Ministry Moments:
Praying for our Animals
by Lynn Ridenhour
We should all pray for our animals. They’re God’s
creation. His pets and ours.
Our family has eleven horses and one mule. We’ve had our horses since
1994. And they’re like our kids: Sugar, Sonny, Titan, Star, Pesos, Mandy,
Judy, Miracle, Candle, Thunder, Cuppy, and Saucer, the mule. And if you had
the time, or interest, I could describe each of their personalities.
Sugar is the most docile of the bunch, not a mean streak in her bones. Sonny
is the Patriarch, always watching out over the herd, Titan is the shy one.
Star is known for her aggressive approach to everything. Pesos is the gentle
stud…and on & on.
I love our horses.
As soon as they see my red pickup pulling onto the farm and up towards the
barn, the whinnies begin. "Well, good morning to you too." It’s
such a fun sound to hear (& feel) the earth beneath you shake from the
thunder of hooves coming at you. Sometimes I just have to thank God for
the sheer delight. John the revelator said it well:
"Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power, for
thou has created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were
created." --Rev. 4:11
My sentiments exactly.
Why, just the other night Saucer, the mule, got out again. He averages an
escape or two about every other week. It was around 10:30 at night when I
pulled the old pickup into the driveway & headed toward the barn. Sure
enough, my headlights spot the mule out in an open field grazing. I turn off
the gravel road and head towards him--driving through the pasture, hearing the
tall grass like a broom under my truck, shining my headlights in his face. The
moment I open & slam my door, somehow the mule knows it’s me, and comes
a running. I didn’t have to say a word. He wanted to see me. I
put my arm around his neck and say "come on, Saucer." And we
walk back to the gate together having a good talk with my arm around his neck.
Then I mend the fence where he got out. I’ll give him another week or two.
He never goes anywhere. Just waits for me to come put him back. And our farm
is right in the middle of town. The Independence Mall & I-70 are just over
the hill. Wouldn’t take much at all for Saucer to take a stroll up
town.
I’ll say it again—our animals are family.
That’s why I got so riled up one day. I had been noticing, when I pulled
into the drive they were jittery, almost down right skittish. Not at all like
the horses I know. I knew something was wrong. But what? Then David, my
friend, caught them. David helps me feed. He had pulled up near the barn one
morning unnoticed when he kept hearing "pop!" and then
giggles followed. David immediately ducked down into the tall grass &
looked around. Up on top of the hill he spotted three teenage boys who were
shooting our horses with pellet guns. He couldn’t believe the horror he was
witnessing. The boys would shoot one of the horses, watch it flinch & buck
& run, then bust out laughing. Mind you, these were not b-b guns;
these were deadly pellet guns. Lead was being deposited into our horses’
skin. Of course they ran & bucked.
David just lay there waiting. Fortunately the boys slowly began making
their way down toward the barn, shooting holes in it as David lay there. He
could hear the pellets flying by. The holes were going through the barn where
we kept our grain bins. If someone would have been scooping grain, there’s a
good chance they could have gotten hurt, if not killed.
They’re getting closer and David’s getting madder.
David’s an old bar bouncer who a few years back "got saved." He
knows Jesus but he also knows foolishness and danger when he's staring at it.
What David is witnessing is downright foolishness & dangerous. David’s
about 250 pounds, very little if any fat, and six feet four with hair down
below his shoulders.
Three boys are now approaching him, each with guns in their hands. They don’t
know he’s lying there in the grass. Suddenly David springs out of nowhere,
catches the boys totally off guard, disarms them before they know what hit,
breaks their rifles, and gets all three in a headlock (the old bar-bouncing
days kick in). At first they fight back, but it’s useless--it takes him
about five minutes to whip the tar out of all three. Of course, they threaten
to sue. They didn’t have to. I did.
You don’t shoot my horses with pellet guns, then laugh about it, and call
it a day. The boys and I met in court and the judge fined them, put them
all on probation, and told them he better never hear of them setting foot on
my property again. That’s the last I ever saw of them.
I immediately called the vet to take a look at the horses. They were full
of lead with whelps all over their bodies. I counted 52 whelps on Sugar. The
vet treated them and nursed them back to health. I don't mind telling you, I
was more than a little riled that day.
We should all pray for our animals. Pray angels of protection over them.
Now let me share a happy time. The pellet gun incident happened a few
years ago. Last night I went out to feed as usual. But I need to backtrack. I’ve
been expecting some money in the mail but it’s a week and a half late. We’re
out of grain. I checked. The bins are empty. Eleven horses eat a lot. I came
back home last evening, went into my room, and lifted my hands to heaven,
asking the Lord for help. I didn’t know what we were to do. We’re out of
money. Broke. I told the Lord, "please take care of the
horses." I knew we had enough food in the house to last us a few
days, and gas in the cars. I wasn’t concerned about us. Besides, I truly
expect our money to be here any day now. But it doesn’t take long for a
horse to drop a couple hundred pounds. They need grain now.
I was just out there last night. No grain. I went to the barn this morning
and the bin was full of grain.
You decide. I know what happened.
P.S. You say, David filled the bin. David hasn't worked for us in
three years. You say, someone else knew you were out. No one ever
goes up to our barn. It's secluded. We rarely--I mean rarely--have
any one to drive on our property.
