"Where is your faith?"

Hey have I got a story for you, a few weeks ago I was up riding one of Carl Woods horses, a stud named Chex; a really nice bay that has lots of moves. My daughter Jessie and I were riding in the indoor arena and in one corner of this arena Carl had a young mare penned up.

Now riding a stud I was well aware that I needed to keep Chex in check if you know what I mean, but at one point he started to act up on me, so at that point I decided to ride him outside, the sun was out, the outdoor arena was dry enough to go in but, I made a crucial mistake doing this. I had forgotten that on the other side of the arena there are two fields that contain several mares. Once I realized this I thought as long as I am on the other side I will be okay. BIG MISTAKE!

So there I was riding this very powerful stud, I am enjoying the day, spring is in the air, ya, life is good! Riding to one corner of the arena I did not notice that a mare decided to show her pretty face and this is where spring in the air became SPRING ME IN THE AIR!

Chex decided to show me how talented of a horse he is, as a reining horse he decided to put me into a dead spin, more like a death spin. Chex decided he wanted to show his stuff but before he could he had to loose some weight or he would be doing something with me still attached to the seat; and in so doing he started spinning to the left, almost immediately I lost my right rein, my foot came out of the right stirrup and I was about to fly off when this though came to my mind, “I ….am ….going…to… hit… that ground, and for a split second I thought this ain’t going to be bad, but then I realized, no way pal, I am not letting you get away with this crazy stunt, at that point Chex was in his third spin (crazy reining horse) head up high and almost rearing, I was able to grab the rein I lost, got my foot back into the stirrup, and got Chex back into check, that is, I got a hold of his head, and got him under control.

Heart pounding, working on getting my composure and there I was, feeling proud, ya baby, Carl would be proud. Then the other thought came to my mind, you know the one that says, ahh what the Sam hill did just happen, time to get off, and reality hit, this could have been a train wreck. At that time I decided that it was time to get off, and rethink riding a stud during the spring.

There is this story in the bible of another wild ride that the disciples of Jesus were on themselves….it goes like this… One day Jesus said to his disciples, "Let's go over to the other side of the lake." So they got into a boat and set out. As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger. The disciples went and woke him, saying, "Master, Master, we're going to drown!" He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm.

"Where is your faith?" he asked his disciples. In fear and amazement they asked one another, "Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him."

The question remains, where is our faith? The day I went on that ride with Chex my faith came alive when I realized the consequences if I had failed to get this horse under control, the disciples were facing a similar ride but the consequences were not about the storm and it’s destruction instead it was about the lack of faith they were demonstrating.

My question to all of us is this, where do we stand when it comes to faith? And are we willing to relinquish control of our lives and put our faith into someone who has an eternal plan for all of us?

Me and the Bull Story

One summer when I was ten I was enjoying hanging out with my Grandpa on his farm in central Alberta. I remember very clearly my Uncle came up to Grandpa informing him that their bull had escaped his pen and was on the loose on the south field, primarily the grazing area for the cows.

Immediately my Grandpa informed my uncle to saddle up Goldie the horse and he would take his truck(72 GMC classic Truck, very nice) and meet him in the South field. Once there Grandpa drove up to where the bull was. I remember this so clearly, being small I could not see that far out of the window, I remember opening the door to follow my grandpa out onto the field, when I opened the door and climbed out I came face to face with this bull.

Imagine this, small 10 year old boy, 2000 pound bull, who would win that battle?

He was huge, with large horns and gave me the eye and stared me right back into the truck. I did what most little kids do, screamed, got back into the truck.

A few seconds later the bull was on the run again, but this time my uncle was chasing him down, the GMC truck right behind him. Subsequently the bull was chased into a water hole and was brought back to his pen. What a mess, my uncle was responsible for fixing three or four sections of fencing the bull ran through.

This was one of those moments in life as a little kid I was faced with something huge, more powerful then me, that showed no signs of mercy and I had no control over it. The only prudent thing to do was to listen to Grandpa and ensure I did not get in his way or the bull's.

