Springtime
The light had been increasing. The short days of winter were lengthening only minutes a day. Already a miracle was beginning. Beneath autumn’s rotting leaves and the pasture’s grassy blanket rendered dead and brown by winter’s cold, little shoots were beginning to unfold. Old roots that appeared so lifeless and little seeds decaying beneath the surface felt the still unseen touch of light as our side of the earth turned her face closer to the sun seconds longer each day.
Out of the sight of man or beast the mystery of the resurrection was beginning to unfold. Almost imperceptibly at first, but increasing each day the old dead root began to convert its dormant energy into white growth. The husk of the dead seed burst open and tiny white shoots began to press upward through the warming earth as it yearned for the sun’s light. Almost instantly the “non” color of the emerging life turned to a beautiful golden green as it burst through the earth’s surface and unfurled its tiny white leaf. Then suddenly a crocus burst into flower to announce to the otherwise brown earth that the miracle had begun. Life was overcoming death! Spring had begun!
The almost imperceptible increasing of the light spoke something into the horse’s bodies and their long woolly hair began to loosen and come off. The horses rolled massaging their itching bodies between the firmness of the ground and their own powerful muscles. Lurching to their feet they shake themselves violently to reveal patches of beautiful satiny hides, richer and deeper in color than at any time of the year; their dead winter hair left behind in furry patches on the ground. To me, these shiny coats were like the Easter dresses Mother clothed us with on Resurrection Day. The horses joined this celebration when Spring clothed the sleeping earth with life.
As the green grass came forth in the pastures little calves and colts began to appear. We had little Charlet calves. Their coats were as white as snow, so clean and new. New and clean and awed and joyous of spirit the colts and calves frolicked about, playing and bucking and running. What a contrast their young lives were to the mature mares! Mellowed by the weight of years and the cares of life, which to them consisted of gathering green grass to be turned into white milk for their greedy offspring and protecting their babies from the dangers their youthfulness couldn’t comprehend. Most of the dams seemed very sedate, but sometimes they would hurry about mumbling rumbles of deep worry in their throats as they chased their rejoicing offspring.
For the barren mares, the miracle of increasing light whispered to the bodies to prepare to reproduce, for life is ever struggling with death and God’s creation is always seeking restoration as it declares His truth.
The stallion is clothed in the richest of all the satin coats, for his coat has a deeper pigmentation than the other horses. His spirit is in turn with creation. He arches his neck which Job said was, “clothed with thunder and his snorting is the glory of his nostrils and he paweth the valley and rejoices in his strength and he mocks at fear” as he challenges the other stallions for the right to create life.
Spring came and our beautiful mares foaled their beautiful foals. We were faced with the problem of breeding them back. Richlieu was a beautiful stallion, but his pedigree was old fashioned and to get into the mainstream market we needed to breed our mares to a stallion with a currently fashionable pedigree. But, then again, money was the problem. We would just have to breed the mares to Richlieu. One morning Richlieu was startled by the blacksmith coming around the barn, reared up, fell over backwards, and broke his neck.
Now what were we going to do? We remembered the supernatural provision that had awaited us at every turn. There was nothing to do but expect it again. We would take a trip around the whole Eastern US and look at every likely stud prospect and every standing stallion. We would not say anything about money. So we spent two weeks looking at horses. We were somewhat disappointed with what we saw. None had the gorgeous head and eyes that Richlieu had, and none compared with Blanchita’s Society Rex which we had bred to Mallie. And, no money rained from heaven. So we went home disappointed with our problem still intact. Spring was still a ways off and we plotted and planned but all our deals fell through.
Then one day Bob called. “Do you want Rex?” he began. Rex was a difficult horse and Bob made moral judgments against horses as if they were humans. He had turned Rex out and Rex had injured Bob. That was unpardonable with Bob. “I have had it with him and you can have him if you will come get him.” I was amazed. People didn’t give away properties worth that much! Bob had turned down a huge offer for a breeding horse in that day, shortly before. That horse was worth more than a farm. I couldn’t believe that anyone would give away property of that value. But then God is the God of the impossible and had He not met us at every turn with an unsuspected miracle? So we hooked up the trailer that day and drove to Franklin, Tennessee before Bob would have time to change his mind. As we drove home that night with one of the greatest studs in the Saddlebred world in our trailer, we were in awe! Our God, how great Thou art!
We had four colts the next spring. We trained them and sold them as two-year-olds, which is another story. Two years later when the colts were four years old, we went to Louisville, Kentucky to the World Championship Horse Show to see the first fruits of a story completely lived by faith. The first rider of these colts had been our young daughter whose life had also taken the same trail as ours and was going to prove anew the power of a Godward life soon after we returned home.
Crystal Springs was Reserve World Champion Junior horse and Lad O’Shea was World Champion 5-Gaited Juvenile Horse. In the years ahead he would also be the World Champion 5-Gaited Ladies and World Champion 5-Gaited Amateur horse besides many other great wins. When Rex died a couple of years later he was the 5th ranking Saddlebred stud in the United States.
Guard well your dreams because someday they might come true! With God all things are possible if only you believe.
Springtime on Heathermoor Farm was a continuous worship experience to me every time I walked through the yard. Every tree burst into full bloom at the same time, all but the giant elm tree whose bare black branches showed the tiniest signs of promised life. The crab apple trees were all shades of pink, from deep watermelon to pale pink to nearly white. The glorious trees formed a cloud all around the house and yard. While the trees were blooming we had green grass instead of the usual splotched green of winter weeds against the brown of summer grass. As if touched by a fairy’s wand, the grass came out suddenly in emerald green. It was like a rich new carpet under the many pink clouds of the varieties of crab apple, cherry, and peach trees, the red bud and the white pear trees.
Every morning I awoke to the symphony of birds. It seemed that there were over a hundred birds singing a symphony to this glorious celebration of life! No matter what my mood or how I was feeling, I never awoke to this sight without a profound sense of worship. I always took a trip down to the “secret garden,” trying to inhale this beauty before I went to the barn each morning.
Scientists tell us that light is everywhere at once. It is omnipresent. Understanding light is science’s last great barrier. Light is the key to understanding time. To travel at the speed of light would make one immortal. Light is three colors fused into one. Light is the only constant in the universe, it never changes. Light focused is the powerful laser. Light triggers the cycle of life as it calls the sleeping creation back to life each spring!
The Bible tells us that God is the Father of Light and with Him is no variation or shadow of turning. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. The only constant. He alone is immortal, dwelling in unapproachable light. He is omnipresent. He is the great three in one! And he richly furnishes us with all things to enjoy.
The natural things do indeed speak of the supernatural.