently said, "Get up, put your boots on and go over there."  "Really, Lord?" I asked.  "Yes, put your boots on and go over there, right now."  I jumped up and ran to my closet and put my only pair of cowboy boots on.....dressed, etc. and drove over to that location.  On the way over, I explained to the Lord that I needed to see the owner so I could ask him if I could help with his horses....(as if God didn't already have everything planned out...)  Sure enough, I pulled up and there was the owner's truck.  Long story short....I explained to him my deep need to be with horses and asked if he needed any help with them, such as grooming, brushing, etc....He said he needed help with them all the time!  What an answered prayer!  I was so happy to hear that!

As the day wore on, I learned that I had met this man several years ago in a Lifegroup and he's married to a girl from Sunray, my hometown!  In fact, her sister and I were in the same class!  Good grief, it's a small world!

What I am most amazed at is how I feel when I am in the presence of these horses.  I wondered and wondered why they had such an impact on me and finally decided that the very words I'd use to describe God are the words I would use to describe a horse....strong, majestic, powerful, yet gentle, mysterious, spiritual, intuitive, and loving.  I'm in Horse Heaven while brushing their coats, detangling and braiding their manes and tails, talking softly in their ears....and sometimes it's not so glamorous, but I wouldn't trade the time I spend with them for anything.

I am grateful beyond measure for this man allowing me to be with his horses and I hope I am really helping him out...because being with those horses has been the best therapy I've had in years....:)  God really does care about the tiniest details of our life....that's some good news.

P.S. The verse above in the photograph is hard to read...It's Job 39:19-21