As I sit here putting my thoughts into words the strains of the Christian radio station drift through the wall that separates me from the barn and serenade me. Where am I? Where has God moved me since I last shared with you of my adventures at Crystal Peaks Youth Ranch in Bend, Oregon?
I am in the office adjoining the barn at Luke Jones Performance Horses near the small town of Allerton, Iowa. This little office serves several purposes for me. It's got a bathroom where I can shower and keep myself cleaned up. It has a microwave/convection oven. It has a table near an outlet that I plug my little electric frying pan into for cooking various delicious meals to keep this cowgirl energized! :) It has wifi, wahoo for being able to connect with the outside world! :) It has a leather couch that I can lay on in the evenings when I'm to exhausted to move and where my dog often joins me keeping me warm with his body heat! :)
Let's rewind though! How did I get here? What does working for Luke Jones look like? What is my goal in being a part of this place?
It all started a year ago, although I had not the slightest idea at the time that God was beginning to lay the framework for me to come work here, He was. God directed into my life a friend who worked for Luke Jones. At first the extent of this was I heard of his adventures and daily activities at work. I enjoyed hearing of his constant interaction with the horses and thought it sounded like a cool place, then he invited me out to witness it firsthand. Who could pass up an opportunity like this?! The performance horse world intrigued me and I had often dreamed of being capable of doing performance horse scale maneuvers someday. Thus when I was back in the Midwest for my older brother Thomas' wedding in June I made the trek out to Allerton, Iowa to see what Luke Jones was all about. In the beauty and glory of an Iowa summer I fell in love with the idea of being around horses all day every day. I already knew I loved interaction with horses, but Luke Jones performance horses took it to a whole new level. Training, riding, and caring for horses all day, I loved it!
I headed back to Bend, Oregon where I was on staff at Crystal Peaks Youth Ranch, but not without a lot of questions and ideas weighing thoughtfully on my spirit. In route back to Bend the Lord worked out an incredible and unexpected interaction with the newly married couple. They were on their way back from their honeymoon in California and I was headed back to Bend after spending about a week in the Midwest after their wedding. We just both happened to be going through the Denver, Colorado airport at the same time! :-) Not only did God put our gates super close to each other, but He delayed Thomas and Chalee's flight so that when we were only supposed to have fifteen minutes together they ended up sitting with me all the way until my flight boarded and waved me onto the airplane!
I flew home on a Saturday, June 28th. The next day at church our pastor preached something along the lines of the dreams that God has placed on our hearts, and trusting Him that He has put them there. I remember sitting in that pew and my heart racing with anticipation as the Lord said, "Go home and call Luke Jones today." You see Luke had not offered me a job, I was going to step out in faith and ask Luke if he had a position open to me. I went home from church that day, acquired Luke's cell phone number, and with my nerves quite on end called him. God blew the doors wide open for me to move to Allerton, IA. Not only did Luke offer me a position, but my seven year old mare, and eight month old border collie would be allowed to come with me. I was ecstatic!
September 6th, 2014 found me hiking to a secluded place on the Deschutes River and crying out to God for wisdom and direction once again. Crystal Peaks Youth Ranch had asked me to come back as the Volunteer Coordinator's Assistant once again for the 2015 season. They requested to know an answer by the 15th of September. I was completely uncertain of what to do. I had not committed to work for Luke Jones for a certain period of time. I told him that in the spring I would evaluate what I felt I was supposed to do. Was God only calling me to work for Luke for the winter months? Was I supposed to return to Oregon in the spring to serve at Crystal Peaks once again? Tears flowed as I sat on a rock with the river flowing briskly past and beseeched God for direction. My heart was to be able to increase my horse training skills for longer then just a quick three month jaunt. However, my heart was also to be exactly wherever God wanted me. That day the Lord asked me if He told me to if I would return to Oregon in the spring of 2015. I told the Lord yes, I thought the decision had been
made.
Saturday morning September 13th, 2014 found me in my little bedroom at Jeff and Kelsie Woodford's house crying out to God once again. The Monday and Tuesday following God's question to me if I would return to Oregon had brought complete unrest and confusion in my spirit. My heart ached! I felt like God was maybe saying that He wasn't calling me back to Oregon after all, but I was so afraid! What if my emotions were getting in the way? What if it wasn't really the Lord? What if Satan was just attacking me because God was calling me back to Oregon and he didn't want me to come? "Oh Lord," I pleaded, "You have directed me many times through giving me a scripture. This morning could you please confirm to my heart the direction I am supposed to go through your word?!" Trusting the Lord to speak to me I opened to where I was currently reading, Psalm 100.
