God sends people into our lives for many reasons, and in many cases, it is in response to a need we have — whether it’s now, or yet to come. No relationship happens in the Kingdom of God by circumstance or without reason, whether it’s to provide friendship, help us through a season of difficulty, provide wisdom or inspire us to stand strong in our faith when we feel weak and unsure.
This is the story of a person who came into my life for a season when I was searching for a meaningful way to spend some time in my retirement. When her season with me was over, I thought I was finished with this chapter of my life. Then, I realized she hadn’t come for just a season but rather to bring me to something purposeful that I could do on my own.
During the summer of 2016, I was introduced to the director of Legacy of Hope Initiative, a miniature horse therapy program. Kate trained young miniature horses to be therapy horses and then sold them to groups or individuals desiring them for their own programs or for a child with special needs. I fell in love with these sweet babies. I have always loved horses. I rode for pleasure in high school. My youngest daughter has ridden for 14 years, and has her own horse. Kate’s babies were different from the horses I have known. They were very small, less than 30 inches tall and only 6 months old. I decided to volunteer a couple of days a week. I started by just loving on them, which was easy! Then, I began grooming them and later taking them through their obstacle training.
I was so excited when Kate asked me to go on a visit with her to a nursing home in town. What an amazing experience it was to share these precious babies with others. They brought so many smiles and happiness to everyone we saw, such a fulfilling experience for me. That was the first of many visits we made. There were visits with children recovering from cancer and children who were grieving the loss of a parent. Every visit brought training opportunities for the babies.
Eventually these babies were sent to new owners to be therapy horses for programs or for individuals and Kate moved to NC.
I was devastated. I was lost. I had given so much of myself to this work and hated that it ended before I was ready for it to. It had become a huge part of my healing process and my own therapy program. I prayed for peace and direction. I tried to think of other activities to do that would serve others, but I kept coming back to the minis.
In early spring, I was perusing Facebook and saw that a friend who was a miniature horse breeder who knew Kate, had had her first foal of the 2018 season. He was precious. I loved looking at her pictures of him. I was kinda hooked on him but knew most, if not all, of her babies were spoken for in advance of their births. After a couple of days, Lisa posted a video of this baby and said that he was available. I decided this was a sign. I reached out to Lisa and we had a great convo. I ended up putting a deposit on him while I went through some steps necessary to determine whether or not I could handle this adventure on my own. I prayed and talked to my family about it.
Things began to fall into place and I decided this was something I needed to jump into. I put a deposit on a 2nd one of Lisa’s babies a couple of weeks later.
So, I’m off! Things have really started falling into place. I have a business license and have applied for 501c NonProfit status. We will be Minis2Love, Inc..
I have a place for them to stay. I’m working on a website, a logo, Facebook page, t-shirts for volunteers, business cards and brochures.
They will arrive in September and will begin their training with lots of human contact and loving.
Let me introduce you to Huckleberry and Midnight.
They are half-siblings, having the same Daddy. They both have a blaze and two blue eyes. Huckleberry is a couple of weeks older than Midnight.
If you would like to meet the babies and possibly volunteer some of your time to love on them, groom or train them, message me. ❤️
I am thankful that God sent Kate into my life at the perfect season. She taught me as much about myself as she did about working with miniature horses. I am thankful because her season has brought me to Minis2Love and I couldn’t be more excited!
Love, Mercy, and Grace 