Brave

“Sometimes I feel like I want to be Brave.”

I stood in silence as I let the words sink in.  The girl sitting across from me in our Harvest Day class was painting the word “Brave” in large, bold letters across the wooden board in front of her.  I remembered just the day before I had been looking at what seemed to be a different child.

This same 10 year-old, who we’ll call “Hannah,” stood shyly off to the side as kids and leaders were being paired for sessions.  Her name was called and she came my way.  I noticed that she was very tall for her age and walked nervously and somewhat awkwardly as she followed me to start our session.  When I asked her what she wanted to do, she wrung her hands and responded, “I guess maybe… we could… ride a horse.”

“You guess maybe we could?” I countered.

“Oh, um, sorry.  Let’s ride a horse.”

At that moment, I had the oddest thought.  It was more like a deep knowing than a thought.  This girl needed to ride Phoebe.

Phoebe is one of our horses for a higher level rider.  She came as a filly from the most extreme rescue the ranch has ever been a part of… a backyard breeding program of over 300 starving, emaciated horses.  Breeding dogs were everywhere too, living in piles of junk, and starving to the point of attacking and trying to eat the horses.  The staff at the ranch lovingly  nourished Phoebe back to health and she is now a tall, strong horse.  Still, however, she sometimes struggles with fear and trust.  To be successful during a session, she needs a strong, confident leader.

And this girl was anything but confident.

Unsure of my decision, but feeling we should at least give it a try, we went to get Phoebe.  Hannah listened intently as I told her Phoebe’s story and her need of a confident rider.  I also told her that once someone earns Phoebe’s trust, she’s one of the most loyal horses I’d ever met.

While we groomed and saddled, I noticed that each time I taught Hannah something that was different than she’d been doing, she’d say, “Sorry.” I pointed that out to her and finally told her she didn’t need to say sorry anymore.  She wasn’t doing anything wrong and was just learning.  She accepted that and tried not to say it again.

Once in the arena, atop Phoebe’s back, I was amazed at the transformation I saw in Hannah.  She was quiet and confident for her horse.  We worked on a few exercises and it just happened that Hannah had great balance and was able to stay calm even when Phoebe wanted to rush and go faster.  She did great with her!

And as she rode, she started to talk.  And laugh.  And tell me stories.  She came to life and I was so honored to see and be a part of what God was doing in her heart.

The following day during our class, I was delighted that God gave me a sneak peak at the transformation He was continuing to do.

“Sometimes I want to be brave.”

I jolted back to the present.  “Hannah, you were brave yesterday with Phoebe.  You were SO brave!  It was incredible to watch you do so well with her.  It takes a pretty special person to be able to do what you did.  I love your sign.  Good job!”

She smiled and quietly went back to work.  At the end of the class, I looked again at her board.

Behind “Brave” was a painting of a horse silhouette running into the sunset.