Home Where He Belongs

 Thanks Mom and Dad....again.  And thanks Chad for letting this boy come home!

Encourage One Another, continuing the journey on fresh paths.
Blessings and love and happy holidays to you, xoxo.

Luke 2:10-14

New International Version (NIV)

¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. ¹¹ Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

The Miracle on County Road 138

I don't believe in coincidences.  I believe in God's timing.  And I believe in miracles, even if they are just small ones.

You know how much I love my horses....well, here's the story.
Forty one years ago my parents commissioned an artist to paint a portrait of the first horse I ever bought with my own money.  They gave it to me for my 18th birthday.  Truthfully, the markings were the same as my horse, but he didn't really look like my guy.  I had this painting for years, much longer actually than I had the horse.  I owned this horse, Gin, all through high school and college and into my married life.  I sold him in about 1982.  About 15 years ago I had a garage sale.  For some stupid reason I put this painting in that garage sale.  As I was closing things down that day, a lady came and bought it.  I reluctantly sold it, really having second thoughts as she walked off, but it had just been sitting in a closet.  Time went on and I sort of forgot about it.
In May of 2003, quite a number of years after that garage sale, my mother passed away.
Shortly after that I had a lady that was cleaning my house.  A particular day I had to take money by to pay her one afternoon.  She was at her mother's house.  When I walked in that house, the first thing I saw was my horse painting on the wall.  I cried.  I expressed to her that I should have never sold the painting, and that now it was even more valuable to me since I had recently lost my mother.  The elderly lady found no sympathy in that, nor did her daughter.  It was her painting and she did not want to part with it.  I was heart broken.
Today, ten years later, I ran into the housekeeper at an estate sale.  The estate sale was for a friend of mine who recently passed away.  I happened to see the signs for it on my way to church and decided to stop by on my way home.  I said hello to the housekeeper and just right off the bat asked if her mother still had my horse painting.  She told me that her mother had passed away in 2007.  She expressed that her mother had left everything to her two nephews (she got nothing).  There apparently was some estrangement in the family about that which was sad to hear.  I asked for and she gave me her sister's name and address.
As soon as I left the sale I went to the address.  A young man in his 30s answered the door.  He said his mother, Faye, was not home.  I told him my story, of how years ago a painting of my horse was sold in a garage sale and how I had found it years later in the home of his grandmother...and how badly I wanted it back due to the death of my mother (and now my father as well) and how adamant his grandmother was about keeping it.  I told him I had heard his grandmother passed away and wondered if they still had the painting.  He took my name and number and said he would give it to his mother and tell her my story.  I left there thinking, surely God would not have lead me down this path if by some miracle I was not to get this painting back.

Matthew 17:20

He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

About an hour later this young man's mother, Faye, called me back.  She told me her son had told her my story. She said her son understood why and how much I wanted this painting back.  She said when her mother died she had given the painting to her son, Chad.  Chad was who I met at the door.  Chad was willing to give the painting back to me.  I cried.  God is truly an awesome God.
Tomorrow morning I am going by her house to pick up the painting of my horse Gin.  Tomorrow, some 41 years after it was painted, and some 15 years after I let it go, I will get my horse painting back.  Tomorrow I'll post a picture of the painting.  Tomorrow will be a good day!

Acts 19:11-12

New International Version (NIV)

¹¹ God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, ¹² so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.

Encourage One Another, continuing the journey on fresh paths.
Blessings and Love to you, xoxo.

Gus...the Rest of the Story

It is with great sadness and concern that I tell you the latest of Gus' story.

I actually initially wrote the previous blog and story about Gus ... http://thegoodlife54.blogspot.com/2013/10/it-just-time-to-tell-you-about-gus.html ...
back in September of 2012.  I was asked not to publish it until the author's book had been written. It has now been written and it will be published and out on Amazon in April 2014.  So I held off on blogging my story until last week in regard to that.

However, last week, something happened that made it important to tell you our story now.

