Saturday, August 28, 2010
Some shots of Angel (Equine Photography)
So yesterday, I was outside, writing an email to a friend and it had been drizzling a little. After a few minutes, I looked up and saw a rainbow, and I realized I had been wanting to get pictures of Angel since she got here...so I took the opportunity with the light and such to get some shots. =)
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
A Poem from a friend
"Disappointment - His appointment,"
Change one letter, then I see
That the thwarting of my purpose
Is God's better choice for me.
His appointment must be a blessing,
Though it may come in disguise,
For the end from the beginning
Open to His wisdom lies.
"Disappointment - His appointment,"
Whose? The Lord, who loves me best,
Understands and knows me fully,
Who my faith and love would test;
For, like a loving earthly parent,
He rejoices when He knows
That His child accepts, unquestioned,
All that from His wisdom flows.
"Disappointment - His appointment,"
"No good thing will He withhold,"
From denials oft we gather
Treasures of His love untold,
Well He knows each broken purpose
Leads to fuller, deeper trust,
And the end of all His dealings
Proves our God is wise and just.
"Disappointment - His appointment,"
Lord, I take it, then, as such.
Like the clay in hands of potter,
Yielding wholly to Thy touch.
All my life's plan is Thy moulding,
Not one single choice be mine;
Let me answer, unrepining -
"Father, not my will, but Thine."
~Edith Lillian Young~
Friday, August 6, 2010
Fall is coming soon
Already. Okay, I'm not complaining, I just am not ready to start school yet. And I only have a week of summer vacation left. =( *sigh* I have no idea how school is going to get done with a horse, though. It will be interesting.
Angel is doing great. She has been absolutely wonderful so far. I am hopefully helping her stifle injury as I ride her every other day. She seems to be doing the same, so far, though. We'll have to see. =\
I think we found a church where we live and I really like it. The people are so nice and no one cares what you wear or look like. They care about God they care about whether you know Him or not. It's really refreshing to be in a church like that. =)
Well, fall IS my favorite season, so I guess I can't complain too much. I love the leaves in the fall, and I love the temperatures. I also love the fact that the weather is perfect for making homemade bread. It's too hot in the summer to make bread. Oh, and the temperatures get down just low enough in the mornings and evenings to make hot cider or hot chocolate or something like that. And this fall, I have a horse that I can spend time with...fall is the best season for riding, too. The weather is not too hot and not too cold, and the horses are in really good moods. =)
I can't believe this is my senior year in high school. That's a little freaky. I have college plans, though. I'm just not all that excited about leaving my horse...trying not to think about that right now...
After fall of course, comes Christmas, so here's another countdown. =D
139 days, 7 hours, and 2 minutes until Christmas Eve...
Angel is doing great. She has been absolutely wonderful so far. I am hopefully helping her stifle injury as I ride her every other day. She seems to be doing the same, so far, though. We'll have to see. =\
I think we found a church where we live and I really like it. The people are so nice and no one cares what you wear or look like. They care about God they care about whether you know Him or not. It's really refreshing to be in a church like that. =)
Well, fall IS my favorite season, so I guess I can't complain too much. I love the leaves in the fall, and I love the temperatures. I also love the fact that the weather is perfect for making homemade bread. It's too hot in the summer to make bread. Oh, and the temperatures get down just low enough in the mornings and evenings to make hot cider or hot chocolate or something like that. And this fall, I have a horse that I can spend time with...fall is the best season for riding, too. The weather is not too hot and not too cold, and the horses are in really good moods. =)
I can't believe this is my senior year in high school. That's a little freaky. I have college plans, though. I'm just not all that excited about leaving my horse...trying not to think about that right now...
After fall of course, comes Christmas, so here's another countdown. =D
139 days, 7 hours, and 2 minutes until Christmas Eve...
