Born For Christ

Ruth’s grandmother was an animal lover. If there was a stray cat she fed it. Her bird feeder was stocked with seed year round and a faithful companion was a neighbor’s dog who accompanied her on her late afternoon walks. And then there were horses…

Now Grandma never owned a horse. She grew up in a city and when she married moved out to the country where her husband owned greenhouses and grew carnations he sold to local floral shops. They were once surrounded by fields and woods but the land was bought to build two public schools to accommodate the town’s booming population.

A horse was never in Grandma’s life but that didn’t stop her desire to learn about them. On a table in front of her cushioned sofa was a book categorized as a “coffee table book” because it was too oversized to fit a book shelf and refused to be ignored. This was a book to be displayed.

It was this book that bonded Grandma and Ruth, her firstborn granddaughter. Grandma would open this oversized book full of beautiful photographs of horses and descriptive facts for each horse. It was this book Grandma used to teach Ruth about the different horse breeds and why they were different.

Together they turned the page to a photo of two giant horses pulling a beer wagon. It was Ruth who used the word giant because a man and his riding horse standing next to the wagon looked like a boy and his pony. Grandma explained that these Draft horses were bred to plow fields and pull heavy wagons.

Another page revealed a Quarter horse and a herd of cattle. This horse was smaller than a Draft horse and Grandma explained why. She flipped to a photo that captured the moment when the horse turned so sharply to herd a stubborn steer that the rider’s leg looked like it was inches from the ground. The horse and rider performed like an acrobatic team.

Grandma turned another page splashed with photos of elegant Thoroughbred racehorses. Further page turning revealed these horses running on a circular track with riders that looked as if they were molded to the back of their horse. Grandma instructed Ruth that these horses were bred for speed and stamina to run races and win.

Ruth was fascinated. There were Draft horses pulling heavy carts, Quarter horses herding stubborn steers, and Thoroughbred racehorses that called a racetrack home.

Grandma always brought home the point that these horses were bred to do specific work by asking Ruth questions. Would you harness a Thoroughbred racehorse to a beer wagon? Would you bet on a Quarter horse to win a race? Could a Draft horse herd a stubborn steer? Ruth would answer, “Yes” just to hear her grandmother laugh!

Decades later Ruth often recalled those special times with Grandma and her lesson that horses are bred for specific work. But today’s warm memory was different because questions flashed into her mind like lightening in a dark sky, Am I designed to do specific work? Am I a Draft, Quarter or Thoroughbred racehorse? Am I a Quarter horse expected to win a race or a Draft horse trying to herd a steer?

A final question was more gently asked, Did Grandma know I’d ask myself these questions when I was no longer a child?

If Ruth’s heart had a hand, it raised it to answer, Yes, Grandma knew. She was much more than an animal lover…