Notes from the Director

 by Matt Cox

I had worked the young colt several times on the ground.  It seemed that asking him to walk across the tarp would be a natural progression.  I had done this with lots of young horses and it promised to go smoothly.  Of course, training horses in-front of an audience during a message can be unpredictable – things don’t always go as planned. The idea was to have the colt across the tarp in about 5-10 minutes, 15 tops.  Forty minutes later I had gotten the colt’s front two feet on the tarp and that was it.  So much for impressing everyone with my amazing horse training skills. Back at the Ranch, I unloaded the colt off the trailer and worked him with the tarp again, just to end on a good note before turning him out.  Of course, in only 10 minutes he was walking across the tarp like he had been doing it all his life.

I thought the colt’s difficulty with the tarp meant that someone in the audience needed the message to go that way, and for the next few days I received emails and phone calls sharing that very testimony.  But what all those nice folks didn’t realize was that the message that day was for me. I could have made all kinds of excuses for the colt.  He was in a new environment with different smells and sounds, he was young and inexperienced, the sun was in his eyes, the wind was out of the south east, I was wearing a color that clashed with his coat – and the list could go on. The end result was that the colt didn’t trust me.  He didn’t have faith in me as a trainer and so placed his faith in himself.  I once heard it said that “trust is not lost, it is redirected.”  When the colt demonstrated that he wouldn’t trust me, it wasn’t that he had lost trust.  He simply changed the focus of his trust to himself and the tarp became insurmountable.

I think about the words of those that have shown great faith.  It was Hudson Taylor who said to his wife, when she was concerned that the mission in China had no money, “We have 25 cent and all the promises of God.”  It was William Carey who said, “Do great things for God, expect great things from God.”  I was taught as a young man that God is no man’s debtor. As we look toward our spring and summer seasons, we are tackling a very large project.  For years the need to renovate our central restrooms has been discussed.  The restrooms were built in the mid ‘70s and have been in service ever since.  Due to structural issues, and a dated layout that does not accommodate new standards, we find it imperative to not remodel, but to replace the entire facility.

It is our desire to see youth and others that come to the Ranch impacted by the life-changing message of Jesus Christ and the crucified life.  In order to accommodate this program, our facilities must provide comfort for our guests.  It may seem odd to be building a bathroom to aid in furthering the kingdom of Christ, but that is just what we are doing. I have been cautious about starting this project due to other needs of the Ranch, which include staff housing and, of course, the Land Purchase Campaign.  There are many reasons for us not to go forward except we believe that this is what God is asking of us.  We are being asked to walk across the tarp and so we are going forward trusting the Lord to provide both the finances and labor for this time sensitive project.

Matt Cox

Executive Director

Miracle Mountain Ranch

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