I got a text from Gus' current owner that he was ill and most likely has EPM.  My heart sank.
Equine Protozoal Myeloencephalitis is also known at EPM.  The feces of opossums may contain sporocysts-cysts that contain spores that can reproduce asexually.  Horses can ingest these sporocysts with feed, grass or water contaminated with opossum feces.  The protozoa can leave lesions on the spinal cord and brain stem.  This is likely what has happened to Gus.  It is this neurological damage that can cause the various symptoms of EPM.  Some of the symptoms may include loss of coordination, muscle atrophy, difficulty swallowing, sore back, stumbling, roaring, weakness, dropping eyelid and head tilt.  It is a horrible de-habilitating illness. Treatment can be lengthy, expensive and often unsuccessful.  If treated early, it can be treated, but often those affected will not always recover fully.  They will need a long treatment period first and then a long rehabilitation period if they are treated successfully.  They need lots of physical therapy to recover their muscle mass and strength.  Often these horses are just put down.

My sweet boy Gus is 22 years old.  When I saw him back in the spring, and took photographs with him for the book, he looked well and healthy.  Last week when I saw him he was thin, his muscles had atrophied, his back was swayed and he was sweating, staggering and unstable on his hind end.   His mane was not flowing.  His eyes were no longer bright.

While he loved the snacks I brought him, and ate them eagerly, he did not seem to know me.  He had no other interest in me.  He turned away, again and again.  I kissed him anyway.  I pulled him to me and hugged him.  I cried.  And cried.  My heart cried too.  To see him this way made me so sad, and I felt so helpless.  I choose to believe that his attitude toward me was part of his illness.  I choose not to believe that he no longer knows me or loves me.  I choose to believe that our hearts are still connected, our lives are still attached.  We were bound by love many years ago, the first day I brought him home with me and all the days I took care of him and nursed him back to health from a chronic foot injury years ago, and on that day in 1998 when our hearts were bound together forever.

His owner told me they were going to try some medication on him and see how he did after a week.  Truthfully I cannot imagine much progress in a week.  It will take much longer than that to see progress I believe, if there is any.  He needs a miracle.  I don't know what they will decide in a week or anytime after that.  I offered to do anything I could for his owner or for him.  I did tell her however, that if they decided to do "anything" that I wanted to be there with him.  I do not want him to suffer or be in pain.  He's lived a good life.  He's been loved by all who have owned him.  He is still loved.

For him I pray for comfort and for healing.  For his owners I pray for comfort and for wisdom through doctors who best know about these things.  I pray they will make the right decisions.  And I will be there no matter what.

Sweet boy know I love you!  This is not the end of our trail.

Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friend.  John 15:13

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.  Hebrews 11

He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”   Matthew 17:20

Encourage One Another, continuing the journey on fresh paths.
Blessings and love to you, xoxo.

Great Horse Stories: Wisdom and Humor from Our Majestic Friends  by Rebecca Ondov  (April 1, 2014)

