George and I have done a lot of traveling abroad in our time together. Hawaii, Austria, Puerto Rico, Czechoslovakia, and Italy, to name a few. We had the best time traveling together! 

I actually won these trips (years ago) in a company I was in. I was going along in my life, having fun, helping others (which I love to do), and before I knew it, I was traveling the world with friends I had made through the company. I still have some of those friendships to this day. Cheryl Hatton Huffman and Tammy Staton Young, to name a few! That part of my life is one of the best parts I have lived in my almost 60 years of living (yeah, I know, hard to believe)!

I have to say that my favorite trip was Italy. Going to Rome and seeing the sights you only experience through books was exhilarating! The Sistine Chapel, St. Peter’s Basilica, just so many paintings and churches. It took my breath away. Our company paid to have us tour these places just with our group. It was fantastic not to have to fight the crowds! 

However, my favorite memory is the one in Hawaii. 

Hawaii offered a lot of sightseeing. The company gave us lots of choices on what we could do while we were there. They rented us convertibles, and we did a scavenger hunt that took us around the island, and the scenery was beautiful. We had a luau, and they brought in chefs from around the world to cook for us. Then there were times that we had some for just us, and we could choose things like hiking up to a volcano (ummmmm… no thank you). The one that caught my attention was going up to the top of a mountain on horseback through a pineapple grove. This is what I chose for our “downtime.” 

Now here is where my story begins!

SO MY CHURCH (BRAT) STORY begins:

You have to understand how excited I was for this!!!! Even though I had never been on a horse, I thought this was a great idea! My dad used to work on a horse farm in Maryland, where I was born and was a natural with a horse. It was in my blood, right??? Everyone else does it, so it has to be easy, right???? WRONG!

They gave horses names according to their personalities. There was a “Cindy Crawford” because of the mole on her cheek. “Steven Seagal” because he was big and strong, but not much in the head (ironically, that is the one that George got). Then there was LaHula, my horse. She barely moved. She was always at the back of the entourage. I was warned that she would keep stopping to eat the sugar cane on the trail, but they said to nudge her, and she will go forward. As gently and almost unconscious as she was, I had never been around a horse close up — I was scared of her! I didn’t want to go anymore. But George convinced me that I had gone this far, just give it a chance.

Well, OK!

I got on LaHula (I was much thinner then), and I felt awful she had to carry me around. After all, I could have walked, but it wasn’t allowed. I had to ride this horse. 

I finally got on, with the help of steps, and it was just as I feared! I didn’t like it at all. I apologized to her for having to carry me, and off we all went. Me hanging on for dear life! 

SQUIRREL: An important part of this story is this. I have a very weak stomach. Smells make me gag. Seeing spaghetti, or whatever was eaten, all over a baby’s face makes me dry heave. I am a sympathy “puker,” too. If you puke, I am going to, and it is just a given. I will gag and sometimes throw up if I think of something gross. So keep this in mind as you read the story!

Remember, I was at the back of the line. I was riding very slowly on LaHula. I had my head down so I wouldn’t see anything around me. I just wanted it to be over! 

George was directly in front of me. He kept turning back to see me struggling with LaHula wanting to eat the sugar cane. He thought it was funny. I did, too, but I needed this to be someone else’s horse, not mine! 

So up we go…up, up, up! I finally got a little more comfortable and thought I can do this! I still kept my head down as we were going up the mountain. But then, I smelled this horrible odor! Horrible. Terrible. I was gagging! What in the world was that, and where was it coming from? I looked up and saw this sight that I will not ever forget. 

There was a trail of horses in front of me! I looked up to see what looked like a line of “salad shooters” everywhere! It was awful. It smelled like poo and looked like grass coming out of every horse in the line in front of me. Me being in the back of the line, me and LaHula had to plow right thru all of other horses “stuff”! ALL OF IT!

So, not only was I not having the best time on the horse ride, and I was in the back of the line. Now, I was gagging so bad it was hard to stay on LaHula. It didn’t help that she would stop every two seconds to eat. George turns around to see me “green in the gills” from that horrible smell and appalling sight and thinks it is just so hilarious! I wanted to laugh but couldn’t because I was gagging so much. 

Now, my dilemma was, once we got to the top of the mountain, everyone was dismounting and was “ohing and ahing” at the scenery. I knew if I got off, I might not be able to talk myself into getting back on! So, sick as I could be, I got off of LaHula, who went off to eat somewhere, and I found a pineapple bush to sit beside. At least that smelled good! 

Then, it was time to get back on LaHula! My stomach had settled down for the time being. I wasn’t nearly as afraid as I was before. I knew that we would be going down the mountain, and I could get off forever! So, I was ready! Or, so I thought!

