See the Good that he is doing
"The Call"
where ever you lead me I will follow by nancy Gustafson
In June of 2009, was when my journey began with Women Horses & Healing. I was preparing for a Spotlight Performance ” demonstration at the regional Parelli Savvy Tour celebration in Madison Wisconsin. I applied for and was chosen to participate in the event. It was exciting and nerve wracking to think that Prince and I were about to perform in front of about 3000 people. It was so much fun to spend time with Linda & Pat Parelli they are gifted horse people. The night before our performance, Pat gave us time to practice in the arena. We had the choice to select our own music for the demonstration. One of the songs I picked was called “Gravity ” the song is about God sticking with you throughout your life. I hoped the audience would notice Prince sticking to me. The second song called “What If” talks about what if I wasn’t a good enough partner, would God still be with me and love me? Horses naturally have unconditional love for us just as God does and will stay with us even if we are far from perfect. God longs for a relationship with us. After my demo Pat stepped in and gave me a one on one driving lesson for about 25 minutes which was very fun! I felt very blessed by the whole experience of it all in meeting people that have a special connection with their horses.
Every morning I would get up very early to spend some time alone riding Prince. I got to see some beautiful sunrises and riding horses is my favorite thing to do it gives me time to relax, pray and ask God many questions. This was when I felt God was asking me to answer his “Call” he was opening the door for me to start his ministry using the horses as a healing vessel for women that have suffered emotional pain. As a young girl I experienced some very hard things myself, and in going through this in my life, I have been able to receive God’s healing by choosing to have God in my life. I grew up around horses and He knows the desires of my heart and how he wants them to be used in this ministry. The Good News is we can allow God to restore us and heal us and make us new again.
July 2010
Young women horses & healing
The Pond we all live in by Nancy Gustafson
God puts his fingerprint on every retreat to make it unique to his purpose of what he wants young women to experience in him. He knows their hearts, and what they are troubled about. For our team of volunteer’s it is so exciting to help prepare for the retreats, we begin to see God is already at work several weeks before the gals arrive at the ranch. But also the enemy is at work creating distractions he is always trying to have us take our focus off of God and at times it can be difficult. As we prepare for the retreat we are always in prayer and we become aware of what God is showing us. And sometimes he will show us the things that women might be struggling with that are attending the retreats.
A few weeks before the event I know I had a dirty job to do in cleaning out our garden fish pond that we had built several years ago in our backyard. The pond pump had stopped working over the winter and the pump needed to be replaced. The water in the pond had been sitting stagnant for quite a while. I came home form work one day to find my hubby all excited to share the news that he had pumped all the water out of the pond and that I had the glorious job of scooping out all the black sludge that was sitting on the bottom. So I put my wadders on and proceeded to hold on to the rocks as I slid down the side of the pond my feet went into about a foot of this thick heavy black sludge. As I tried to move around in the pond the sludge would garb on to my boots and hold tight not letting my feet move. I had to be very careful to not lose my footing and fall as it was very slippery. There was this terrible stench, smell of dead things that were rotting its difficult to breathe. As I was cleaning I began to think about what Hell must be like. I felt that God was showing me and letting me know how controlling bondage and addiction can be. It clings to you, its all consuming and very smelly. I took a bucket and scooped out the black sludge as I got to the bottom of the pond rubber liner I began to notice large air bubbles pushing up that were trapped beneath the surface. So many times we suppress the different wounds that we have in our lives, we painfully push them down and hide them deep inside ourselves.
Notice the Cross shadow reflection in the 1st lower left photo I took after the water was drained out of the pond. As I moved my bucket around scooping out the black sludge I hit a large mass of something that was growing on the bottom. I lifted it up and discovered that it was an old water lily that had grown out of it container pot. I could see a couple of thick roots that were branching and reaching to find new life in the thick gnarly mud that was trying to squeeze and choke out its life. I thought, isn’t it interesting how we are so stuck and wrapped up in our junk and how its hard to let go of the darkness that God wants us to be set free of. I used a knife to cut the roots free and carried the plant over to the edge of the pond, took the water hose and began to wash off the roots of lies, fear and shame. I could smell the rotting parts of the plant that were no longer alive, I felt that God was letting me know that there are things that we all have in our live’s that need to be washed clean. As I looked closer at the lilly that I thought was dead, I was surprised to see two little green stems were growing out of the root mass showing signs of life. I replanted the small stems into new pots. All the sludge was gone and I began to fill the pond back up with fresh clean water, today the pond is clear and healthy once again I can see new life in the plants. After finishing my job I felt it was yet another lesson from God asking, do we all need to clean out the sludge in our lives so that we can be healthy in Christ again ?? The weekend with the young ladies was a great learning experience for all and was a powerful weekend.
