Testing God - Post Eight

Whatever had happened, it looked like UB got the worst of it. I questioned Diego, the rider, who decided that now would be a good time to pretend he didn’t understand me. And that he didn’t speak English. That was it…nobody mistreats our horses-physcially or mentally! For the purposes of this blog, let’s just say Diego was asked to leave. And not very nicely, I’m afraid.

It was shortly prior to this that I had encountered Sam. I had watched this kid around the barn each day. His father, also a trainer, is a really nice guy. Always friendly, with something pleasant to say. But his son didn’t seem at all like that. Whether he was on foot or on horseback, he seemed arrogant and angry. And the stuff that came out of his mouth—oy vey! He really didn’t have anything nice to say, or so it seemed. Why did I feel drawn to this kid? And then it hit me—he was just like me, back in the day!

Even with that realization, he still ticked me off. And then one day, Sam was striding down the shedrow towards me, the fringe on his chaps making that swish-swishing sound, and just about the time he got to me, he spit. Or spat. Whatever—it landed extremely close to my feet. I felt the color drain out of my face. I felt my eye start to twitch. When this happens at home, my kids know to tuck and roll. Sam strode on.

I never could get from UB exactly what had transpired with Diego on the way home from the track, but in any event we needed a new exercise rider for him. UB suggested Sam, so I suggested Sam to Jerry. Sam was approached and agreed to gallop some horses for us, and so a new alliance was formed.

As it turned out, Sam was actually a lot like his dad. It seemed that life had been treating him rather roughly of late (as tends to be the perception when you’ve just turned 20) but I found he actually smiled and laughed a whole lot more than he scowled and spit.

With Sam in the irons, UB seemed to relax and enjoy his morning workouts. But no matter how well his training sessions went, there was one hurdle we had to face—the starting gate.

Problem was, I was really growing to like Sam—potty mouth and all—so with visions of higher workman’s comp premiums and a bruised and battered Sam dancing in my head, off to the gate we went.

Daily Notes: Still wondering why God is being silent on the tithe money. But I will be patient, because in the past when God does give me instructions, they are very plain, as you will see if you keep following this blog.

The sermon series at church right now is titled “Unstoppable.” Our pastor, Dave, talked about how God doesn’t call the qualified, he qualifies the called. Examples given were—from the Old Testament—Moses (not a good public speaker,) Jacob (a liar) David (had an affair and then murdered his lover’s husband) and from the New Testament—Peter (quite impetuous and prone to running off at the mouth,) and Paul, who was really a horrible person prior to his encounter with God, and even after that encounter continued to have a short fuse.

If you have never read the Bible for fun, I encourage you to get a copy of The Message, as it makes for a very easy read. None of those pesky “thees” and “thous,” just the language of today.

There are times when I can just picture Jesus turning to the camera and giving one of those looks that Jim on the sit-com The Office is always giving. You know, Jesus looking at Peter, rolling his eyes and saying “Really, Peter? You’re really doing that?”

And not just at Peter—I think Jesus did a lot of eye rolling while walking around amongst us down here.