GENTLY GUIDED

The other day I was giving a riding lesson to a 17-year-old girl who was eager to learn better riding skills. She had been riding for 10 years and was having problems getting what she was looking for from her horse.  So I put her on a really nice 5-year-old Palomino mare that was dog gentle.  The horse had about 20 rides on her and loved when she got ridden.  She never even thought of bucking and lived to please whoever rode her. 

So, I put a snaffle bit in her mouth and the teenager mounted up and headed out while I was explaining how she could lope both ways and listened to feet a little.  I told her to put her left leg on her and point her nose a little to the right.  When she did it the horse made a nice little 10-foot circle.  She was amazed that a young horse with so few rides could do so well. 

I explained how horses are taught to listen to direction or pressure from the bit and our feet when they are broke to ride. They are also taught to give way to it.  For example, if you sit on your back pockets and shift your weight and lift your hands lightly the horse will stop because of the weight shift and light pressure. She will try to stay under it and be pushed back by yielding to the bit.  As I was explaining this to her she applied it right in front of me, and the Palomino mare did it fairly slow but accomplished what she asked.  Then, I explained that on a young horse once you establish communication for a walk you could try a jog next. That is when the humor began. 

The young rider didn’t make it 30 seconds before you would have sworn she was chasing a snake: A little to the left, then the right, then back to the left.  They ambitious rider yelled, “Why will she not go where I am trying to get her to go???!!”  So I asked her to stop and get off.  I crawled up on the mare and showed her how to trot her in a nice circle first try. She was not very happy to say the least. I got off and let her back on. I explained that the horse was a clean slate and that she will tell you blatantly if there are areas that you are not riding well.  After the lesson, she practiced riding with her feet and hands and balanced her weight with posture for the first time in her life. When she walked the mare back to the tack room she was surprised how much fun she had. “It’s easy, point the nose where you want to go and push with your feet, stay in the middle and you end up where you want to go!” she exclaimed with a big smile. “Riding a horse is easy if you don’t try to muscle them and you guide them softly . . . who would have thought. I guess I need a few more lessons.”

This lesson can be applied similarly to walking with God.  When your willing to let Him into your heart so He can walk with you, it is no different then that Palomino letting that teenager on her back.  God wants to be a part of your life and you are in control of how much you will let Him.  The way God wants to walk with you is through love and forgiveness.  You are loved by Him whether you realize it or not and you receive His forgiveness by accepting Jesus into your heart. That acceptance and forgiveness opens up a heart-to-heart relationship between you and a loving God and the Holy Spirit is sent to you to ride through every circumstance and season that you face daily.  When you keep your heart pointed in the right way by following his still small voice and gentle nudges by the Holy Spirit; God walks you into peace, joy, hope, faith, and much, much more.  Loving people and being quick to forgive is the trail He would like to give you strength to walk on.  It brings more life to every day you live.  He knows the way.

Until next month, ride with God,

Travis Klingeman

Pray this prayer:

Lord, I am so thankful that you provided a way to walk heart to heart with you. Thank you for sending your Holy Spirit to teach me to be aware of You and how to surrender to Your leadership and to see the value of people and family.  Show me how to forgive and walk in Your love.  Give me Your inner strength to enjoy every day Your way.  Thank you for all the blessings You have poured out on my life in so many ways and the strength to walk through anything.  You are so faithful and full of love. Please make me like You.  In Jesus name, Amen.

Building Trust

I will never forget the day I received a phone call from a successful business owner.  He had a paint gilding he wanted broke to ride.  He was willing to pay up front, which was hard to refuse.  Then the red flag: He asked me to come pick him up.  A few days later I hooked up to my trailer and headed over to his house and found a big, stout, three-year-old gilding running right beside his mama. The proud owner stood by watching.  After visiting for a few minutes I was ready to get the gilding into the trailer.  The owner warned me that he hadn’t been caught since he was cut.  To make a long story short, I ended up running him and his mom into a corner, they ran down the fence and then I roped him by foot to drag him into the trailer.  It was very difficult; my wife was running the gate and she was not very happy with me.

Needless to say we got him home and haltered, and after working with him for a couple of days we got him saddled.  Breaking him was a very slow process.  The horse was very teachable, but if you went too fast he would not learn.   If you went slowly he was kind-eyed and did whatever you asked.  There were three weeks of groundwork before he was mounted.  By the end of the first month I had won his heart and I was riding him through the hills.