June 2011
The anatomy of a wounded walk by Kathy willis
We are constantly amazed at the journey that God leads us on in this ministry with women as he leads us into his hidden tapestry of healing. One of those times became so real to us during a teaching seminar on natural horsemanship with a young three year old mare named Trixie. She was brought to us by a friend that agreed to let us use her in a demonstration of how the relationship in working with horses can parallel how God works in our lives. In training horses you begin to develop a language to teach a horse to begin to trust you and to become a partner with you. As Ashley took Trixie through a series of exercises to begin to build a relationship with her we learned and understood who God is as our Savior Master and Protector. Trixie had not had any ground work done with her so she went from being clueless and flighty to in the end standing relaxed, submissive and focused on her new leader. There were moments when the horses rebellion showed up and she got bracy. We also noticed that Trixie was protective of her left side. She had what looked a bad scar on the backside of her hip not far from her tail area. we all wondered what had happened to her. We guessed that she had been ripped open at sometime in her young life, as we watched we soon be gan to understand her guarded spirit in “Oh no don’t touch me, there spots “. This is the wonderful analogy of how we all guard our hearts in area’s that we may be wounded. We keep people away from our scars and our wounds. We even push away God, the very one that can heal those wounds. In our journey of learning who God is he makes us stronger through using circumstances or people to exercising the remnants of the hurt.
God directs us as “wounded healers ” to reach out to other that are wounded and point them toward the love of the great healer himself. Trixie was one of those wounded souls that God was going to use that weekend. We learned that a horse can bring hope into someones life that has been hurt just like her. We learned later that night from Trixies owner that she did not know how she injured herself only that it happened in the middle of the night and the next morning she and her herd mates were loose outside the pasture wandering around. She had a big gash on her forehead that left a of hide hanging that the vet stitched up. The injury’s that were back by her tail were not ripped open but that they appeared to be internal scares where her hide had been literally ripped from the muscle. As she healed the area underneath her tail, were pulled apart disfiguring her female reproductive area. All was thought to be well with Trixie, but there was more for this little mare to go through. Soon after she developed a paralysis on her left side and the vet could not find the source but it was similar to what bells palsy is in humans. With her lower lip half working her drinking and eating abilities were affected for time but as time went on she regained and recovered most of the use of her left side again. As we watched Trixie walk away that day toward the trailer we could see one more physical repercussion, she slightly cast out her left leg as she walked. At that point I felt conformation in my heart that there were many reasons why God had brought this young mare to spend the weekend with these women. Just like trixie wa as women carry our wounds, some are visual, some are paralyzing and ones that keep us held in fear. We keep them hidden deep inside ourselves suppressed often in the need to feel accepted and to not feel ashamed. Trixie taught us so much about the hurting that some women go thru wounds that have an anatomy all their own as our life wounds affect every step we take in this life.
We should be aware that the enemy knows the power of a wounded walk. The bible says that Satan comes to steal our health and wholeness by creating soul wounds through hurtful circumstances or people. He holds us captive prisoners by stealing Gods truth away from us through false belief about ourselves. Freedom comes when we let God take our broken life’s and begin a relationship with him in restoration and wellness. And to give the gift back to others that are hurting . As this retreat came to a close we appreciated the journey and the time that we got to spend with Trixie, she is special with a big heart for life. Her owner has loved her through her struggle’s and she is a survivor and continues to remain strong even tho she wears remnants of her pain on her very hide. Trixie’s name meaning “traveler and bringer of great Joy ” brought many blessings to several women that weekend.
Equine trainer : Ashley Gustafson
