Testing God - Back To UB, Who Is Not A Patient Fellow

While we wait on the FedEx guy to bring those documents to my door, I think we’d better be getting back to UB and his first race for trainer Jerry Wylie.

Mark’s trailer was what is called a slant. For those non-horsey types out there, this means that the trailer is configured to haul 3 or 4 horses at a time, and the horses travel fairly closely confined, standing at an angle. (Hence the term ‘slant.’) In my humble opinion, someone who has never been around equines must have come up with this idea. At the very least, it was someone who has never dealt with Thoroughbreds. The first horse is loaded and tied to the wall of the trailer, and then a hinged partition swings over and latches, to hold that horse in place. Repeat the process with the 2nd, 3rd and 4th horses.

I’ve never been a fan of this type of trailer, simply because I worry (of course I do!!!) about what happens if one of the first horses loaded throws a fit.

In UB’s case, he was the only one in the trailer for this trip. UB hopped right on like he was happy to be going for a ride, and I was hopeful that this was a good sign. Locked and loaded with tack trunk stowed, Mark and Tammy and Jerry headed up the road, and I went to fetch Ian.

Ian and I were halfway to Turfway Park when my phone rang. It was Jerry, calling to let me know that they had arrived.

“Uneventful trip?” I queried.

“Um,” Jerry hedged. “Not really. But he seems to be OK.”

“Who seems to be OK?” I asked, already knowing the answer. I could feel myself starting to panic.

Now, in retrospect, it’s a funny story. Hilarious, even. But right then, not so much. And all I can say is it’s a very good thing that I was not traveling with the party of four in the truck and trailer.

The foursome had been on the highway approximately 10 miles when the whole truck and trailer started to sway back and forth. All three passengers in the truck knew immediately that something was amiss in the trailer. Thankfully, an exit was coming up and Mark wasted no time in pulling off. Just off the exit ramp was a Days Inn motel, and they quickly swung into the parking lot.

Jerry scrambled out one door and Tammy out the other before Mark even had the rig completely stopped. As Jerry passed the trailer window, he glanced in and nearly fainted—UB was completely upside down, with all four hooves in the air.

He had flipped completely over within the slanted partition, breaking his halter in the process. Tammy had a spare, but before they could re-halter UB, he had to be freed.

Trapped between the slants in the trailer, there was nothing to do but release the partition that held him and roll UB over. The slant was released, and UB rolled himself over and out into the Days Inn lot.

Re-haltered, UB got up, shook himself off and looked at his traveling companions like “What are you lookin’ at?”

Daily Notes: Back to Rich Toward God by Dr. Kregg Hood—Dr. Hood talks about 3 traps against trust. He talks about how having wealth without God is a waste. He says that when we don’t give, two bad things happen. First, we will miss many of the blessings that God wants us to have, enjoy, and use for his glory. Secondly, we take the risk of falling into three dangerous traps.

Trap 1: The “Do It Yourself” Spirit – Instead of relying on God, we think we can do it ourselves. Then we miss out on all the various ways that God uses as his “delivery system” to get blessings into our lives. Hood likens this to placing an order with, say, Amazon.com. You place the order, and the company contacts their warehouse to ship the order to you. Later, if you want to make another purchase, you don’t contact the warehouse directly, you go back to the source company. And it should be that way with us. We don’t put our confidence in the delivery system or the warehouse; we put our confidence in God who provides the resources.

Trap 2: Materialism – Materialism is addictive. If the accumulation of more and more stuff is the primary focus, there is no easy way to stop. Accumulation becomes the trap. Hood says our fast-paced, high-pressure, consumer oriented society can lead us away from generosity. Credit card debt and bankruptcy rates are soaring. If left unchecked, we will desire more than we need and more than what is good for us.

Trap 3: Fear – Dr. Hood says that over the years as he’s had the opportunity to preach, teach and write about stewardship, he’s found that the number one reason people don’t give is fear. Most Christians, he says, know that they should give and they want to give, but they’re worry is that if they give, they won’t be able to pay their bills.

This trap has me written all over it. I don’t struggle with number 1, as I have no problem asking for help. I don’t struggle with number 2, as the way I see it, more stuff just means more work for me—cleaning, repairing, etc. That, and being in debt would cause me to--you got it--worry!

But trap number 3, even though there is no rational reason for me to be fearful of this, deep down I still am.

I’ll end with the quote that began this chapter in Hood’s book:

“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.”

Jim Elliott