At the end of that first month the owner called and wanted to swing by to see the horse’s progress.  He watched his gilding trot in circles, stop, back up, turn really well off pressure, but he would barely go into a loap and was uncomfortable when he did so he would drop back into a trot.  He had taught us that putting extra pressure on him was not very productive.  The owner was very pleased that he was responding so well and looked so gentle.  While we were un-tacking the horse after the ride the owner walked up briskly to pet the horse’s neck with his five-year-old son and that poor paint horse about jumped out of his skin.  The owner was very unhappy and wanted to know why that happened.  I explained that the horse didn’t know him or trust him.

It’s hard to deal with situations like that but he stormed off and got into his truck and yelled, “I will leave him here for two more months!”  Although it was good for business I had a bad feeling about this deal.  The time passed and the horse did really well.  The owner came to ride the horse with my equipment and was very pleased.  The horse was ready to go to work.  The next day he came and took him home.

The next evening the nastiest message was left on my phone.  He was yelling and screaming about how the horse was untrained and never was rode.  Apparently the horse ran off with him and almost killed him.  Of course, I hustled over there the next morning and walked right out in the pasture and caught him.  I walked him over to the truck, dropped the halter rope and brushed and saddled him (with my tack).  I walked 60 feet from the truck and got on the horse.   Walk, trot, lope, stop, back-up; all in the first few minutes.  The owner was very frustrated and went to his tack room yelling and screaming.  He brought back his addle and bridle.  “You put this on him and do that!!”  I will never forget stepping off and looking at his $100 saddle, $10 blanket and $10 cinch.  Just by looking at it I know it pinched the heck out of his withers and belly.  Not to mention that his bridle was a three-piece mouthpiece and six inch shanks with no chinstrap.  I just looked at him and said, “sir the problem is not the horse.  It is you.  You are lucky he didn’t buck you off.  It would be a great idea to get some riding lessons because your horse is ready to let you ride him.  But if you don’t know how to ask him to do something you will not be able to enjoy how good he is becoming.”   Well the rest of the story is not worth writing about.  I can tell you this: He had some unique names for me as he asked me to head down the road.

That man was planning on adding a new hobby to his life.  He wanted the pride and fulfillment of riding a horse he had raised.  Riding horses is not like riding a motorbike.  A motorbike you can buy, ride and park in the garage until you are ready to take it out.  It rides the same every time.  A horse, if you don’t spend time with it and work with it, will be of little enjoyment.  Even if you feed it and care for it there will be no partnership with it unless you spend time on its back.

Christianity is the same way.  It isn’t just something you do when times are tough.  It is a relationship with God that is HIS heart communing with your heart because you chose to surrender your life to His.  It is a daily journey and the more days you walk with Him the more enjoyable and solid of a life you will have. 

I don’t know if that gentleman ever took the time to enjoy that wonderful paint gilding that wanted a job.  There is a living, loving God that would like you to take the time to walk your life out in Him.  You can only enjoy real peace and contentment if you will take the time.

“Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” (II Peter 1:2-4 NKJV)

Prayer:

Lord I don’t want to be like that man who is too busy to spend time in the areas he needed to so that he could have his heart fulfilled.  Father, show me how to walk with you and find worth in my heart by leaning on your provision and your perspective.  I surrender my selfishness to you so you so that life, peace, and joy can be the anchor of my self-worth.  Our relationship heart to heart can heal the broken places, the regret, so I can enjoy every day in you.  Holy Spirit make my crooked path straight.  So I can enjoy the freedom of life.  In Jesus Name.

Until Next Month

Ride with God,

Travis Klingeman

On White Horses

travis@onwhitehorses.com

Peaceful Year

Another year is here and God has wonderful promises for you to walk into!  They are reserved just for you and God will show them to you (heart to heart) if you will allow Him to.  No one else can help you walk into them; as it is your intimate  relationship with Him that allows them to be revealed to you and allow you to walk into them.

If you are willing this next year to let God’s love touch your heart, you will be able to kindle a hope that gives you faith for the change needed to step into a life that has more peace and joy starting on the inside of you.

“Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”

(II Peter 1:2-4 NKJV)

There is no better time than now as we start another busy year to walk deeper with God as we go through each day leaning on His promises that start inside our heart.  It is God’s desire for us to walk through life with peace.

