January 3rd 2019
It’s been exactly a month since I have returned to the States. Overall, being back in America has been great. Took a quick road trip to LA to get my car tags and stopped and visited a few of my friends and family along the way. Just a week in the life of Heidi…
My family’s biggest concern on my return was that I would get bored. Going from living the fast life in Los Angeles, then living “on the road” this past year, to now returning to the sedentary town of my youth is a bit of a contrast. They’re right. I do get bored easily.
But fortunately, I’ve been able to be a part of a full-time ministry opportunity here in Michigan. Her name is Apache.
Apache is a paint horse, approximately twenty-four years old (that’s about seventy years old in human years), and was trained to pull wagons and ride. She has one blue eye and one brown eye and LOVES food. She’s quite the fatty.
For the past few months, she’s been struggling with laminitis. The way the farrier explained it to me is it’s like diabetes for horses. When horses have too rich a diet in sugars which can be from alfalfa hay, spring grass, and grain, the sugars go the their hooves and the coffin bone detaches from the hoof wall and begins to put down to the ground. In short, it’s very painful for her to put weight on her front hooves which being a horse you can’t really avoid doing that.
The only thing we can do in regards to laminitis is adjusting her diet, which my dad has been doing and we’ve seen a gradual improvement.
She also has thrush in two hooves, the equivalent of athlete’s foot in horses, a common malady when the conditions are extremely damp or dry. Since October, Michigan has had swampy weather and the pasture has not had time to dry so as a result thrush happens.
Proverbs 12:10
The righteous care for the needs of their animals,
but the kindest acts of the wicked are cruel.
My ministry for Apache has been mucking her stall, administering medication, cleaning her hooves, and brushing her down everyday. I think some people may read this and look down on it. They scoff and say to themselves, “That’s not ministry, that’s just chores.”
Horses were never my dream. They were my sister’s, however, since she now lives out of state, Apache has not had the same care and attention that she had before. When Thunder died in 2016 that also put our “two buddies” horses down to one lonely mare. She needs community just like me so we have been hanging out a lot.
Thunder, our unicorn, looking like a dingus per usual.
It’s been great caring for Apache because I’ve seen her trust in me begin to grow and I’ve slowly been able to witness improvement in her stance and demeanor. I was also able to face my fear of her hooves. I’ve always been able to pick up the front hooves, but the back hooves scare me. My great grandfather was a blacksmith and was killed by a kick to the head from a horse. I have never desired to carry on that family tradition and I don’t plan to now. I’ve been picking up all her hooves now for the past two weeks which makes everyday that I do a success in my book.
I Don’t Know
People still ask me what I’m doing with my life and I still say, “I don’t know.” So I decided to make this section “what I know”.
What I Know
– I plan on attending Project Searchlight; which is happening on January 7th. I’m driving down with my teammate Mary as my co-pilot. I will also stay an extra two days so I can attend their church-planting event.
– I’ve filled out my FAFSA and applied to an online university in the hopes of potentially getting my Bachelor’s degree. (Contemplating it, nothing certain. I really want to take Bible classes.)
– My application for Egypt this May/June is still pending and I have not heard anything back from the organization yet. #holidays
– I applied at a job in town and will probably start applying more aggressively after PSL.
– I want to share my experiences with more people. If you’re interested in hearing about what God did in my life this year, let’s get together.
– Above all I know that God knows the plans he has for me. I’m being a good steward of my time and resources and waiting on His still, small voice.
– And I’m nurturing an old horse.
It was so amazing seeing you! I couldn’t get enough of you! I love that you’re caring for your sisters horse, I can feel the love she feels for you from here. Keep up your good work, God has a plan, you will find it. With all we talked about and all I said I hope you did, what’s most important is that you listen to Him. Love you sister from the almighty mister!