"At the Gate"

He was at the gate this morning,

With wonder in his eye,

How soon to get the feed out,

And watched me as I try.

He ate his fill and stood there,

As if something to say,

Will I have the day off,

Or do we ride today?

I scratched his ears and rubbed him,

‘Cause he always wants more,

I know that in a minute,

I’d go do daily chores.

But for just that moment,

I thought how blessed I am,

To own and ride this pony,

Enjoy him with God’s plan.

Breathe in peace and horse smell,

Exhale prayers of thanks,

Think of all those people,

Filling endless ranks,

Of those whose life has nothing,

But stress and man-made things,

How God’s creation soothes us,

And gives our spirit wings.

Now dash on to the workin’,

Left him standing there,

He’ll neigh next time he sees me,

And give that willing stare.

“To enjoy your work and accept your lot in life- this is indeed a gift from God…” (Ecclesiastes 5:19, NLT)

The book of Ecclesiastes has some weird verses. It’s. part of the Bible and the Bible is God’s inspired word, but read it sometime and you’ll see. On the other hand, there is some great wisdom there about life and how to live it. Being okay and feeling okay about who we are and what we do is definitely a God thing. Without Him to help us make sense of things, it’s never what it ought to be. We are all on a learning curve with this reality, some much farther along than others. But those who really get it learn to receive those moments that give us little blessings and soothe us as we go about our larger pursuits. You can’t beat putting all of it in God’s hands. And it’s all enriched by small blessings. Don’t miss ‘em!

Lord, thanks for every blessing, and especially those that come to us through Your created order, in Jesus’ name.

Art by Ann Hanson, annhanson.com. Used by permission. Thanks, Ann, and God bless you.