It's Just Time to Tell You About Gus

My blog/inspiring story....... The "Hoose"                                                                      Mosey For the longest time, when you showed a photo of a horse to my grandson and asked him what it was, he would reply with it's sound...a "neigh".  He did not give the word for it.  After that he began calling it by it's name....a "hoose", (like loose, only with an "H").  That worked for me!  When referring to my horse who he met early on, whose name is "Mosey", he called him "Moomies" with along O.  Since then his pronunciation is pretty accurate.  He in fact has become somewhat of a cowboy...on occasion. However, this is a story about another gray horse of mine that I owned some years ago, Gus.  An author friend of mind suggested that I write a memorable horse story, one that I had a special connection to.  She was planning to write a book which included stories about women and their horses.  While I have many, this is the one that came to mind. The county in south central Texas where I have spent most of my life is prone to flooding.  There are two major rivers that converge, just above the actual town of Gonzales, the Guadalupe and the Comal.  At that point, in a little town called Ottine, it just becomes the Guadalupe River.  The Guadalupe runs just to the west of downtown Gonzales and through our big park just to the south of the city. In 1998, the Guadalupe River flooded.  It was called the 100 year flood.  It started raining on Thursday, October 17 and rained through the Sunday the 19th.  It rained for four days straight, hard!  Approximately 22" of rain fell around and north of Gonzales in Austin, San Antonio, and the Hill Country.  This rain created flooding of all the rivers, streams and creeks throughout all south central Texas.  Some counties had warnings that the flooding was coming.  Some did not or it arrived before prediction.  Some 31 lives and countless wild animals and livestock were lost.  Roads were blocked with roadblocks and water for days.  It was truly frightening.  You could not drive down to our park much less drive through it.  You could, unfortunately from the road in town above it, view the rapid rushing river water that was way out of it's banks.  It flowed across the highway, the baseball fields, the play ground, and the golf course.  The highway was not visible.  You could see cows floating down the river, their heads barely bobbing above the water.  Or you could see them stuck on some small island where you could hear them calling out, frantic.  You knew they would eventually be swept away, and they were.  It was such a hopeless sight. I was stuck in town as all the roads out of town in every direction were blocked.  My horses were at our ranch in the country, some 17 miles out of town.  I could not get to the ranch to see if they were ok.  I prayed many prayers that week that my family, my friends, and my animals would all be protected.  For many animals, that flood water just swept everything away.  There just was no escape for them, even if they got to higher ground.  That water took everything in it's path. There is a huge creek in the pasture where the horses were kept. When it rains a great deal, the creek gets way out of it's banks in that pasture.  It is not surpassable during those times by anything or anybody.  I only hoped my horses were on the "barn side" of that creek where they would be on high ground.  Every day I prayed.  I knew God knew how much I loved my horses.  I believed he would keep them safe...but I kept praying.                                                              Gus Finally, on Tuesday, one of the roads, the "long" way around, could get us to the ranch.  Driving there we could see land that was just ravaged by the flood water...truly devastating.  My heart raced the closer we got to the ranch.  Much of the water had run off by this time but so many of the roads and pavement were damaged and "gone" that traveling was still dangerous. We arrived at the ranch and I immediately went to the barn to count and check on the horses.  Five where there.  One was missing.  One of mine!  Prayers commenced along with hollering as loud as I could "Gus.....Gus".  It brings tears to my eyes at this very moment remembering how afraid I was, how fearful I was that I had lost him.  This gray horse had had a long history of an injury that I had nursed him through time and time again.  That had made us especially close.  Plus, he was just one of those horses that just loved people and loved me, gentle and kind eyed.  The creek in the horse trap was still full, all the way to the top of it's banks.  It was very deep, probably 10' - 12' in places.  The rushing water made it almost impossible to hear anything I was sure except that surging water.  "God", I prayed, "if he is in there, please let him hear me, please let me just see him to know that he is alive...please God".  I walked as far as I could on the barn side of the creek, literally screaming his name. All of the sudden I heard some crashing of brush and trees.  Then I saw him.   "Thank you God" as tears of joy filled my eyes.  I gently said his name, "Gus", and told him he would be ok.  He kept coming closer and I could see that he was ok and did not appear injured.  "Thank you God".  I could also tell he was anxious and that I was the only friend he had seen in days as he had been separated from his buddies.  They had been on the safe side of the water and he was on the other side, alone.  He ran all the way up to the bank on the other side of the creek.  The water was running swiftly in front of and between us.  I could see sticks and stumps and who knew what all rushing swiftly down the creek.  If you've never seen rushing, flooding water, it is powerful and frightening.  Gus stopped for just a second on the other side of the creek. He nickered loud and then he just KEPT coming.  My mouth was open as I watched him.  He jumped off into that violent running water and swam to me, literally swam in that rushing water. The creek at that point was about 12-15' wide and about 10' deep.  All I could see was his head.  He some how, miraculously and by the power of God was not swept down the creek but popped up on the other side with me, shook the water off, stopped and lowered his head, exhausted and weary.  Tears of sheer joy streamed down my face as I hugged him and petted him and calmed him and thanked God with all my heart.  He followed me back to the barn to be reunited with his buddies.  They too rejoiced to see him.  I believe I had witnessed a miracle.  Yes, he probably would have been fine until the waters receded and the creek went down and he could have crossed the creek walking instead of swimming.  But it would have been days.  I also witnessed the love between a woman and her horse, between a woman and her friend.  It was a blessing and a moment I will never forget.   God taught me that prayer works and miracles happen.  He taught me that I was valuable enough to him to work a miracle in my life, with something that was so important to me. God knew that riding my horses was a great relief to me after working 40 hours a week in Child Protective Services.  It was my way to gain my perspective back that to know that not all of life is tragic.  It allowed me to rest my mind in the quietness of the country and refill my mind with beauty.  God showed me that if I trusted him, he would bless me. A miraculous day in October 1998, gave me many more great rides through the pasture and the woods on that ranch in Gonzales county.  There were many great trail rides with beautiful weather and views of incredible wildlife.  There were days of fun working cattle on Gus that always brought joy to my life.                                                            Gus and I Gus lives today, retired in green pastures, getting fat and loving life!  And so do I.   "Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friend." John 15:13 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.  Hebrews 11 He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”   Matthew 17:20 ****Flood stage for the Guadalupe River in Gonzales is 31 feet.  The river crested at over 51 feet. Encourage One Another, continuing the journey on fresh paths. Blessings and love to you, xoxo.

