3 Ways God has Revealed His Plan for Me at Freedom Reigns Ranch

"In transitional times of my life, a through line has always been horses. I think God often knows that I will need them before I do. For example, I felt the pull to start volunteering at Freedom Reigns Ranch over a year ago, in February of 2024, and was laid off from my corporate job of half of a decade just six months later. As someone who values stability (especially the financial kind), losing my most stable employment has been the biggest trust exercise that God has brought me yet. I know it is no coincidence that the most consistent part of my routine then became my time volunteering at the ranch each week. I found comfort in the rhythm of feeding and caring for horses, listening to the calming sounds of the barn, and the reminders that it brings me of God's character. The ranch is often teaching valuable lessons, and not just to session participants. I don't know a single person who hasn't been influenced for the better just from spending time within the acreage of Freedom Reigns. Three things God has used the Ranch to show me in the past year and a half are as follows, and they're all somewhat interlinked:

We will not always see God's plan for us in its entirety - in fact, we rarely will. But if we keep moving forward in His truth, we will not be ashamed (Psalm 119:4-6). We don't always have a plan for the ways that the Lord will use the ranch, the horses, or us as volunteers in certain sessions or situations. But we are obedient, and He always shows up in incredibly special ways, whether that's a healing conversation with a child, a prayer that someone didn't even know they needed, a quiet moment with a horse that brings peace, or a deep breath of fresh woodsy air that brings rejuvenation. We don't have to know the full plan to move forward in obedience. God will take care of the impact.

There's an old parable (or perhaps a true story) that I'm probably going to butcher in my retelling - but it's about a farmer who is living in drought and has not yet planted his crops for fear that they won't grow. Eventually he obeys the Lord's call for him and sows the seeds - and God brings the rain, just like any of you reading could have probably predicted. Because that's who God is, and He shows us that constantly! Though the details of that story are fuzzy to me now, The phrases "sow the seeds", or "prep the fields" come up in my mind often, and Freedom Reigns has been such a good example of that principle. Lay the groundwork, and people will come. Plan the sessions, and children will show up. Build the stalls, and they will fill with the right horses. Steward the land well and it will fill with volunteers and all of God's creatures and influence countless lives. I have seen it time and time again.

I love the comfort that God meets us where we are - that I can pray about small things in my day and He will listen. But sometimes the needs aren't small, and it's a house, or an arena, or feed for over a dozen horses, or specific expensive medicine for healing. God's plans are typically not small, so the needs won't always be either, and He meets us there too. He ALWAYS provides (Luke 12:22-31)! We are blessed to walk in the faith that He will provide what we need to accomplish His plan for us.

I am reminded of these lessons every time I step foot on the ranch, and seeing them played out often helps me to apply them to my own life and the way I am listening to God. Being involved here makes me excited to see what He does next, for my life as well as the life of Freedom Reigns."

-Written by Mary Catherine "MCat" Jarmon, Volunteer