Parentage

Parentage: Part 2

by Tina

[Competing with Horses]

Don’t bother telling me to get off my high horse; a determined beast took care of this years ago. I didn’t fall off, but it gave me a good fright.

I used to be obsessed with these “gentle giants” until one wasn’t a fan of the weather and took off for the barn with me hanging on for dear life. That changed my mind about horses quickly.

I did grow up with a black beauty, and a few other visiting equines, but these were friendlier ones back on the farm. The one in the picture above was named Perry. He belonged to our Landlord’s daughter who taught me all about riding and caring for these beautiful creatures. 

I was born a fair-haired child. Then someone cut my magical golden locks and they turned brown. Yes, I am Rupunzel. Actually, “Tangled” is one of my favorite movies and I’m sure this story it about me. 😆

My parents rented a house from a farmer who would grow potatoes one year and corn the next. When we moved away from the only home I’d ever known I missed those horses dearly. My dream was to own one. I was saving every penny, too. Knowing how much I yearned for a horse, my dad made plans to take me horseback riding. When the day arrived, however, it was grey and dreary. I didn’t care. Being sure that it would rain, my dad tried to convince me to reschedule, but my heart was set on the plan.

Dreams can die quickly when fear or doubt sets in, so that traumatizing beast was the demise of mine. I never did get back on the horse. When my determined ride reached its desired destination I declined a replacement and we went back home.

I lost my passion for horses (though I still think they’re beautiful beasts), however, my passion for my faith is still alive and well and there’s a Bible verse about competeing with horses that I still absolutey love.

“If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in safe country, how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan?” 

Jeremiah 12:5 

These are truly loving words that the Lord spoke to Jeremiah the prophet, but they meant that more trouble was coming Jeremiah’s way. That’s never the news you want to hear!

I get Jeremiah. I can relate to him, but I also get God as much as you can understand His ways. I do know that the picture is always so much bigger and that His ways are so much higher. I also know that He disciplines the ones He loves like any good parent would because it means strength. It’s for a child’s protection when a parent teaches their child to stand in the toughest of conditions. However, for Jeremiah it was also more than this. He was born to be a prophet for God so He needed to be steadfast to accomplish what God wanted to achieve with him.

This makes me think of one of my favorite quotes from “The Secret Garden.” Colin was doted on by his nurses to the point that he feared the thought of leaving his room. He believed he was too ill and too weak until someone came along and challenged those thoughts. I like that!

Not only does God do this for us, but we spur one another on as well. The Lord has bigger and better plans and He promises that we will find our strength in Jesus. We’re not always given physical health or strength, but God is willing to give us spiritual strength when we ask. Sometimes growth means that we’re required to go through some difficult times, but we know that peace comes after the pain.

“So long as Colin shut himself up in his room and thought only of his fears and weakness and his detestation of people who looked at him and reflected hourly on humps and early death, he was a hysterical, half crazy little hypochondriac who knew nothing of the sunshine and the spring, and also did not know that he could get well and stand upon his feet if he tried to do it. When new beautiful thoughts began to push out the old hideous ones, life began to come back to him, his blood ran healthily through his veins and strength poured into him like a flood. His scientific experiment was quite practical and simple and there was nothing weird about it at all. Much more surprising things can happen to anyone who, when a disagreeable or discouraged thought comes into mind, just has the sense to remember in time to push it out by putting in an agreeable, determinedly courageous one. Two things cannot be in one place. ‘Where you tend a rose, my lad, A thistle cannot grow.'”

The Secret Garden

23 thoughts on “Parentage: Part 2”

    1. Yes, indeed it’s not always comfortable, and it can take some time to agree that strength is important. Life is going to throw at you what it will. We know that we will have troubles, so why not be strong enough to endure these tough times? The hard part is that you have to go through the tough stuff to get stronger. Yeah, that’s definitely hard, but I’m thankful for the reminder that peace follows pain. That’s hope. ☺ And that keeps us going.

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  3. Can I just say that I love horses. 😆 I was always “the crazy horse girl”. Still am kind of . . . . . Yeah I am. 😆😆 Also, I LOVE that part from The Secret Garden. It is a real thing, how our THOUGHTS can affect our physical well-being. I’ve watched lectures about this and find it very important. So when I recently read The Secret Garden and saw that, I was thinking that Frances Hodgson Burnett really knew some stuff. I don’t know if it was ahead of her time or not but she understood things.