We have an upcoming conference in February: “Firestorm of Freedom”.  This conference will help encourage people to enjoy every day of life and walk heart to heart with a loving God.  Please to refer to the information provided for all the details.  We hope to see you there! (Click here for more information)

Prayer; Father I thank you for another year.  I ask that You walk with me this year so closely that I would be aware of Your presence.  Help me to enjoy life and love people.  Teach me more about Your promises that are for me, my family and my future.  I need You Lord.  Thank You for Your Holy Spirit; in Jesus name.

Until Next Month; Ride with God

Travis Klingeman

A Rodeo Bible Camp Summer

I enjoyed three really good Rodeo Bible Camps the last few months in Pendleton, OR, Goldendale, WA, and Vancouver, WA.  It was a pleasure to be one of the Team Roping instructors.  The camps are amazing!  Great people, parents, and friends get together to offer kids an opportunity to learn more about their preferred rodeo event in a place that is saturated with peace and hope and that teaches the steps to beginning a relationship with God.

The Vancouver camp is still fresh in my mind. I was asked to speak at the Wednesday morning chapel service. I stood in front of 110 kids and 30 adults and shared the truth about how God wanted to walk with each of them right then. That He sent His son to die for each of us so that we can fellowship with Him through the promise of the Holy Spirit. That we can walk with him heart to heart. I told the audience that there are many Gods in this world but only one God of love.  He loves us so much that He doesn’t offer a religion filled with a to-do list; He offers a relationship to walk with Him and in Him!!

Colossians 1:12 says, “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.”

The life of Jesus shows us how to walk with a God that doesn’t just have love; He is love.  The Holy Spirit teaches us each individually how to walk with God ourselves.  Only the Holy Spirit can teach you how to walk with God step by step through the obstacles in life because He sees and He understands. He knows how to guide you into more life, joy, peace, hope and love.

Walking out a relationship with God on your own terms, with your own strength, with your own interpretation of what the Bible does and should say and what it says about how other people should act is exhausting. It is like trying to make a team roping run riding double. It is very difficult and definitely not enjoyable.

Walking with Jesus by following the leadership of the Holy Spirit, confirmed by the Word of God (Bible), produces intimacy with a living God.  After sharing all of this I asked if anyone would like to experience the Holy Spirit and walk with a God who loves him or her unconditionally.  About 80 kids got up out of their chairs and came forward.

It was a phenomenal experience to witness that many teenagers surrender to the King of Kings as God touched their hearts.  I watched the power of receiving God’s forgiveness through believing in Jesus wash their hearts. I then saw them immediately forgive those around them.  There were lots of tears, hugs, and excitement for God’s plan as these kids committed to walking through life with Him.

There is nothing like enjoying the sport of rodeo, and watching God touch people’s heart in the midst of the fun.

If you are interested, there will be an adult camp later this winter. (More information to come) Everyone is welcome! Bring your spouse, and if you are not married just bring your horse and enjoy the great fellowship.

Until next month, ride with God,

Travis Klingeman

509-979-8691   travis@onwhitehorses.com

Please pray this with me:

“Lord, I thank you so much for touching all the kids at Rodeo Bible Camp.  I ask that you would protect their hearts and help them to continue learning to walk through life with YOU.  I thank you for your love that always meets me where I am and walks with me through every day.  Teach me to follow the Holy Spirit’s guidance so I can see things Lord, through your eyes and love people the way you love me.   In Jesus name, Amen.” 

Dealing with Pressure                                      

Heading horses are the hardest to keep good in the box.  The majority of the money I have made working with roping horses has been fixing them in the roping box. It can be a chore to help the animal overcome the mental pressure that it feels as the anticipation builds to make a run.  Horses are claustrophobic by nature.  They freeze, jump sideways, spin around, etc. in the box. They yield to the pressure of the moment as they anticipate the unknown: Like getting outrun by the little steer or getting in trouble because they didn’t get to the right spot in time.  A lot of horses overload over time. You have to take the overloaded horse through a process that reminds them that the location they are feeling pressured is just another piece of real estate in the arena. It is no different than the rest of the arena or the corner of the pasture when you are sorting off a pair from the rest of the herd. You have to teach the horse that it is just another situation to walk through with you. Granted, the horse is also responding to the rider’s nervousness, muscle pressure, etc. How and when the rider relaxes or applies pressure has everything to do with the consistency of a horse’s performance when under pressure.  The relationship between the horse and the rider can diffuse the pressure when the horse trusts the rider more than its fears in the anticipation of the unknown.

