On a beautiful Saturday, while my husband was at work, I spent time with my equine pals. I wasn't feeling very good, but I was having anxiety about being home alone so I went to the barn despite my illness. Being around my horses makes me feel better, not so much physically but definitely mentally. So I spent my day with them and I got a good workout from grooming these six friends of mine.
Bodies curried and brushed off - check.
Hooves picked out - check.
Manes detangled and brushed out - check.
Fly spray applied - check.
Hugs, pats, and muzzle kisses given - check.
Grass grazed before being returned to pastures - check.
Grooming horses is one of my favorite things to do in life. There's something very relaxing to me in this work. Though it doesn't lend stillness to my body and muscles, it does lend peace to my heart and soul.
This is my beautiful girl, Myra <3
Photo Credit goes to Jodi Bodtke with Giving Tree Photography
"There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man." - Winston Churchill
Despite my not feeling well, it was a good day.
When I went inside for a break to wash my hands, I glanced at myself in the mirror above the sink. My glance became a stare and I began to laugh at myself. I had dirt streaked across my shoulders and face, I had a nice sheen going on courtesy of my sweat, and I was also wearing a good portion of the hair I'd just brushed off a horse. It's not an unusual look to be sporting after one grooms a horse, I just hadn't realized I was getting quite that dirty.
"Well, the horses may be clean," I thought and giggled to myself, "but now I'm wearing all their dirt."
As I stood there smiling at my reflection, I had another thought. A more serious thought.
"This is what happened to Jesus. He made me clean by wearing my dirt."
In the ways that I had streaks of dirt across my face and shoulders,
He had streaks of filth on His body from carrying my sin and shame.
Where I was now exuding the scent of sweat brought on by working in the sun,
He was emitting the foul odor that emanated from my impurities.
How the hair that had once been attached to a horse had transferred itself to my body,
the filth that had once radiated from my heart had been transferred to Him instead.
For me to become clean, He became dirty.
For me to be made pure in His sight, He took on the darkness of my sin.
For me to become one of His Redeemed, He became the payment for my ransom.
The business of my day gave way to a stillness of the moment. As I stood at a sink with a mirror above showing my dirty reflection, my heart was reminded to give thanks for all He has done for me.
He could choose to never answer another one of my prayers, my life could be filled with bad thing after bad thing, and my heart would still resound with the Truth that I have learned. The Truth that He is forever deserving of my love and devotion, my trust and adoration.
He doesn't have to perform more miracles to make Him deserving of my love. He doesn't have to answer my prayers to make Him deserving of my praise. He doesn't have to heal my hurts to make Him deserving of my trust.
Because the sacrifice that Jesus already paid? It's enough
In that one sacrificial act of love, my God proved Himself worthy of it all.
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When I was a teenager, I came across a portrayal of Christ's sacrifice that changed how I thought of it. This portrayal made me see it in a whole new light. If you'd like to read it, just click here and allow yourself to once again be awed at the depth of His love for you.
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