Post Script to "A Material Tragedy"

Here's a shout out to God...four days later the earring was found.  It was in my daughter's house on the mat by the kitchen sink.  Yeah!  Yeah God!  Truly just another small miracle to find a very small earring in the amount of ground I covered that day in a very big world.  I replaced the earring back and have worn the earrings every day since. Yeah!  Yeah God!

Ask and it shall be given unto you!

Encourage One Another

Who Was That Man Who Gets the Big High Five?

Ok, a second first was accomplished yesterday. T-Paw and I took the boy shopping. OK, T-Paw and I haven't even done all that much shopping together in our lives, however, I thought we did amazing. Getting the boy and our stuff in and out of the car each time was sort of like a Chinese fire drill. We would continued to round the car from side to side getting stuff in or out, then going to the other side to get something out or put something in. T-Paw commented, "we look sort of "rookieish" doing this. B makes it look so easy". I said, "she has had weeks of practice now and when I have been with her she won't even let me help. I think we are doing fabulous to not have ever done this". So we just kept on keeping on and shopped the day away. On one occasion there was a decision for me to go in and do the deal real quick and he would stay in the car with the boy. Next thing I know, I look out and he's in the back seat with the boy. Everything is quiet. "Paci" is in his mouth and there is not a hint of crying! I finish up and off we go to the next stop...clothes shopping for T-Paw. Out we go again, shop a while, the boy sleeps the whole time. He is such a good shopper. T-Paw got lots of cool stuff. We load up again and I'm thinking he's going to be getting hungry pretty soon. When we get to the restaurant, T-Paw says "I'll take him to the table and you just order for me." I'm ok with that. So I get our food and about that time the boy wakes up. I pick him up and hold him while I eat. He just looks around at the sights and sounds. I finish my lunch and feed him...perfect. There's no changing table in this restaurant...bummer. So we head to the car to attempt a diaper change. Other than him trying to push himself off the seat, we got that done without much trouble. He seems pretty happy so we decide to try one more stop...shopping for me! Well, the boy gets unhappy on the road. Here's another miracle. T-Paw leans totally across from the front seat to the back seat and talks, coos, puts the paci in and out, and quiets that boy down. T-Paw comes back to the front and settles in...but here we go again. Once again T-Paw goes without suggestion across from the front seat to the back (in case I haven't mentioned he's 61 and I have to be honest, a little slow). I was truly impressed. I said "think we should just head on home?" He said "I think I got it." And he did. The rest of the way all is quiet from the back seat until we get to the next stop. The boy was fine in the store. He and T-Paw went to the "man cave" area and just talked and hung out a few minutes while I searched for thing to try on. Just about the time I started to try on my items noises started to be heard from the "man cave" area. The boy started crying and although T-Paw tried to quiet him, he was just tired of being in the car seat. We got him out, quieted him down and decided to just put everything back and head out. Shopping for me will have to take place another day. Just a few blocks out of the store the boy gets REAL upset in the car seat. There goes T-Paw over the seats again. After a few minutes he has him soothed again. He's getting really good at this. Do I dare say he's a natural? I mean truly this was just miraculous. You have no idea. I don't think I know this man. Mostly because it's so far outside his box. For me, yeah, it's all new, or relatively new since I haven't done it in 26 years. However, I'll catch on pretty quick and I'm not gonna break anything I don't think. (OK, we did have one big faux pax, we strolled him backwards in the stroller! Sorry B!) But truthfully, I don't think T-Paw ever, no let me re-phrase that, I know T-Paw, who was once "daddy", never did anything like this. If he did, I've totally lost my memory about it. I'm sure he has too, if he ever did. He was amazing. I was pleased and impressed, and truly blessed by him yesterday. It was something I think we have both dreamed about, "grandparenting" our grandchild together. "T-Paw, we did it. I give you a big high five for the day."

P.S.

When I told this story to B, she said "I think this is his attempt at a "re-do" (which I call a do over). "What do you mean?" She said "since he didn't do anything with me (when she was little)". Sort of takes the air out of my bubble. But the truth is the truth...and the truth will set you free.

Encourage One Another