Trust

I couldn’t believe the note I was reading. Highly confidential, I learned the child I was about to see had experienced unimaginable trauma… Inflicted by a family member so close it made my blood run cold. She had barely escaped with her life.

I sent the note through our paper shredder and whispered a prayer as I headed outside.

Jesus, help me. You know what this little girl needs today.

Huddled by her mom and sister, her bright blue eyes met my gaze. We exchanged introductions and I learned she wanted to ride. I knew we had to get Hero.

Hero is a vibrantly alive, full of personality, and desperately rescued member of our horse herd. He was found stumbling through BLM land with a gunshot wound to his face and a badly injured leg. Coming to the ranch, X-rays revealed 2 bullets lodged in his brain, he lost one eye, and his leg took longer to heal than his face.  Hero was alive against all odds.

And so was this precious child.

Throughout grooming and saddling, I shared Hero’s story and she soaked it in.  As I warmed him up, Hero began crowding me a bit. I explained his need to respect my personal space before she rode and showed her how to be effective as I was protecting my “space bubble.”

Then WHACK. The rope swung and hit Hero over his only good eye. He jerked backwards and flung his head from the sting.

Mortified, I apologized to both her and the horse. “I’m so sorry. That was a mistake and I should NOT have hit him in the face like that.”

Meekly, I tried to move on with the session. Hero forgave immediately.  The little girl mounted up and I was pleased to see a giant smile spread across her face.

Our conversation continued and a question flew out of my mouth that I immediately regretted.

“How do you know if someone is truly trustworthy?”

I kicked myself – she SHOULD have been able to trust the one that had abused her. Her own family! Man, was I messing this up.

Unphased, she smiled and responded, “Well, I guess if they’re kind and nice and stuff you can trust them.”

Then words rolled off my tongue that I knew could not have come from me:

“Isn’t it true though that we all make mistakes? So we could probably agree that no one is truly trustworthy.”

She thought and nodded.

I continued, “Except for one Person, and that is Jesus.”

She beamed and nodded vigorously. (Miss blue eyes already shared she had asked Jesus in her heart and we had high-fived at being forever sisters in Him.)

“So, we can place our FULL trust in Jesus, and practice trusting others and giving them grace when they fail. Just like Hero…”

My mind spun as I realized and watched God weave a beautiful picture out of my mistake…

“I failed and slapped Hero over his one good eye. And yet he’s still choosing to walk forward in trust. He knows God’s got him and that he can allow for grace for us when we mess up. He’s able to forgive and keep moving forward with us in friendship. Pretty neat, huh?”

I could see all sorts of connections taking place across her face.  She rode like a champ and I sensed that she and Hero could understand each other in a way I never would. God had done so much healing in both of them… And they both were learning to walk forward in trust. I whispered another prayer of thanks that Jesus had indeed come and helped meet this child right here in a humble round pen.

Please take a moment and pray for continued healing this little girl and her family.