Well, the snow is falling in Ohio….again…and quite frankly, I am tired of it. It is cramping my style. I am pretty active with friends, family and horse stuff but this snow has just gotten in my way. In Ohio, we usually get snow and it is amazingly beautiful and I love it. But a few days after the snow comes, it melts and goes away. In the past 2 weeks we have had over 19 inches of snow and it isn’t going away. As I type this, I am looking out the window at more snow falling as the next storm front approaches us.
Due to our wonderful wintertime weather, I have been spending a lot of time riding indoors. Last week I was out at the barn enjoying a great ride on Stomp. I was feeling the wind on my face, the comfort that only comes from sitting in my saddle and feeling all of the stress of my day melt away. It was a great ride. I think I can assuredly say that Stomp was enjoying the ride as much as I was. Every so often he would toss his head as if to say, “Let that snow keep on falling, it won’t keep us from having a great ride!”.
While enjoying our nice ride indoors, something flew past my head and it startled me. I knew right away from its erratic flight pattern that it was a BAT! I really dislike bats…in fact, I would even go as far as to say, I hate bats. Let me take just a small rabbit trail to let you know that I had a less than wonderful encounter with one while in college many years ago that led to me screaming and jumping around and a bat falling out of my pant leg. So needless to say, bats and I have some history. Anyways, I was so distracted by the bat, that I lost focus on all of the things that drew me to the barn in the first place. The quiet, spending time with my buddy, Stomp, and the relaxation I get from a great workout with my horse. This tiny little bat made me feel uncomfortable and with every flap of its wings, an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach grew. So, what did I do?? Call an exterminator, call my husband, chase the bat away?? Nope, I left. I took off my saddle, threw Stomp some hay and hit the road.
While I was driving home from the barn it struck me. How often do we let something so tiny drive us away from doing what we love? Maybe it is the bad attitude of a volunteer in your ministry, or an unsupportive staff mate at your church. Perhaps you struggle in ministry because you are always trying to please others or you just feel burned out. Because of my past experience with bats, it made this small problem seem a lot bigger than it really is. In ministry, the same thing can apply. Often we deal with problems that we have dealt with before and they make our current situation seem much more difficult than it actually is. I have experienced all of those things in ministry and my hope and my prayer for you this week is that you will give those ‘tiny’ things that keep you from doing what you love to the Lord. You and I both know He can handle anything but we have to CHOOSE to give it to him.
So, here’s to hoping for no more bats and less snow!
Riding in the snow….still,
Kim