Monday, August 2, 2010
God's Angel (Part Eleven)
Part Eleven
Okay, so this time, I am not saying that this is the last part I’m writing. I should have learned my lesson before. God wants me to write another part. I have had a couple of people tell me it doesn’t seem like an ending. I was asking God about whether I should or not, and He said that He wanted me to tell everyone that He has done more than what I ever hoped for.
The month of June and the first two weeks of July were very discouraging. Seriously. I don’t know how else to put it. I tried counting the days until Angel came home, but it was almost more discouraging than if she wasn’t coming at all. I think we must have changed the date four times, and I had to change the number of days higher again every time. I think God must really want me to learn patience. I was so frustrated, and it was getting harder every day. But God was there, every moment. Putting up fencing was hard work. We had a tractor with an auger to dig the holes for the posts. It kept getting stuck in the dirt and we had to dig it out several times by hand, breaking several shovels in the process. I don’t know an exact number, but we put up at least 150-200 posts. And that was just digging posts. On weekends, when Dad was home, because we couldn’t get any work done during the week. We had wiring to do still, as well as brace posts and electric. Yeah, that took a while. We had to move the goats out of the pasture where Angel was going to be, and then we had to take down the boards separating the run-in-shed we had for her. We also took time to mow the field, lime the field, and put some pasture grass seed down. All of that took all the time we had between May 22nd and July 16th, the final date we chose. It was hard long work. I spent every hour I could doing the fencing and getting things ready. And then of course, the fun part was shopping for all of my horse stuff (my family didn’t think so, haha). I spent some time in the tack shop getting the stuff I needed.
Well, July 15th, the night before Angel came home, I sat out in the pasture beside my hitching post with my Bible and my prayer journal and I talked with God. I read my story again, remembering everything that God had brought to pass and thinking of just how amazing God was in the way that everything had happened. I think I was out there for an hour or so, just talking to God about everything and how it had all come together so perfectly. I thanked Him for everything that He had done, and praised Him for how perfect it all was. I prayed that everything would go smoothly the next day with bringing Angel home and that we would have safety and fun.
July 16th finally arrived. I didn’t really sleep and I was wide awake when I looked at the clock at 5 a.m. I started my day with prayer, thanking God again for everything and asking for safety and asking that I would be aware of His presence and that He would be close. Then I headed out with my Dad to work (he has a two hour drive to get there). It was a very slow drive, of course. We had to pick up a truck to haul the hay in, and so that took some extra time, as the truck rental manager didn’t remember he had agreed to meet us before the hour they opened. We didn’t wait too long, though. We also waited for traffic at an accident site for a few minutes. My Dad made the comment to me that “I sure did pick a great day to bring Angel home.” I laughed a little and then replied , “I didn’t pick it. God did.” I had called my riding teacher and asked if I could hang out with her during the morning while Dad was at work and we got ready to go pick Angel up. I helped feed her horses and she asked me to ride her new Arabian mare that morning. My friend was coming to spend the weekend with me and she met us at my riding teacher’s house that morning. It was too hot to do any heavy riding (although the Arabian I was riding didn’t seem to think so) and so we went on a trail ride in the woods. When we finished up, we sponged the horses off and let them back out in the pastures. Then we went inside and had some lunch and got ready to go get Angel. We hitched up the trailer and then we were on our way.
It was about three o’ clock when we got there. We discovered that the trailer had a flat tire when we got there and so Dad and my riding teacher’s husband and Angel’s owner (Mr.) put air in the tire and plugged it. I got all of the little stuff figured out and got everything together. Angel’s owner (Mr.) spoke to me and said that he had read my story and we talked for a few minutes about how good God is. He also told me that when they were looking for a horse, they didn’t really pick Angel. Apparently, she picked them. We settled up financially and then I went to get Angel and load her. She walked right on the trailer and we hooked her in. Then we closed the door.