I came across a story this week in which Jesus had to face a bully named Satan. In this story Jesus was all alone in a desert, once there he was tempted to deny everything he represented not once but three times. Each time the bully tried to deceive him misquoting words from the Bible to trip Jesus up, and in each case Jesus refuted this bully and in the end Jesus won that battle. Simply, he got on his horse and chased the bully down.

All of us have to face many challenges and trials that may bring fear or temptation and in the end we must be willing to stand against it and win.

Blair

Just a quick little story about what cowboy church means to me

You see I was raised with Jesus in my life, and although I have never forgotten the Lord and what Jesus means to me. I always was too busy to go to church. We all are busy with working , raising our children, especially when they become teenagers, saving money for the future, trying to have some fun too, so that at the end of the day exhaustion sets in and I am too tired to do anything.

One day I could see the frustration in a young girl and wanted to help her with her horse and riding, she always brought a smile to my face, with her great appreciation, of the few words of encouragement that I would say to her, here and there! One day she called and asked if I would go to cowboy church, and I said sure. Well I tell you, it was so much fun, lots and lots of laughter, and one can never get enough of that, with lots of good singing – ok not so good singing on my behalf, and lots of teasing with friends.

The special messages of miracles, angels and Jesus, gave me such a feeling of warmth, and most of all forgiveness.

You see I realized although I knew I was not perfect, I was pretty hard on myself, until I remembered Jesus. I knew then that all I had to do was ask Him for forgiveness and He would, also He would help me make better choices.

So, although our lives are so crazy busy, come on and join in on the fun along with learning how to make our lives better, calmer and with peace that only Jesus can give us.

Have some awesome baking, java, juice, with some incredible people and learn how much easier your life can be in a warm easy going atmosphere.

Yours sincerely
Sue

Hi everyone,

Wanted to share a little story with all of you. As all of you know I am a novice rider at the best of times, so when it comes to taking chances or risks riding a horse I am going to be more cautious. I sometimes lack confidence, skill and most of all courage to be willing to try something new or go that extra mile to learn more.

Well over the holidays I met up with Carl and Gordo up at Chevallier’s arena. They were practicing some team roping and they invited me to come up. I told the boys, “hey I am not that good of a rider”, but they responded by saying, “ya ain’t going to learn how to ride unless you come out and do it.” So with rope in hand, shaking nerves and freezing my oversized assets, I got up on Gordo’ horse Housie and started to ride.

A day earlier I was riding one of Carl’s horses and was practicing out of the box. It was a challenge just getting that horse into the box, but after some persuasion I did it.

Well on this day riding Housie, I first practiced on a dummy steer on the ground and got it. While waiting on Housie I watched the other boys chasing those steers and catching them and thought to myself; wow this is really cool, I am finally going to get a chance to do this! But man was I nervous!

Carl called out my name, and I went in to the heading box. Rope in hand, the loop ready, Gordo was in the heel’n box and gave me the ok…it was time; I nodded my head and out came the steer. Next thing I knew Housie was on his way with me trying to position my excess body weight so that I would not fall off. I was also holding Housie off a bit for fear of falling off – which was a real possibility for me.

As I was riding something amazing happened that has not happened to me before. I was so shocked that I almost forgot what I was doing…I was actually loping on Housie and I felt in rhythm with him. It was the first time on a horse that I felt in rhythm and in sync with a horse. At the same time I was closing in on the steer that was already too far out in front of me and the arena was getting shorter by the second. I had one chance to throw my rope, I kicked it up a notch and threw out the rope, last thing I remember was the rope around my head, or Housie, not sure but I know I threw it and it did not get very far.

Housie and I went out a few more times, I came close once on my last try, and it was a good try. I remember leaving the arena thanking the guys for the opportunity to ride an amazing horse, and a chance to try out team roping. I thought to myself, wow, I can actually do this. I am hooked and now I cannot wait to learn how to ride better and do team roping down the road.

I share this story as an encouragement and challenge for all of you to try out Cowboy Valley Church. It is something new, something that hasn’t been done in this area before and for most of us something you have never tried before. As a cowboy in training, I am learning the importance of trying, and my challenge to you for this week is trying can lead to good things. Hats, boots and jeans are welcome, good food; good java and some good company are the norm.

See ya’ll and God Bless,
Blair