When an individual decides to walk with God through life and calls on Jesus for help the results are very similar. Our frustrations, anxiety, and fears are diffused as we put our trust in God. Through a personal relationship, He gives us His perspective and we begin to see things differently. He gives us peace, joy, hope and love. The result is more enjoyment in life.

Life's pressures hit people from all directions, and only God knows how to create changes in an individual to provide relief. When a horse needs to be fixed in the box, it must trust the rider and yield to the rider’s direction in order to calm down and relax. Similarly, the only way we can calm down, relax, and enjoy God’s promises and blessings in this life is to yield to Him.

Please pray this prayer out loud from your heart: Lord I thank you for your goodness and all the things I love in my life.  Father help me to walk with you.  Show me how to yield to you and not myself.  I would like to walk with you more and see things the way you would like me to see them.  I don't want to live as a response to pressures in life, I want to follow you and live with the peace of mind You give. I am asking You for help in Jesus Name, Amen.

Until Next Month, Ride With God,

Travis Klingeman

Perfect Practice

The amount you practice is not the only factor in how well you rope.  Practice does not make perfect . . . perfect practice makes perfect.  This is the mantra of every roper I know that ropes really well and who makes consistent team roping runs, in competition and in the practice pen.  The really good roper is not trying to catch every steer.  They are trying to perfect their communication with their rope horse concerning the next event.  The rope horse needs to put them in the right position, not the easiest position, consistently. When your horse is in the best position for the easiest catch, the result is a trip to the pay window.

The basics of position and consistency don't just make for good ropings.  Outside the arena, our heart needs to be set in the right position for good results.  That is why every month I suggest you ask God if He will guide your heart in Jesus name.  God immediately starts to walk with you as much as you let Him.  In the depths of your heart God begins to reveal to you a new way of seeing things.  He gives you a different position in dealing with life that creates an easier path to walk through your day.  God always gives you peace.  That is His position.  Once you experience it the effects are enormous.  Your relationships, marriage, work, children, future, etc. are changed.  The catch is that you have to yield to Him!  Just like your horse in the practice pen has to yield to you.  That darn horse may think it has an easier way to get around that corner than you.  The problem is you can't catch.  So, the horse has to yield to you because you know where you can catch.  This scenario is no different than trying to walk through your day without God. You think you know the easiest way to accomplish your tasks, but when you yield to Him He shows you the best way. It is a way you can’t see on your own.

God knows where your weak spots are.  He knows how to make things better, and more consistent.  We have to yield to his leadership all the time; not just when we feel like it.  It wouldn't work out so well if our horse always loved the first round and most of the time the second round, but hated the third.  Roping wouldn't be much fun.  Life is not that fun if we try to walk with God Monday through Thursday and sometimes Sunday.  Funny how we want our horse to be more consistent in serving us than we are in serving God with our heart!  His desire to walk through life with us is abundantly more than how badly you want your horse to perform perfectly for you.

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:21 NKJV)

Perfect practice with the right position in life is praying and asking God to help us--any and all the time.  Not being afraid to ask Him to show us something we are not seeing, and to help us walk through life in His position.  He delivers perfect peace, joy and hope when you discover life is not your own.  Life is not perfect, but as we yield to God and follow Him; He positions our hearts perfectly every day, and He makes sure we enjoy life with Him.

Until next month; ride with God,

Travis Klingeman

A daily prayer with purpose: God I thank you for another day.  Today Lord, help me to see things the way you would like me to see them.  I want to be a blessing to people I come in contact with.  I want to have your position on the inside of me; the position of peace, hope, joy, love, and faith in you. Holy Spirit, help me follow in Jesus Name.  Amen

Natural Instincts

Every horse has to lay down the way it wants to do things so it can have a better life.  Horses have natural instincts that must be overridden.  Every single one of them begins their life with innate tendencies—good and bad.  They are herd bound; they always feel safest with the herd.  They have the fight or flight response, so when under pressure they run like crazy or if there is no way out they turn and fight.  Because horses are claustrophobic they feel safest in open space versus confined areas.  Although there are more I could name, my point is that horses were created with natural instincts for survival.