A Psalm of Thanksgiving.
1 Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands!
2 Serve the Lord with gladness;
Come before His presence with singing.
3 Know that the Lord, He is God;
It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
And into His courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.
5 For the Lord is good;
His mercy is everlasting,
And His truth endures to all generations.
I had read this particular Psalm many, many times in my walk with the Lord, but God's Holy Spirit spoke entirely new meaning into it for me this morning! The Lord shot down all the lies that Satan was hurling at me bringing confusion and uncertainty. I came to realize that God had asked me if I would come back to Oregon if He asked me to, He had not asked me to come back. He had asked me if my heart was surrendered, and now He was giving me a beautiful gift. The release to go pursue what I love! The Lord spoke to me through verse three of Psalm 100 that He is the one who created me the way that I am! He is the one who made me, who knows me better than I know myself! If He created me passionate about riding and training horses than He can use it! It is not my place to call it "less than" just because it doesn't look, or sound, or feel like being in ministry! The Lord said, "Rebekah, I have created you the way that you are for a reason! You can give Me thanks for this, and bless Me for making you this way! You don't have to be afraid, you can trust Me to use the way I have made you! Go chase your dreams baby girl, go do what you love! I have created you for this, and I will use it for My glory!"
Thus the adventure began! On Monday, December 1st, 2014 I began work at Luke Jones Performance Horses. My mare Sonador, and my dog Cinch finally joined me as we were all united for the first time. Previously Cinch was living in Oregon with me, and Sona was living at my parents place in Iowa. I will not return to Oregon this spring, God has released me to keep my future open to whatever He is calling me to as I pursue this avenue of increasing my skills with horses. My dream and goal is to one day train horses for my own clients as well as work with troubled teen girls. I want to teach teen girls more advanced skills with horses while incorporating the gospel and truths from God's word about relationships and a relationship with God. I know that working at Luke Jones may only be a piece of what the next months hold because I serve an awesome God who is constantly gently leading and guiding me! Wherever He says go I follow! I am blessed beyond words to be working at Luke's place for this season! I have learned more in two short months than I ever imagined that I would. I have been tested, I have been pushed, I have grown physically, spiritually and emotionally. God has made it perfectly clear that this is exactly where He has me to be right now! I pray that as I love Him the wonderful people He's placed around me will be drawn to His love!
Practicing roping the dummy, I didn't even know how to swing a rope when I arrived at Luke's! :-P
Getting instructions from the boss. :)
Always busy, saddling, unsaddling, and moving horses!!
Always my favorite part of the day, riding my horse! There's just something about your own horse that is more amazing than any other horse! No matter how behind some of the horses that I ride she is in her training, she is still my favorite! ;)
Visits from family, another favorite!!!! I absolutely love being close enough to where they live for them to drop in for a day!
Ranch life, love it so much!
This made me smile!! :) The Jones have a billy goat that they allow to run free. One day I left the door to my car open and had a voluntary passenger! ;)
God is so good beyond what we deserve! We deserve nothing, and in Him we are blessed with everything! God blessed me with a border collie 10 months ago, little did I know that one day I would be working at Luke Jones Performance horses where lots of people in the area own border collies and work them on cows. I've been blessed with the opportunity to try working Cinch on stock some and have been told that he is as good a dog as any dog in the country. A gentleman named Mike, who trains cattle dogs, told me that he wished his well bred border collie would do the things Cinch is doing. There is a phrase that says, "Cinch to victory," which means, "The victory is sure." It was when I discovered this that the Lord impressed upon my heart that this was to be my dog's name. I am constantly blessed by the companionship of Cinch in my life and the things the Lord teaches me through his intelligent wanting to please me attitude! In Christ I know the victory is sure, and through this dog He has blessed me with I am constantly reminded of that!
One of the things I love about my job at Luke's is that it requires me getting up early enough that I see the sunrise more than I don't see it rise. No matter what the previous day has held, or what the day ahead of me holds I am reminded that great is His faithfulness, and His mercies are new every morning! His love is constant in a world that is constantly changing!