When everyone was standing around talking for a minute, Angel’s owner (Mr.) touched my shoulder and asked me if he could pray over me and Angel before we left. Of course I said yes. He thanked God for all that He had brought to pass, and then he asked God to bless me and Angel with this new time in our lives. I think that was my favorite part of the day. We told them that they were welcome to come and visit her anytime they could. Then we all loaded up into the truck and started back to my house. It was a bittersweet moment for me, because I was so excited that my horse was finally coming home. But I knew that her owners were struggling with letting her go, too. I understood. I had already lost an Angel. Perhaps that was another reason that God had allowed me to lose Angel: so that I could better understand the owners’ loss when I got my horse.
It was about two hours before we got home. When we pulled up to our house (I hesitate to say “driveway” because of its length, lol), we parked and then I asked if we could pray before we even brought Angel off the trailer. My riding teacher’s husband prayed and then I prayed. I thanked God again and asked Him to allow me to use Angel for His glory, because she really is His horse. Then we got out and got Angel off the trailer. I led her around to her pasture and through the gate and then let her off the lead rope. She walked right in without any reservation as if she had been there a thousand times. She was alert, but not at all nervous, as most horses would have been. We watched her for a few minutes and then I showed my riding teacher the place where I was planning to ride and we gave her a tour of our house.
After an hour or so, when Angel was still totally relaxed, we said goodbye to my riding teacher and her husband. They wanted to go into town and get dinner and stay for the music (we live close to a tourist site). We ate dinner and my friend and I went back out to the shed to hang out and clean tack. I stayed up all night with Angel, talking to her about life and God while she grazed. My friend stayed up most of the night, but ended up crashing because of an allergy headache. We rode Angel for a little while the next morning, just walking her because she wasn’t used to the trail. We also gave her a bath later that afternoon, which she seemed to enjoy. I asked my sister to take some pictures for me so I could put them up for people to see. Check out this website if you want to see a few: http://acceptedjustasiam.blogspot.com/2010/07/some-favs.html
I can honestly say that I cannot think of another thing that I would have wanted for that day. I’ve had her for about two weeks now, and I am loving spending time with her. Of course, I am trying to get her in shape because she hasn’t been ridden in a while, and her stifle injury is a challenge to deal with. But so far, she has been just perfect. She hasn’t been any trouble (except when I am in a hurry and have to go somewhere, of course, lol), and she’s very friendly. Her ground manners are so good. She is very gentle and she hasn’t spooked at anything blindly. She is very level-headed and seems to know that there aren’t too many things around that are scary. She really is the perfect first horse. I can’t think of another thing I could ask. It’s all been so perfect. God knew exactly what I needed. I am still so amazed at what God has done with this whole story. It was like Christmas in July.
Angel is finally home.
I don’t know how to describe this journey. It’s been long and I don’t think it’s over. But I know that God has been faithful in every single part of this journey. If you want Him in your life, you will never regret it. He will always be there and He always cares, even when you sometimes believe that He doesn’t. I would beg you not to give in to fear and doubts that God doesn’t care. As I already stated in this story at least once, God’s love is not dependent on your circumstances. It is dependent only upon the finished work of the cross. And that does not change. It is ever constant and always available. If you are struggling with things in your life, I would beg you to turn them over to God. If you don’t think that He can do anything with it, then check out Romans 8:28-“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” And believe me, no matter what you’re facing in your life, whether it be disappointments, failures, grief, or something else, God can take care of it. He will be there for you to hold on to, and He will be faithful to love you. God is always faithful. God is always trustworthy. It’s never easy to let God take care of things. Trusting God with your life is close to impossible when you don’t spend time with Him. So I urge you to get to know Him. Talk to God, read His Word and learn why He is trustworthy and just how faithful He is. You will never regret giving your life to God.
Psalm 37:4-“Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.”
If you have any questions about my story or want to talk with me, I would love to hear from you! If you want to know how you can know God as your personal Savior and Lord, I can show through Scripture how you can do that, as well. My email address is hoofprintsofhope@gmail.com
Please don’t hesitate to write me!
