The Scene

Living out of the back of a horse trailer. Traveling around the country with my two(at least) faithful horses. Hanging out till the early hours of the morning with the other traveling cowboys/cowgirls just having a good time. Big beautiful truck. Winning the National Finals Rodeo and getting to point back to God.

That was part of my biggest dream growing up. I wanted to join the Fellowship of Christian Cowboys and live the life of Rodeo. It seemed like so many things would work for it too. I had always been given horses, even an old barrel racer. I had lots of friends who rodeo-ed. But every time I started to try and compete, things happened. Whether it was schedules, trucks, trailers or horses, something always went wrong. I was able to compete a little bit when I was 14 but that was it. I had always viewed this as just challenges to overcome. Things that would make the victory that much sweeter.

The other night though, my view of this was shaken a bit. I was talking with one of my friends here, and they were saying how they wanted to be able to do what they loved, without getting big or famous, because they were concerned about getting 'caught up in that scene'. At first I was kind of confused, and thought they were a bit crazy. I knew how focused their heart was on wanting to serve God. But as we continued talking about it, I realized that the same held true for me. If I was to get big into rodeo, I would loose focus from God. Granted, my heart would start out right, I would want to bring honor and praise to God. But also, pride is one of my biggest weaknesses. I would get caught up in all that "I" was doing. It wouldn't be about God anymore. I'd start living on my strength, for my glory.

I had also always seen going big in rodeo as the biggest validation of my skills with horses. But as I thought about it and prayed about it more, it really hit me. Why is it my ability with horses needs to be validated by anyone else? The answer: it doesn't. The only reason it would need to be validated would be for my praise and self security. But in reality, what does it matter? What does it matter if there are many many people much more skilled with horses than me(which there is). What does it matter if I don't train for anyone but local horse people? What does it matter if with my therapy place I can only reach 100 people? It doesn't. I realized, that the only thing that matters is I am using what God has given me to the best of my ability in the circumstances He has placed me in. That is why I have those skills.

Please continue to pray for me as we prepare for outreach phase, and then I come back to Chiang Mai till May. We now plan to spend 3 weeks working in Cambodia and 4 weeks in Vietnam. It will be an intense trip hopefully reaching many people. I also ask you to prayerfully consider supporting me, as I still need to raise more money to pay for this trip. Thank you all for your love and support!