Horses are brilliant at non-verbal communication, and they are continually teaching me. Here are just a few recent thoughts:
Be yourself. When you are who God created you to be, He is glorified. Pogo isn’t worried about not being Finn—although he may be wishing he could eat as much as Finn!—he’s is just the cutest, kid-magnet of a pony he can be, focused on enjoying the pasture he is in. And what a blessing he is to others just by being himself!
One way to help yourself overcome disappointment, depression or challenging circumstances is to focus on serving or helping someone else. When I enter the pasture at Freedom Reigns, my troubles begin to melt away as I turn my thoughts toward feeding, grooming, petting and even talking to our horse friends. As I take care of them, I pray for them, for the other people who will be loving on them later in the week, and for the people they will minister to with their various personalities, beauty, sensitivity and trust. When I leave, my spirit is refreshed and my focus is not on myself or my troubles, but on the One who made such amazing creatures. He made me, too, and says I am wonderfully made! (This is almost too much for my finite brain to comprehend or believe, but God says so and He speaks only Truth.)
It doesn’t take much to make someone’s day. The smallest gesture or act of kindness can lift a sagging spirit. When Freedom lifts his head when he sees me or hears my voice, when he runs to me or follows me around--and especially when he rests his head on my shoulder—I feel like I just won the lottery! I cannot be unhappy in that moment! You have the same power when you acknowledge someone’s value with a smile, “hello,” a hug or word of encouragement. You may never know how brightly you have shined on someone’s rainy day, but Heaven knows and is glad.