Well, it’s been forever since I’ve written any update; but I feel the need for an epilogue to the journey that you all have followed me through over the past year.
Since getting home so so much has changed, I’m not even really sure where to start.
As soon as I touched down in America I was ready to turn around and leave again. I figured at best I’d be in Kansas for 3 months and be gone. There were so many different options. Staying in Kansas was certainly not one of them. Then once again, God stepped in.
One day about a month after being home, I got a phone call from a lady that my best friend knew from teaching her daughter riding lessons. She had an idea. There was this place that had a house, indoor riding arena, 18 horse barn, and 18.5 acres that she thought would be an amazing place to get a horse ministry/therapy started. But she didn’t know much about horses or horse therapy. However, her and her husband where interested in buying the place and turning it over to someone to live there and run a stables and ministry out of it. My first reaction was two-fold. Right off the bat I started thinking; not a chance in this world am I getting stuck in Kansas. Ever. But then part of me also started thinking about how much this was my dream. Over the next couple weeks through a lot of prayer, God changed my heart. For months before I’d been on the fence on how I was supposed to build up a horse ranch for therapy and not stay in one place and still travel all over and just never stay in one place. I knew that those two didn’t fit together. But this change in heart was overwhelming. All of a sudden I just couldn’t imagine leaving Kansas. I fell in love with all the small town quirks. I realized how badly I wanted to have roots somewhere: how badly I wanted that stability and home-base. And all the while, God was pulling more things and more people together for this farm. I decided there was absolutely nothing I wanted more than to start this ministry. They closed on the house/land on Monday and so I’ll be moving in hopefully within the next couple days. It’s only about 4 minutes down the road from my family, and it’s the house I’ve driven past for years saying I wanted. There is a crazy amount of work that needs to be done on it but I couldn’t be more thrilled. We’re hoping to have it fully running by the start of the school year and also do some stuff out there throughout the summer. We don’t have a name for it as of yet, but it’s going to be a non-profit ranch that will offer Equine Assisted Psychotherapy (which will target all groups ranging from soldiers with PTSD to kids in the foster system to abuse victims to many many other types of people in need), community outreach, team/leadership building, bible studies, a horsemanship program, riding lessons and horse training among other things. We’ll be teaming up with mental health professionals and local churches also to make it that much more effective at reaching the local community. I couldn’t be more thrilled with how God is pulling everything together for this. He has provided the most amazing person for me to be running this place with. Her name is Kim and she’s just amazing!!!!!!!! Also He provided a mental health specialist who is already working up on the Ft here who is interested in working with the military and their families with our ranch. God is just so incredible!! And all of this wouldn’t’ have worked out if I had not fallen off that horse, broken my back, and come home early from Thailand.
Another huge thing that has been happening in my life since coming home is a growing relationship with a very amazing man, Ethan. Coming home from Thailand I was dead set against getting involved in any way with any guy, even just the littlest bit. I had written out a list of expectations a guy had to meet before I’d even consider dating/being courted by him. I thought the list was pretty impossible. But once again, God had other plans that He started to show me when meeting this guy at our new church. He was one of my friends older brother and so I spent some time around him just being with her and I started to realize just what an amazing, Godly man he was. The more I got to know him, the more things on the list I realized he fit. The more I realized I just couldn’t even think straight when he was around. Last night he went and asked my dad’s permission to court me and then came over and asked me. I of course said yes and have not been able to stop smiling since. Right after he asked me though he asked if we could pray and make sure we started this off right. In that second any shadow of a doubt I had disappeared. The excitement and absolute peace God has given with Ethan is crazy. I’m so crazy excited to see what the future holds.
So this is the final entry in this blog. As soon as we have a name for the farm, I’ll be starting a new one though to keep everyone updated on what’s happening there. I ask for your continued prayer for this farm as we work to get it started, fundraise, and start working to reach people. Also, if anyone is interested in coming out and doing anything around the farm or has old horse stuff or stuff for a house, or office or anything, we have nothing right now. God is the great planner and provider. May my life bring Him praise and honor and glory in all that I do.
cowgirl4christ17@yahoo.com
