PATIENCE

Another lesson that I learn everyday with Blaze is patience. Especially in the beginning. Being that he didn't receive much time from people... he was scared, and I couldn't expect things to change over night. Once I got a little braver, I would try to hold his halter and make him stand still for a while... a couple times he was very upset about this. The next time I would go see him he would let me NOWHERE near his face. SO in an attempt to go forward in our relationship... it felt like we were actually taking two steps back, even though we weren't. It required patience to let Blaze see things were going to be ok, that I wouldn't hurt him but that he did have to know I was the boss (well... he still doesn't know that completely... but he will, he will)

So it got me to thinking, isn't that true with kids. We need patience in an all around sort of way, but when it comes to trying to get them to do something they should do, we at times need to be sure we have their attention... and that does not always make us their best friend. But they still do love us and come back to us.

So I have had to have patience with Blaze... and I have developed patience I NEVER thought I would have. Even getting Blaze to choose to walk up to me for the first time took hours and days of just showing my presence was not going to hurt him. One day... after literally a couple hours of sitting in the middle of his pasture AND trying advance and retreat methods... FINALLY he came up to me and sniffed me and then just decided to stand there, and then decided to graze. I was SO blessed when Blaze was finally trusting me enough to graze right by me. I never realized completely until then how IMPATIENT I was. Hours of sitting and being patient, my to-do list rattling through my head, thinking "this is silly, there are a million things I should do right now", but a love for this horse kept me there. Now with kids as well, this has taught me, in order to have a good relationship with them, it should never be about my to-do list first. It should be about the kids first, and they should have my full attention and PATIENCE, and there will be a day... they too will graze by me?

I think Blaze's lesson on patience was also critical for this time in our adoption process. I know the kids will come back, I know many people think I am crazy for hanging on like this... BUT so was Noah when He built the ark... do you know how many years it took Noah to BUILD that ark!!! Look it up... you'll be amazed. And each year you would think he was asking himself, is this flood REALLY coming!!??? But he pressed on, each year! We will press on!

Thank you God for using Blaze to teach me patience.