Barn Lessons
This past summer, I had the privilege of taking an equestrian management workshop from Esther Lorenson in preparation for working at North Star Camp. Esther grew up with horses, and certifies many of North America’s summer camp horse staff. She is passionate about combining horsemanship and evangelism and her classes are spiritually focused.
As I served as horsemanship director at North Star Camp, I used the concepts she taught me to draw lessons from the horses’ behaviors. At North Star, I had two horses who were polar opposites. They were always tied to the hitching rail next to each other. Bayle was a beautiful black mare who could not stand still. Every time she was tied up at the hitching rail, she would dance around anxiously and work herself into a dripping sweat. Billy, on the other hand, would always stand calmly and patiently. On trail rides, Billy would go anywhere he was asked to, including over logs, through water and up to terrifying plastic bags. Bayle didn’t even want to leave the barn. She would get anxious every time she was asked to leave. She would spin in circles and rear and refuse to simply walk down the trail. If I asked her to do anything remotely scary, such as walk up to the most frightening object known to horses, she would panic. The difference between Billy and Bayle was that Billy trusted that his rider would protect him, whereas Bayle refused to trust anyone and took things into her own hooves, so to speak. It’s easy to see that Bayle caused more difficulty for herself because of her lack of trust.
How often do we make our lives difficult like Bayle? We know what God wants us to do, but instead of trusting Him, we try to take things into our own hands. That works out for us about as well as it worked out for Bayle. This week, trust God and see where He leads. Don’t be afraid to leave the barn and go on an adventure with Him.
Jade Covel is a junior studying religion.