God’s help when I needed it

Ainsley

Every Saturday I have horseback riding lessons. Currently I am riding a horse named Aya. She is really sweet and kind.

Recently, after a lesson, I was picking Aya’s hooves. When you pick the horse’s hooves, you take a pick and scrape all the rocks, mud, and dirt out of the hoof. When I do Aya’s back legs, it is harder than doing the front, because her back legs don’t stretch out as easily as her front legs do. It is also harder because there is more weight on the back than on the front.

LISA ANDREWS—STAFF

So I was doing this when I lost my balance and dropped Aya’s hoof on my foot. Aya kept her hoof there, not knowing it was on my foot. Since horses are such big animals, they are very heavy. So when this happened, it hurt. It was also uncomfortable because I was thinking, “Oh no! What am I going to do?” That’s when I turned to God!

The first thought that popped into my head when I started listening to God in prayer was that I am a perfect creation of God, so Aya could not hurt me. If you were to look up perfect in the dictionary, you would probably find something like this: flawless, pure, the exact measurement. A perfect creation of God is something that can’t be hurt or tampered with. I learned this from my Christian Science Sunday School teacher, and it always helps me to think about myself this way.

After this prayer, I had the thought to simply ask Aya, “Please get off my foot.” Aya graciously lifted her hoof, and I thanked her and gave her a “Good girl!” pat. It is unusual for her to respond like that, so I was very grateful. And without pain or any more trouble, I was happily on my way, praising and thanking God.

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