Kristen Langner
Okay, so this time, I am not saying that this is the last part I’m writing. I should have learned my lesson before. God wants me to write another part. I have had a couple of people tell me it doesn’t seem like an ending. I was asking God about whether I should or not, and He said that He wanted me to tell everyone that He has done more than what I ever hoped for.
The month of June and the first two weeks of July were very discouraging. Seriously. I don’t know how else to put it. I tried counting the days until Angel came home, but it was almost more discouraging than if she wasn’t coming at all. I think we must have changed the date four times, and I had to change the number of days higher again every time. I think God must really want me to learn patience. I was so frustrated, and it was getting harder every day. But God was there, every moment. Putting up fencing was hard work. We had a tractor with an auger to dig the holes for the posts. It kept getting stuck in the dirt and we had to dig it out several times by hand, breaking several shovels in the process. I don’t know an exact number, but we put up at least 150-200 posts. And that was just digging posts. On weekends, when Dad was home, because we couldn’t get any work done during the week. We had wiring to do still, as well as brace posts and electric. Yeah, that took a while. We had to move the goats out of the pasture where Angel was going to be, and then we had to take down the boards separating the run-in-shed we had for her. We also took time to mow the field, lime the field, and put some pasture grass seed down. All of that took all the time we had between May 22nd and July 16th, the final date we chose. It was hard long work. I spent every hour I could doing the fencing and getting things ready. And then of course, the fun part was shopping for all of my horse stuff (my family didn’t think so, haha). I spent some time in the tack shop getting the stuff I needed.
Well, July 15th, the night before Angel came home, I sat out in the pasture beside my hitching post with my Bible and my prayer journal and I talked with God. I read my story again, remembering everything that God had brought to pass and thinking of just how amazing God was in the way that everything had happened. I think I was out there for an hour or so, just talking to God about everything and how it had all come together so perfectly. I thanked Him for everything that He had done, and praised Him for how perfect it all was. I prayed that everything would go smoothly the next day with bringing Angel home and that we would have safety and fun.
July 16th finally arrived. I didn’t really sleep and I was wide awake when I looked at the clock at 5 a.m. I started my day with prayer, thanking God again for everything and asking for safety and asking that I would be aware of His presence and that He would be close. Then I headed out with my Dad to work (he has a two hour drive to get there). It was a very slow drive, of course. We had to pick up a truck to haul the hay in, and so that took some extra time, as the truck rental manager didn’t remember he had agreed to meet us before the hour they opened. We didn’t wait too long, though. We also waited for traffic at an accident site for a few minutes. My Dad made the comment to me that “I sure did pick a great day to bring Angel home.” I laughed a little and then replied , “I didn’t pick it. God did.” I had called my riding teacher and asked if I could hang out with her during the morning while Dad was at work and we got ready to go pick Angel up. I helped feed her horses and she asked me to ride her new Arabian mare that morning. My friend was coming to spend the weekend with me and she met us at my riding teacher’s house that morning. It was too hot to do any heavy riding (although the Arabian I was riding didn’t seem to think so) and so we went on a trail ride in the woods. When we finished up, we sponged the horses off and let them back out in the pastures. Then we went inside and had some lunch and got ready to go get Angel. We hitched up the trailer and then we were on our way.
It was about three o’ clock when we got there. We discovered that the trailer had a flat tire when we got there and so Dad and my riding teacher’s husband and Angel’s owner (Mr.) put air in the tire and plugged it. I got all of the little stuff figured out and got everything together. Angel’s owner (Mr.) spoke to me and said that he had read my story and we talked for a few minutes about how good God is. He also told me that when they were looking for a horse, they didn’t really pick Angel. Apparently, she picked them. We settled up financially and then I went to get Angel and load her. She walked right on the trailer and we hooked her in. Then we closed the door.
