This weekend... emotional ups and downs!

So, this weekend was crazy. Something horrible happened, followed by something disappointing, followed by something awesome and amazing and even another fantastic thing!

Am I being general enough?

First of all, this was the first weekend in forever, and the last weekend for forever, that I actually had to myself. No having to go anywhere, no work, no company, nothing. Don't get me wrong; I love having friends visit, and I love going to visit them/family. Sometimes, though, you just need to take time for yourself. Sleep in a little. Enjoy your pets. Clean the mess that has been accumulating for the last month in your house.

One of the reasons I enjoy having nothing to do on weekend mornings is that I love hanging out with my horse first thing in the morning. That doesn't necessarily mean riding; just going out and being with her for a few minutes, even if that means I'm just sitting on the ground, watching her graze, always gives my day a wonderful start. I can sit peacefully and pray or reflect on things, or I can just blank out my mind and enjoy the miracle that is having a deep bond with a creature so much bigger than myself. Really, it is quite amazing. We speak different languages, yet we are very good at reading each other. I can run at her, flapping my arms and screaming my head off, but she knows when I really want her to run and when I am "faking". She can switch and do the same thing; I know when she's going to stop, and when I should get out of her way (not that the latter happens often!). She trusts me to lead her through threatening situations; I trust her to find her footing when riding through treacherous areas. She knows that when I come out to her, swinging a fly mask and juggling a fly spray bottle, sunscreen, and a brush, that she needs to stand still until I'm finished with her. I know that when she's acting funny, something is wrong.

Like Saturday.

Chica was up at the fence, waiting on dinner (mind you, this was at 10:00 AM), so I headed out to put her fly mask on. She had been acting moody the last few days, and I guess I had been ignoring the signs because I didn't want anything to be wrong. Watching her walk up to me, though, I knew I couldn't ignore it anymore. I put her in the round pen and asked her to trot about 10 steps. Lame. Walking her out of the pen, every step seemed torturous to her. Even standing suddenly wasn't ok- she would either point her foot, or she would hold it off the ground. I was devastated. Chica has been battling the first stages of navicular disease, and she had been doing so well lately. I was really afraid that this degree of lameness signalled the beginning of the end. I took her out of the pasture and gave her a handful of feed with a Prevacox and told her she needed to get better because I wasn't ready for that. She then hobbled back into the pasture and stood there, looking miserable. What could I do? Lock her in a stall, so she could get stiff? She obviously wasn't going to be running anywhere. In the end, I left her where she was, and went back into the house. In my room, I stopped and prayed. I have been reading devotionals by Joseph Prince lately, and something he has been teaching is about the power that is in Jesus' name. In fact, the devotional that he posted the day before this lameness happened is titled: "Time to Use Your Authority" (see here: http://www.josephprinceonline.com/category/devotional/). Basically, he talks about how most of the time, when we pray, our prayers are desperate: "Please, God, do this!" and etc. I would have to agree, for myself! But he goes on to say, "There is a time for you to cry out to God and there is a time for you to use your authority". Basically, that authority is Jesus' name. "As you command in Jesus’ name, your “sea” will open and you will go on dry ground through the midst of your problem". How amazing is that? Having just read that the day before, I walked into my room, and prayed that, in Jesus' name, Chica would be healed. No pleading. Just a firm, steadfast belief that it would be so. And guess what? The next day, she was no longer lame. In fact, when I called her this (Monday) morning, she galloped across the pasture up to me. How amazing and awesome is that, to go from dead lame at the walk to bolting around without a hitch?

I have seen power of this magnitude before. When my sister's friend's little brother was in the hospital, dying from the swine flu, I messaged my friend Erika and asked her to pray for healing for him. She called me up, and together we prayed on the phone for him, and I have to say I have never heard or felt such powerful prayer in my life. She prayed using her authority, and I knew, knew, by the end of it that he would be healed. And shortly after that, everything got better for him. Now he is back to being a healthy boy, the only signs left from his weeks being in the hospital being a few missing toes.

God is amazing.

I mentioned also at the beginning of this post that something disappointing, and then fantastic, happened. Saturday morning, I took the last of my two strays to a "Blessing of the Animals" event at St Francis Episcopal Church, as a local group was doing rabies shots for $10. I figured they could use whatever edge they could get. After that, my roommate and I took them to Petco and sat for several hours with a local rescue group, trying to find them a home. We had so much interest, I was sure at least one of them would be taken. This was something else I had been praying for, after all. However, after several hours and a missed lunch, we decided it was time to leave. It was hard admitting defeat like that, especially since there were still people coming and going. But I was determined to still believe that God would find them the right person, even if it wasn't on my schedule.

Yesterday, I received two emails about them. The first one was a no-go, as the guy was looking for a lap dog for his mother- LOL. The second, however, sounded promising- the guy wanted to meet both of them. I called him up and he happened to be nearby, so he came by. And he's taking BOTH of them! They get to be together! It's pretty crazy because he actually lives in Florida; he is working in town this week, though. So Friday evening he's coming to load them up and take them to their new lives as hunting dogs in a whole different state. Who would have thought that these abandoned strays that someone gave up on would become national travellers? And their other brother, Merle? He has a new home about 10 minutes from where I live! I drive by the place all the time. It has all worked out so well that it's obvious Someone was guiding this from the get-go. I am going to miss them, but I am so happy for them and so glad that they showed up nearby so that "I" could give them these chances. Haha, I don't for a minute believe that it was due to myself or that it was a coincidence they ended up down the road for me. I'm just so ecstatic for them!!

Phew, that was a lot of writing that had built up over the weekend! I will try to get some new pictures of the two boys that are left, to show how much better they look after some more food. I'll also get some new pics of my clan: Fatty Romeo (who I renamed after meeting the Skinny Strays), Cat Poop Eating Fiona (self-explanatory), Plant Eating Ramses (also self-explanatory), and No Longer Lame Chica! Hooray!