 There have been many times over the last 15 years that I have ended up with an unbroke horse between the ages of three and five. These horses had never received any attention from anyone.  It wasn’t surprising that each one was convinced that my sole purpose in approaching them was eating them for dinner.  They were always real pretty, well-built horses that were going to waste.  These purposeless, stubborn horses would end up at my house and the adventure would begin.  When I would step into the pen the horse’s eyes would warn me that it knew I was not a horse, it wasn’t interested in me and that if I got too close or it felt trapped it was going to spin around, kick me and run.  This is a normal, even natural response.  It is something that cannot be changed unless the horse surrenders.  Some surrender to love, others to intimidation. 

This is not an article on horse training.  However, God has used horse training to teach me about walking with Him and His heart toward me.  Several of the horses I have mentioned were without a doubt headed to the canner pen; three specifically that I am thinking about right now.  They made great roping horses and competed in the arena alongside some of the best horses in the country.  You may have heard me talk about a few of them: Dink, Turbo and several others.  Unfortunately, there were a few that never took a chance and surrendered.  They couldn’t see that I was not going to destroy them but give them a purpose, a job and great importance. 

God used these adventures to teach me about people too.  We have some similarities to horses: we are born selfish and we react when we don’t feel safe.  God is standing right here!  Right beside us!  He wants us to surrender to His will, which is to give us a purpose and point in life that fits us perfectly. There is one catch.  It is His way.  In the same way that horses cannot be used if they don’t surrender to the owner, God cannot use us in the way we were created if we don’t yield to Him.  God wants to walk with you.  We have to face the fear of losing control and allow God to show us life.  When we surrender, we begin to see things His way.

Jesus says, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30 NKJV)

Some of those horses that were headed for the canner ended up living a very long, well taken care of life because they surrendered!  How much more will a loving God work with you and in you to show you the way to real life that lasts forever?

Until next month, ride with God,

Travis Klingeman

A Winter Trip To Arizona

Everyone in the Northwest loves to talk about going down to Arizona in the winter; how good the last trip was or how good the next one will be. You hear cowboys talking about the 40 and over or Century ropings in the heat. Whatever the reason, getting out of the Northwest cold is a highly anticipated event by many.

I got to go to Arizona this past winter. I was only there for 3 days, but the weather was really warm.  While there, I could see with my own eyes and felt with my body why people would want to go--70-80 degree days and sunshine. It was great. The only thing I was missing was my rope horse.  The trip was not to rope.  It was to see my Grandpa and Grandma (Gene and B.J. Reichert (B.J. Minor)). My Grandpa had been diagnosed with Cancer in January.  My sister called me at the end of February and let me know that she thought it was a good idea if we went down to see him.  So, I put my busy schedule on hold and we jumped on a plane headed south. 

I was surprised to see my grandpa when I walked in. He was a set of bones draped with skin sitting at the dining room table drinking coffee and waiting for us to arrive. I don’t know how well I hid my facial expression as I told him how good it was to see him.  He had lost 45 pounds in the previous five weeks. We sat and talked for a couple of hours and then he was ready to lie down for the day.  That night as I lay in bed at the hotel room I was in shock.  Granted, grandpa was 80 years old but in my mind he is bionic man.  A man who was so strong he could never be taken down.  He was always there for me, just a phone call away.  As I fought back the tears that ran down my cheeks, I realized that the last 18 years I had ran around the country roping, ministering, and filling my life with plans for fun. I was going to go see grandpa one of these day. . . . I knew the days were now numbered as I drifted off to sleep.

The third and final day I was there, my grandpa was so weak he could not even get out of bed to smoke a cigarette. I went back and lay beside him in his bed and held his hand. Grandpa smiled and said, “My how your hand has grown since the last time we did this.”  I laughed and said, “Yes it has. It has been 30 years.”  We talked for the next hour and I just lay there and held his hand like a little boy.  I remember telling him that I had never planned on being 36 years old and here I am.  Grandpa chuckled and said that 80 had snuck up on him!

My Grandpa had always been a private man when it came to God.  My whole life I had never heard him pray.  In fact, the only time I ever heard him mention God was when he wanted God to damn something even though there was never a river near us. I had asked him if he wanted to pray in the past or talk about God and the answer was always “I will do that myself”.  Lying there beside him I asked with the upmost respect. “Grandpa, would you like to pray with me?”  I was so pleasantly surprised when he responded, “I would love to.  I have been praying a lot lately.”  It was the most beautiful thing to hear my grandpa pray and hear him surrender in trust to God with his last days. I could feel the presence of a loving God walking us through the end of a short season.