When everyone was standing around talking for a minute, Angel’s owner (Mr.) touched my shoulder and asked me if he could pray over me and Angel before we left. Of course I said yes. He thanked God for all that He had brought to pass, and then he asked God to bless me and Angel with this new time in our lives. I think that was my favorite part of the day. We told them that they were welcome to come and visit her anytime they could. Then we all loaded up into the truck and started back to my house. It was a bittersweet moment for me, because I was so excited that my horse was finally coming home. But I knew that her owners were struggling with letting her go, too. I understood. I had already lost an Angel. Perhaps that was another reason that God had allowed me to lose Angel: so that I could better understand the owners’ loss when I got my horse.
It was about two hours before we got home. When we pulled up to our house (I hesitate to say “driveway” because of its length, lol), we parked and then I asked if we could pray before we even brought Angel off the trailer. My riding teacher’s husband prayed and then I prayed. I thanked God again and asked Him to allow me to use Angel for His glory, because she really is His horse. Then we got out and got Angel off the trailer. I led her around to her pasture and through the gate and then let her off the lead rope. She walked right in without any reservation as if she had been there a thousand times. She was alert, but not at all nervous, as most horses would have been. We watched her for a few minutes and then I showed my riding teacher the place where I was planning to ride and we gave her a tour of our house.
After an hour or so, when Angel was still totally relaxed, we said goodbye to my riding teacher and her husband. They wanted to go into town and get dinner and stay for the music (we live close to a tourist site). We ate dinner and my friend and I went back out to the shed to hang out and clean tack. I stayed up all night with Angel, talking to her about life and God while she grazed. My friend stayed up most of the night, but ended up crashing because of an allergy headache. We rode Angel for a little while the next morning, just walking her because she wasn’t used to the trail. We also gave her a bath later that afternoon, which she seemed to enjoy. I asked my sister to take some pictures for me so I could put them up for people to see. Check out this website if you want to see a few: http://acceptedjustasiam.b
I can honestly say that I cannot think of another thing that I would have wanted for that day. I’ve had her for about two weeks now, and I am loving spending time with her. Of course, I am trying to get her in shape because she hasn’t been ridden in a while, and her stifle injury is a challenge to deal with. But so far, she has been just perfect. She hasn’t been any trouble (except when I am in a hurry and have to go somewhere, of course, lol), and she’s very friendly. Her ground manners are so good. She is very gentle and she hasn’t spooked at anything blindly. She is very level-headed and seems to know that there aren’t too many things around that are scary. She really is the perfect first horse. I can’t think of another thing I could ask. It’s all been so perfect. God knew exactly what I needed. I am still so amazed at what God has done with this whole story. It was like Christmas in July.
Angel is finally home.
I don’t know how to describe this journey. It’s been long and I don’t think it’s over. But I know that God has been faithful in every single part of this journey. If you want Him in your life, you will never regret it. He will always be there and He always cares, even when you sometimes believe that He doesn’t. I would beg you not to give in to fear and doubts that God doesn’t care. As I already stated in this story at least once, God’s love is not dependent on your circumstances. It is dependent only upon the finished work of the cross. And that does not change. It is ever constant and always available. If you are struggling with things in your life, I would beg you to turn them over to God. If you don’t think that He can do anything with it, then check out Romans 8:28-“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” And believe me, no matter what you’re facing in your life, whether it be disappointments, failures, grief, or something else, God can take care of it. He will be there for you to hold on to, and He will be faithful to love you. God is always faithful. God is always trustworthy. It’s never easy to let God take care of things. Trusting God with your life is close to impossible when you don’t spend time with Him. So I urge you to get to know Him. Talk to God, read His Word and learn why He is trustworthy and just how faithful He is. You will never regret giving your life to God.
Psalm 37:4-“Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.”
If you have any questions about my story or want to talk with me, I would love to hear from you! If you want to know how you can know God as your personal Savior and Lord, I can show through Scripture how you can do that, as well. My email address is hoofprintsofhope@gmail.com
Please don’t hesitate to write me!
Kristen Langner
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)