Who's on Your Team?....God

You may be a little tired of my going on about the NFR.  However, it's still holding lessons for me.  This is a piece of an interview I saw with Lee Ann Rust on Barrel Horse News...

Who’s on your team? Shelly Fair – her job description is to take care of me and babysit me. I’ve got Gena Franklin – her job description is to take care of Harley and babysit Harley and Mule. Gena rode Harley as a 3-year-old; she’s got as strong a bond with him as anybody. I’ll have Kathy Butkovic, she’s got Equi-Sports Therapy, and Kelley Mills. This time right now is so critical for me, soaking up and developing an excess and a reservoir of mental preparedness, because there’s not going to be any one-on-one time for me and Rhonda Byrne and the Bible. I’ve never been to Vegas, I’ve just heard about it. With all of the emotions that come with making it to the Thomas & Mack, is there anything about it that scares you? I know I’ll come up against things that are new, probably some things I hadn’t considered or thought about. But I’ve got this deal about fear, it just don’t hang out around me much. I don’t know what it is, but they say that perfect faith casts out fear. My faith’s not perfect, but I have a pretty even spoonful of it. What’s your strongest emotion? Gratitude. I’m so thankful for where I’m at, and like I said, there may be some people in awe of what I got done, but there ain’t none of them in as much awe as I am. But for the grace of God, where would I be? What would I be doing now? There’s no such thing as a self-made man, in my opinion, and I sure won’t ever claim that title. Maybe if I had a fear, and I wouldn’t call it a fear, but my concern would be disappointing the people that are looking at what we’re doing. There are a lot of people on Facebook, and I don’t know where they get it but the word “inspiration” keeps coming up. I guess my greatest concern would be letting them down. But that’s secondary, because if I let them down I’ve let Harley down first. I’m not going to let them put an undue amount of pressure on us. When I came out of the arena at Albuquerque last year, I knew I’d missed it. My ex-husband called me, and said, “You’ve worked hard, gone above and beyond the call of duty, and busted your tail. Not making it to the NFR, I can understand your sadness. I’m going to give you one hour for your pity party, then I’m going to call you back and you can go on and be grateful for what you did get done.” Harley has taken me places I didn’t think I could hang with him to get to. I’m going to shoot for the moon and if I miss, I might hit the side of the barn. Just getting there is big, but every round is another rodeo, and I know how I am, when I hit the alley at the rodeo, it’s really hard not to try to win something. I’m going to go out there and do the best I can by Harley, uphold my end of the deal, expect him to uphold his end of the deal, and let the chips fall where they may.

I felt kind of bad that she spoke of folks thinking of her as an inspiration as putting undue pressure on her.  That was not my intention at all.  In my previous post which does call her an "inspiration", here is the way I meant it.  I meant she makes me want to be a better person.  It's not so much what she did, it's how she did it.  She's just a person who makes her mind up and finds a way to get it done.  I know I should be more like that, have a little more drive, a bit more ambition.  I'm just sort of a fly by night and by the seat of my pants kind of girl, and make very few commitments.  She's not.  She sets her mind to something and then she gives 100 till she gets there.  No matter what happens to her in the NFR, she will not be letting me down.  She has already achieved a goal...to do all she could and do her best to qualify for the NFR, to get there...that deal is done.  Truly I do not know if her goal was or is to win it.  I suspect it is to do the best she can and give it everything she's got.  I know that she will do that.  I couldn't be any prouder for her probably than I already am.  Along with me, I think the folks she's referring to on FB are happy for her, want her to have fun, to do well, to stay healthy both she and Harley, and have the time of her life.  
Lee Ann my friend...
Leave those three barrels standing and the dirt flying and you and Harley just soak all that in like a sponge.  We'll be watching!

1 Thessalonians 1:3
We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Encourage One Another, Continuing the journey on fresh paths.

Blessings and love to you!