I woke up this morning wondering what can be done about broken hearts. There are so many people out there feeling hurt by others, struggling with the inability to trust, or to love anymore, and it is so sad. Whether the betrayals they are dealing with are real or imagined, the hurt is undeniable, and it affects every aspect of their lives. It took me until now to realize there is no quick fix, and the only thing I can do for them is to pray. Pray that God would do for them, what he has done for the little gelding in the story below.His determination to survive, and his willingness to forgive and accept love- will give him a new life. I have read about Crystal Peaks Ranch for the last few years, but this story I had to share even for those non-horsey friends. Jesus is so relevant, and His ways are right, even if it doesn't feel that way now. Trust God's Word, and seek His people. I guarantee, you will see a miracle if you are looking. :)
"After nearly 14 years of equine rescue, I thought that I had seen it all, sadly...I WAS WRONG.
On October 18th, Troy and I were contacted by those in charge of recovering a small horse that was found by hunters wandering in the high wilderness of the Cascade Mountain range. Evident by his halter and dragging lead rope, the bay Arab gelding was clearly not wild...it was estimated that he had been wandering for several weeks...his wounds were severe...
His x-rays clearly showed where someone had shot him three inches behind his left eye. The trajectory of the bullet traveled through the top of his lower jaw, shattering it, and continued to penetrate his skull as it exploded into nearly three dozen-inoperable-fragments of jagged shrapnel...
It was hard to believe, looking at him for the first time, that he had survived for an undetermined amount of time with a horrifically infected leg wound, a broken jaw, a destroyed eye and lethal blood loss, all with an exploded bullet scattered throughout his head...it was a complete miracle he was standing at all!
It appeared that someone felt his leg wound was just too much for them to deal with; or perhaps they believed that it was a fatal wound. Somehow, they felt that loading up their friend and driving him to a remote location to be destroyed . . . was their best option. A 'best guess' is that they shot him in the head and fell unconscious from the impact. Bleeding profusely from his wound, it was believed that during this time, he bled out half of his blood volume. Thinking he was dead, the perpetrators left the scene. Miraculously, he woke up. Somehow summoning the strength to stand, he lurched to his feet and staggered away.
Even though his wounds are grave, he is not. He is continuing to make meaningful progress in his efforts to heal...Because of the severity of his injuries, his recovery will be long and intensive...
In these past days of spending time with our new boy, I have become very aware of something remarkable about him. He is courageous, he is a survivor, he has fought HARD to live, to keep going. Most horses would have perished when faced with just one of his symptoms. Yet, he survived what many would believe to be unthinkable odds. The more I ponder our gelding, the more I realize just how symbolic he is of a vast majority of people.
At some point in nearly each of our lives, we go through "horrible, unthinkable" times. We feel as if we have been lead out into the wilderness, perhaps by those we loved and trusted, badly beaten and left for dead. We stumble away, wandering within the desolation of loneliness, unable to help ourselves, unable to stop the 'hemorrhaging', unable to find our way home. The horizon begins to fade into gray. Death looms.
It is then, within our darkest night, our deepest wilderness, our greatest despair, when our hope is bleeding out . . . if we call on His name . . . He comes. Jesus comes into the wreckage of our heart, our blackest place, our wasteland of hopelessness . . . and He leads us home.
Like a soldier returning from battle, or a little horse from the wilderness, we too can fall into the welcome arms of the One who loves us. We, like the soldier or horse, might not look the same on the outside. When we come home from our 'battle in the wilderness', we might be scarred or disfigured, we might carry the marks of our wounding...
Learning from my own experiences, I now know that it's true, we can never be too wounded for the Lord to heal. We can never be too lost for Him to find. We can never be too broken for Him to love back to life. We can never fall so deep into despair, that His immeasurable love for us-each of us-is not deeper still. There is no such place of sorrow, no such wilderness of pain . . . that He cannot find us, help us stand up and lead us home. Because this little horse is so symbolic of this beautiful truth, we hope that you will be pleased to know that we have decided to name him in honor of those who have chosen to reach for the hand of the Lord and walk through their wilderness. His new name shall be . . . 'Hero.'
Written by Kim Meeder Taken from her post on www.crystalpeaksyouthranch.org"
Thank you, Lord- for being so faithful to us- for healing our broken hearts, our injured souls- and putting smiles back on our faces. God, we are able to love...because you truly first loved us. Make us a forgiving and generous people, make us willing and ready for whatever it is you call us to do- no matter how hard.
Here's a photo to make you laugh. Where some horses- or people- are so horribly neglected and abused, there are others- horse and human, who have found fun and love again. (This little filly is ok, they got her out without injury- but what a mess her curiosity got her in!)
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