Horse-Sized Thanks
Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada with a wonderful Thanksgiving memory.
It was Thanksgiving Day of 1963. I was 14 years old, living on our family farm in Maryland, and I had been invited on a fox hunt, a real Maryland tradition. Well, before dawn on Thanksgiving morning, after I had wrapped my horse’s shins and braided his mane, my dad helped me trailer him over to the Howard County Hunt Club. We parked our van; I unloaded my horse, and within minutes the saddle cinch was tightened, and I had mounted my thoroughbred, gathered my reins in my hands.
Dogs were barking, horses were neighing, and matrons from the hunt club greeted us with cups of hot cider. Someone tested a bugle and the dogs became restless. The fog was clearing and the master of hounds finally sounded the horn! I loved the sound of my horses’ hooves clattering on the stone pavement that led to the field. And when we hit that soft dirt, then we broke into a canter. The wind made my face red as we raced across bare pastures, sailing over walls and wooden fences. We never caught that fox. But the joy of that great day, being a part of a real Thanksgiving Day tradition, well, I tell you what, it made turkey dinner back at the Howard County Hunt Club – it made it so tasty. And it made my thanks to God all the more deep and personal.
You know, that wonderful experience happened over 55 years ago, and every Thanksgiving Day, I always remember it – that hunt, my horse, the gallop, the clatter of hooves on the stone pavement. And God was so good because recently – and this never happens – recently somebody invited me to another horse experience. I went to Santa Barbara to a polo match. Now, I know nothing about playing polo, but just sitting on the edge of the field and feeling the thunder of galloping hooves racing by. To smell the leather and the aroma of alfalfa hay. And to rub noses with a polo pony and to hear that memorable sound of clattering hooves on stone. Well, you know what? It was so wonderful, I’ve posted a brief video of those polo ponies clattering by me on a stone pavement. And to me, it’s the most wonderful sound. So, hey, take a break in your day; visit joniradio.org and watch that cool video. And I’m also posting a whole gallery of exciting photos from that polo match. Again, it’s all there at joniradio.org.
And I want to tell you something. Sitting there in my wheelchair, sitting and watching the riders and their horses; sitting and not being able to take part in the action? I had not a hint of remorse, or envy, or regret, or discontentment. And friend, that’s what I’m thankful about today. I am content. I’m blessing God and praising Him and thanking Him for His wise plan in my life. A plan which now my current saddle is a wheelchair. A plan in which I do not gallop through life, but move slowly forward in that chair. And oh, how content I am with my Savior. Today, I am thanking God that He is more prized, more valued; He is worth far more to me than being on my feet and riding horses, a past-time that used to mean everything to me. Friend, only God can bring about contentment that deep, that profound, that lasting.
So, today, join me in prizing God, in valuing Jesus. Don’t forget to visit joniradio.org and watch that little video and a photo of me actually kissing my favorite polo pony. There I am nuzzling his muzzle; it was such a treat. So, join in the fun at joniradio.org and from all of us at Joni and Friends, have a blessed Thanksgiving.
© Joni and Friends
Run With Endurance Art Print
This bold painting by Joni Eareckson Tada captures God’s gift of power and majesty with the horse, reminding the viewer to “…Run with endurance the race God has set before us” (Hebrews 12:1).