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    1. Yes, she definitely understood things. That’s my favorite quote from the book. It’s so true. The moment we believe that we won’t get better, stronger, or whatever negative thing that we’re believing we are already defeated. We don’t have to be. We can ask God for what we need. Remember that! 😃 Also remember that we have to ask for the right things. God probably won’t give you Loki, Spacegirl. 😉 Lol…

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      1. Yesssssss. 👏👏👏😃 It’s funny that you put that in your post because I think about that a lot. 😄 WHAT? Blasphemy! Treason! How dare you mock my hopes?! *Gru voice* You know what, I hope that you can sleep at night, you crusher of little girls’ dreams! 😂😂😂

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      1. Oh I know you couldn’t resist. Lol. 😆😂 Boy crazy? Did I mention that? 😂 Eh, no, no, I did not . . . 😆 You’ve teased me too much, I’m bleeding out here . . . . 😆😂

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      2. Lol.. 😂 No, no you didn’t mention that at all. It’s just glaringly obvious. 😆 Haha. Okay, I’ll stop I can see that I’ve wounded you deeply. I’ll give you time to heal before my next assault. Stay awesome, Spacegirl. How’s your mom, by the way!?

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      3. NO IT’S NOT. 😂😂😂 I’ll be in convalescence for weeks after this. 😂 Lol. Yeh, that’s mah nickname. I love it. Space is mah home. I like it better than down here at the present. 😅 That’s my secret, Tina. I’m always awesome. 😆😉
        Actually mom is not the greatest right now. We had some guys clearing trees across the street for 5 weeks and all the noise hurt her ears which were already sensitive. 😕 But the guys are gone now, so she’ll have lots of time to recover. ☺ I’ll tell her you asked! Thank you! 😊

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      4. I’m sorry to hear she’s had a rough time. 😐 Let her know that you’re all in my prayers. Oh, and yes…yes it is. 😂 Convalescence.. haha… you’re too funny. Yes, I understand the space thing. It’ll calm down again eventually. Then we can all buy toilet paper again. Lol.

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  4. I love The Secret Garden, too. I have 3 versions of the movie as well as the book. I love horses, too, but was only on one of those ponies they used to bring around neighborhoods to photo kids on. That was some gentle pony. I didn’t get on a horse until many years later. I was traveling with a few friends through the States and we stayed in a lodge in the Blue Ridge Mountains. They had trail rides, so we went on one. I didn’t have a clue what to do with the reins, and I told them I had never been on a horse before, but they didn’t bother to give me any instructions. We came to a little roadway and told us to stop, and I asked how do I do that. I don’t think they told me even then, but the horse was so well-trained I think it knew to stop because the rest of them were stopped. It was kind of funny, because I could have crawled faster than that horse walked. 🙂 I have never been on a horse since.

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    1. Nice story. It’s a good thing that the horse was well trained. I haven’t been on one since that horse decided to take off at a good speed with me hanging on tight and begging it to stop. Lol. I was just a kid, but it definitely turned me off of horses. I’d probably give it a go again. I just haven’t had that opportunity since. ☺

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    2. Horses are beautiful but we do have issues. They seem to like to either eat my T-shirt’s, and one police horse grabbed my lunch before a football match. But I so want to get son to ride a horse. His mum was desperate for that to happen. This post has reminded me of that. So once everything starts to sort itself out then I will arrange something. I will stand a safe distance away.

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      1. Lol… That’s a lot of horsing around. I’m sure your son would enjoy that. It’s very easy to become hooked on horses—as long as they don’t scare the daylights out of you. I’d ride again. I’ve had plenty of time to get over that fear.

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  5. God definitely allows us to go through challenges to grow spiritually. It is surely not something that we like but it does makes us stronger.
    Thank you for sharing this 😊.

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  6. Horses are indeed beautiful creatures. Living in the sticks as we do, there are several nearby. Between the fears instilled in me that I have yet to quite shake and increasing joint pain, my admiration sadly remains from a distance. As to The Secret Garden, my love for it has been with me for many, many years and been passed on to my only daughter. So many great lessons in those pages! I love the portion you shared here! Thank you! Oh, and I love the adorable photo of you! I had somewhat lighter colored hair in my younger years though I was never truly fair except to my mother who I think was just in denial of my increasingly brown mop, having always indicated her preference for blondes. Lol. Still, very much love Tangled and related to Rapunzel on many, many levels. 😊

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