This trip to Arizona was not exactly the one I had always dreamed of.  I had a little more roping and short round callbacks in mind.  I wouldn’t trade it for anything though.  My Grandfather died the following Friday, good Friday, and is now in heaven.

Every month I try to encourage your personal walk with God.  Walking with God has many benefits.  One of my favorites is walking with HIM swallows up selfishness and teaches us how to enjoy family.  HE INVENTED FAMILY.

I Corinthians 15 talks about how the work of Jesus Christ has swallowed up the work of death, and hopelessness in victory (verse 54). Death has lost its sting when your trust is in Jesus. 

Life really is short.  Every day it is worth giving thanks to God for all His many blessings in our life and learning to walk with Him.  Sharing life with a loving God and your family is priceless.  Don’t wait until the end of your life when there is so much to share now.

“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.” (Matthew 7:24-27 NKJV)

Until Next Month,

Ride With God

Travis Klingeman

Colic Of The Heart

I will never forget a time when I was young and we went to Walla Walla and my Parents bought 3 good broke horses for us to ride. We were just getting into roping I was about 14 years old. My mom picked out a horse for herself out of the 20-some head we looked at. She was a really cute bay mare that was dog gentle. It was a great week after that. We rode together in the evenings and it became a family bonding time.

It was the end of July and the weather was perfect for another ride. My Grandpa swung by and brought a 5 gallon bucket of oats by. He just cleaned out the combine and was getting ready to harvest some barley for someone. He thought it would be a great gift for us and all of our horses since we owned 6 head now. I was excited about it, free grain! We have never grained our horses. Alfalfa hay and a salt block was all our horses ever got. Being young and excited to treat our horses I grabbed that bucket and headed out into the pasture. Being young and uneducated, when I arrived in the middle of the pasture I poured out that bucket and headed back to the house. Knowing there was way to much for one horse after they divided it up amongst themselves there was just 2/3 a gallon a piece.

3 hours later my Mom's little bay mare was standing at the gate closest to the house ringing her tail and had some eyes on her begging to be caught. I walked out there and put a halter on her when I tried to lead her out of the pen she wasn’t walking too good. So I assessed the situation, and realized that she had never learned how to share. She kicked all the other horses away and finished the bucket. The vet showed up shortly and and diagnosed it as colic. I have never heard of such a thing. The next 4 hours we watched that bay mare die due to my ignorance about horses. It was sad. That was the only horse my Mom bought for herself in her life. Even to this day she gets old rope horses that are half crippled that get dropped off at her house that are only good for an occasional trail ride. That is about it. I felt so bad for my Mom and a dominate mare out in the pasture that was bar none the most gentle horse on the place when anyone would catch her didn't know how to share. I just wasn't educated about things about horses. It was the school of hard knocks and that lesson left a mark that resulted in reading, asking questions, paying attention to nutrition, and food rations for my horses.

Colic is word that encompasses an array of digestive-tract problems. Is nothing more then a laymens term that describes many different gastrointestinal problems. The three most common is sand, Dehydration, stress colic. My Mom's mare ate too much grain, got a stomach ache which equaled a twisted gut, built up stress then died. I had no idea.

My moms first horse died because of my lack of knowledge. I couldn't change the past but I sure tried my hardest from that day forward to learn as much as I could so silly/dumb things like that would never happen again.

Hosea chapter 4:6 says. "God's people perish for a lack of knowledge..."

As easy as it became a habit to learn more about the care of my horse for different seasons of life; God knows how to care for your heart so we can walk threw the things that life brings our way. A lack of a personal relationship with God, or the importance of leaning on His leadership in our heart, limits His ability to rescue us. He is God!! He is also a GENTLEMEN that would never make a one of us submit to HIM or listen. All He is waiting on is for us to ask for help.

Matthew 7; 7,8 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.”

There are many different seasons in life that we all have to walk threw. It can be very hard when rely on our own strength alone. Life can be a whole lot easier if we are willing to lay our selfishness down and learn of HIM. We could avoid a “colic-ed” heart.

We can't change the past, but God sure could work with our future if we will let HIM. A simple prayer will do wonders.

Until Next Month, Ride with God

Travis Klingeman

www.onwhitehorses.com

A prayer that works: Lord, I am tired of trying to tackle life on my own strength. Please help me to walk threw this month. I need your leadership. If You will guide me, I will follow. I know You have an easier way if I will surrender because you love me. Thank you for meeting me where I am and adding to my life hope. And washing away the pain. In Jesus Name, AMEN

CHOICES

It's funny what life will throw at you. Things frustrate you. There are a lot of things that we don't have control over in this life. A lot of why we are sitting where we are right now has to do with the choices we have made to get us to this point. Some of those choices have been really good, and some really bad. We try to focus on the good to keep our morale up and continue on in life.