I tried to get back on LaHula, but she had eaten so much sugar she was not going anywhere! My horse was in a “sugar coma!” The guide tried to get her to move, but she was content just to stay where she was, and I was content to let her! I thought, “I will just walk back down!” Well, that was not allowed. The guide kept coaxing LaHula, and she finally got her feet to move, but she was barely walking. She needed a nap! Finally, struggling, I got back on her, and down the mountain, we went. 

It was a little steep going down. Well, LaHula being LaHula, even though she was in a “sugar coma” already, she wanted to stop and eat. There was no warning when she wanted to nibble at the sugar cane; she would just abruptly stop and lean down and start munching! Well, it was steep. Every time she stopped, it would throw me forward. I was trying to stay upright, but with the terrain, I couldn’t! Gravity wouldn’t let me! I cannot tell you how many times I almost came off that horse and would have face-planted in the poo in front of me! That gave me the “will” to hang on – I was not going to go back smelling like poo and it wearing! 

You have heard where there is a will; there is a way. I clung on to LaHula with everything in me. To say the least, I struggled the whole time! I just thought, “thankfully, the only person that can see me is George.”

Well…..

Low and behold, the company ran their video of the day for EVERYONE to see on a GIANT screen. You guessed it, there I was in all my glory brought to life on the big screen. That is not how I imagined getting my “big break on the big screen!” Everyone saw! When I saw what it actually looked like, I cracked up; everyone else was laughing (with me)! 

A few of my friends called me “LaHula” or “Salad Shooter” for the remainder of the trip! 

Good times…..Good times! 

WHAT’S ON MY MIND?  GLAD YOU ASKED

Think of all the times you feel like you have been at the back of the line in your life. Everyone is moving forward and depositing not-so-pleasant things in your path to have to walk through. You feel like, at times, you are barely hanging on to life. You are sick and tired of being sick and tired. You just want it all to stop! 

You can smell the stench of life, and you are not feeling safe. You have no choice but to hang on. No matter how often you are stopped by something out of your control, you have to stay the course. 

The out-of-control situations could be things like family situations you have no say in, but to get where you need to be, you have to walk through their “poo” because you have no other choice. Then other times, it is our own doing. There are moments of reprieve, and we breathe in the goodness of the Lord. Then, oh then, we have to get back on the “horse” and continue our journey.

I was pushed hard, so that I was falling, but the LORD helped me. The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. Psalm 118:13-14 

There isn’t an option to get off the horse and walk. You feel like you have to hang on and hope for the best. So many times, we have our head down and cannot see what is in front of us, but then there is this smell…the odor of sin…sin you are wading through to get to the next stop. 

But there is Hope!!! 

He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. Psalm 40:2 NIV 

Hope in Jesus. Hope that we will not stay where we are unless we choose to! Eventually, we get out of the muck and mire of life! But, we have to depend on Jesus ~ the only Answer! Ask Him just like David did!!!!

Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink: let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters. Psalm 69:14

for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy. My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me. Psalm 63:7-8

I want to encourage you. 

STAY ON YOUR HORSE! HANG ON WITH EVERYTHING IN YOU! Hang on to Jesus! IF you do fall off the “horse” get back up get back on no matter how much you do not want to!!!!

Do not turn to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil. Proverbs 4:27

for though a righteous man falls seven times, he will rise again, Proverbs 24:16a

Keep in your mind that others may replay your shortcomings and laugh at where you were, but you can relax and laugh at the “highlights” of your life.

Why? Because Jesus paid it all! Jesus brought you home! The devil cannot use your past against you because you know Who took you down the other side of the mountain! As rough as it may seem, you WILL make it!!! 

Listen to this amazing worship song and put your mind in a place to receive the Lord’s healing ~ physical, emotional, spiritual, or/and mental! He has you covered. 

Just breathe the fresh air of God! 

PRAY THIS WITH ME TODAY (in your own words)

Jesus

My Savior! You are my Help in the very moment I call! My Healer! My everything.

Lord, even when I feel like I am in the biggest mess in my life, YOU will pluck me from the mire of life. From the stench of sin. From fear! You are my all in all, everything I will ever need.

Thank You, Lord, for letting me breathe the fresh air of the Spirit! Thank You, Lord, for breathing the very breath of life into my body. You are the breath in my lungs and I will sing out my praise to You today!

Lord, I lift my head up, I refuse to look down any longer! I will look the hills where my help comes from. It comes from the Maker of heaven and earth!

I love You, my Father of life!

In Jesus Name

Amen