Testing God - Finding Our Happy Place

UB’s race at Turfway Park was a late race on a night racing card, which meant that it would be a long, long day.

We had contracted with a couple who had just gone into the horse shipping business to take UB to the races. Jerry would ride along with Mark and Tammy and the horse, while I was to drive up later after picking up our son from school. I really would rather have stayed with UB the whole way, but there was nothing we could do.

I explained to UB that I would get there as soon as I could. We talked about using some tricks to take his mind off what was going on around him in the starting gate during the loading process.

I told UB that when I wanted to take my mind off the takeoff on a plane, I closed my eyes and went to a “happy place.” In my happy place, I’m stretched out on a comfortable chair on a hot sandy beach where the blue-green water seems to go on forever. Oh, yeah…there’s a margarita involved as well.

I gave this mental image to UB, but he was confused. He had no idea what these images were. Duh—at this point in his life, he’d barely been out of Kentucky, and certainly nowhere near an ocean!

We amended his “happy place” vision to a beautiful, lush green pasture in the springtime, where he could run and roll to his heart’s delight. Oh, yeah…there’s a bag of carrots involved as well. Now there was something he could identify with!

I was nervous about the race, to be sure, but UB seemed to be doing quite well. And animal communication aside, he would have to have known something was up, as the routine is different on race day. I had decided it was probably better that I wasn’t traveling with the horse as I was a bit jittery.

UB at this point had become much more than just a horse that we trained—he was my friend. And the thought of him being scared to the point that he would hurt himself or others in the starting gate was almost more than I could bear. Yup, it was definitely better that I bring up the rear.

Daily Notes: A little ray of sunshine in yesterday’s mail—all checks and no bills! Woo hoo! I can’t remember the last time that happened! Nothing major, except a small death benefit check on my father that I wasn’t really expecting. I will tithe on all, even the $3 rebate check.

As luck would have it (or rather, as God would have it) our pastor is starting a new sermon series this month called Rich Toward God. To this end, everyone present in church last Sunday was given a copy of the book of the same name by Dr. Kregg Hood. The book is based on Luke 12 and Jesus’ parable of the rich fool.

Our assignment was to read at least the first chapter by February 21st. I am much further along than that, and finding that this book fits perfectly with what is going on in this blog. Just one more case of the Lord working in mysterious ways, I’d say. Here’s the parable: Luke 12: 15-21

Speaking to the people, he went on, “Take care! Protect yourself against the least bit of greed. Life is not defined by what you have, even when you have a lot.”

Then he told them this story: “The farm of a certain rich man produced a terrific crop. He talked to himself: ‘What can I do? My barn isn’t big enough for this harvest.’ The he said, ‘Here’s what I’ll do: I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I’ll gather in all my grain and goods, and I’ll say to myself, Self, you’ve done well! You’ve got it made and can now retire. Take it easy and have the time of your life!’

“Just then God showed up and said, ‘Fool! Tonight you die. And your barnful of goods—who gets it?’

“That’s what happens when you fill your barn with Self and not with God.”
The Message
I think that God would love to see us with plenty, so long as our attitude is one of gratitude and we don’t lose sight of the fact that is was he that provided the blessing.

I got to thinking this morning that my lack of worry since I’ve started this experiment is, for me, mind-boggling. Worry about money had so consumed my life that I really could not imagine a life without it. In fact, I keep expecting the worry to be lying in wait for me, right around the corner.

But it is almost as if once I committed to following God’s instructions to the letter, it took all of the responsibility off of me and put it on God. Which to my feeble mind seems somehow not right, but given my almost instant sense of relief, it must be what God wanted from me.

The other thing that has absolutely amazed me is how easily the words are coming to tell the story of The Unbelievable and all the relationships that were formed because of him. I’ve wanted all along to be able to tell it, as I believe that it honors God. It shows that God that was right there by my side all along, long before I ever acknowledged that fact. I believe that the story will show God working in so many lives and on so many levels.

God never wavered, even when I did. He heard every prayer, even though I may not have even known I was praying. While I was screaming in the driveway, God heard a cry for help and went into action. He answered my prayers time and again, though you’ll come to see that even though my prayers were answered, it was virtually never in the way I asked. Sometimes the answer to my prayer was “no,” but always God did what was for my greatest good, because God is good.

Another "back in the day" pic...it must be the 80s, check out my hair!