When bad things happen, traditionally, we tell ourselves, “This must have happened for a reason.” how sad. We shake our heads and declare, “You know, God is going to work this out.” That is true; God will do His best to work out every situation in your life. He will reach into the middle of horrible circumstances, no matter what those circumstances may be and do His best to touch your heart and reach those around you.

Today, I want to tell you that not everything that happens to you is His will. I know this goes against popular belief, but I'm going to use my Bible today. Years of tradition have watered down the gospel, leaving it without the power God intended.

God is not to blame for the things He had nothing to do with. Your choices are not His fault. When Adam and Eve were created and placed in the Garden of Eden they had a free will. God said, “Don't eat the fruit of that tree because you will surely die.” god gave them a choice to eat or not. They chose wrongly. Why didn't God prevent them from disobeying? Why didn't He reach down and take the fruit from their hand? Some theologians say, “Well, it must have been His will.” Wrong. Adam and Eve were not forced to eat the forbidden fruit; God let them make the choice. He will not break your free will. You choose this day and every day who you will serve. You choose what you will do with your life, just like you choose the horse you want to ride.

No matter where life finds you, you can choose a wonderful future starting right now. However, foundational truths are going to need to be laid. You need to understand the free will you were created with and the choice you can make to follow Him.

Jesus said many times in the gospels that He did only what He saw the Father doing-and nothing else. In the Gospel of John, Jesus is declared the expressed image of God. Did Jesus, the image of God, ever leave a disease on people? No. Did He ever hurt anyone while carrying out His will? No. Let's take a closer look at Jesus, the image of God.

When a prostitute was brought to Him and according to law deserved death by stoning Jesus responded with love by saying “Those of you who have no sin in your life, throw the first stone.” This woman was caught in sin and they wanted to kill her. They really thought this was the right thing to do and that they were carrying out God's will and His justice. Jesus disagreed.

Jesus shows us God's heart toward a person struggling with problems and sin. Jesus stooped to the ground and started writing in the dirt and one by one the people left until only Jesus and the prostitute remained. When He stood up He asked, “Where did your accusers go?” They were gone, but why? Because they were guilty of the same things, but had not been caught. They thought the same thoughts, but never acted on them. Their hearts were bad and they knew it and when Jesus exposed their sin witho9ut accusing them they ran because they were afraid and uncomfortable. Then, what did Jesus say to the woman? “I don't hold it against you either. Gos and sin no more.” This is God's heart.

God loves you. He wants to do you right. He wants to give you a future, a hope, and a plan. In fact, He has a plan for you right now, right where you are no matter what your circumstances are in life. He wants to work in your life and it's up to you.

When we don't believe, does He give up on us? Never. He's still going to try to help you. He's going to try again, and again. Avoiding Him will only make the callouses in your heart stronger and harder. Life is rough: miss-communication with friends, a marriage heading south, business deals gone bad, x-rated addictions. We all have faults and God has given us the grace to change. Peace in this life can and will only come from God. It doesn't come from more money in your pocket, nicer cars, better horses and winning championships. Don't get me wrong, I like a good horse and winning championships, but what happens after winning? Something is still missing. I want and need peace and contentment and I cant 'get them on my own. They only come from God through Jesus Christ.

Some of you have found it. A million tons of bricks were lifted off your shoulders when you accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior of your life. Some of you have also lost it somehow. The cares of this world have stolen your peace. You can look back at your life and see how the callouses have grown on your heart as you decided not to listen to God. God does not hold your choices against you. He loves and forgives you. He has made a way for you to walk with Him. Make the choice to follow Him.

Lord, help us to forgive a s you forgive. We don't blame You for the horrible circumstances that sin has brought into our life. Lord, we trust You to bring us out of the horrible situations because You are a good God. WE know that You are good. We know that You are powerful. Lord, change our foundations and the way we look at You so that we can have more you You and less of us. Help us to walk in this wonderful life with Your hand on us. Help us not to resist the direction that You are trying to help lead us because we must have more of You. Lord, no matter what, let our peace be in You and not in our circumstances. Amen.

Until Next Month; Ride with God.

Travis Klingeman