Saving the Horses

As a little girl, some of my most favorite memories were my trips to visit my grandfather’s ranch in Arizona. We ran by the fence and watched all the paint horses, rode bikes on dirt roads, chased chickens, picked cacti with pickaxes, threw them into a trailer bed with cousins, and played night games. Arizona is known for being particularly dry, and this particular year had been a hot one. I was so excited for our upcoming visit, even though the drive was so long. When we got to grandma’s house, my grandma told me she was worried about grandpa’s horses on the desert ranch. The horses had a water trough they drank from that needed rain to be filled or hand delivered. The problem was they hadn’t received the needed rain to fill the water trough, and I don’t think grandpa had another way at the time to get the horses water for a while. I remember feeling so much concern for those horses, I wanted them to be okay, and so as a young girl I decided to say a prayer that there would be rain and that the horses might receive the water they needed. At such a young age, I experienced what I’d call a miracle. After my prayer that day, it rained. Not only did it rain when it hadn’t rained in so long, but it rained so hard that the horse trough was overflowing. 

This was one of the big teaching moments in my life, where I learned that there is a God who hears and answers our prayers. I think that sometimes in life it becomes easy to get distracted and forget all the things God has done for us and ways he manifests himself in our lives, even the small ones. It’s important to take time to listen to the inner voice in our hearts that tells us to act when we are worried about our own personal “horses” or things we experience everyday that we might be concerned about. Maybe more action will be required in order for those heartfelt prayers to be answered or needs to be met, but as we act in faith we will receive the help and fortitude we need so that whatever we feel needs to happen might be accomplished. 

A great example of this comes from the story of Joan of Arc. She was a female hero of France, a peasant girl who believed she was acting by divine guidance to liberate France. In 1429, she led the French army in victory that kept the English from conquering France during the war. When first meeting her army, who had been losing battles, it is said that she was appalled by the behavior of her soldier’s use of foul language, drinking, and maintaining the company of lewd women. When she arrived, she immediately sent the lewd women away and ordered changes to be made. She had them cease their foul language and limit certain other behaviors. She had them confess to the priest to abstain from sin and promised they’d never battle on the Sabbath day. Can you imagine the initial reaction of the men to some of these regulations, especially being dictated by a woman at that time? Why would she ask them to do this? How would this help them win the war? How silly it might have sounded! Joan believed in who she was, in the cause she felt was divine. She believed that it must be done in God’s way and not that of her own, and she absolutely trusted that resolve. She wanted an army that was pure and reminded them that to receive God’s help they needed to be living in a way that invited his spirit or influence to be with them. After they made the changes, they started winning and doing so in miraculous ways. The rest of her story is one you can read about below; it is so inspiring:

Free on Well Educated Heart books webpage (page 45) “Great Lives from France, Canada, & Switzerland”: https://issuu.com/librariesofhope3/docs/glmonth5finalissuu