By Ken McNabb
Development. You know this is a great word that suites horse training! Honestly, that is what we are doing; taking a raw lump of clay and developing it into something we want it to be. If you are building hunter jumpers, cutters, ranch horses, trail horses, or just a horse you have fun on- you are developing what you want this horse to be.
Let’s think about what you did…. you took the raw lump of clay and you developed a plan. You said here is where I want to end up and here is where I am. You are a lump of clay and I want to turn you into a beautiful pottery bowl. You start a step-by-step approach all the way through and develop the horse all along the way.
It is the same thing God does for us in our lives. He starts out and says here is what you are and here is the plan that I have for you. Here is where I would like you to go. Now, because we are humans, we have free will and we don’t have to follow that plan. If we wake up each day and say, “Alright Lord. Where do you have me going today, what would you have me do?” Then that plan will start moving along. I can tell you things in my own life where I knew my plans had all gone arise, nothing was working the way I wanted it to work. God said, “That is okay Ken because I am still moving things along.” I personally wasn’t hearing that. Those pieces were still moving, still coming along.
Don’t get discouraged in your horse training, don’t get discouraged in life, don’t get discouraged with raising children. When things get hard (yes, they are going to get hard and that is a guarantee. You are going to have rough days and rough times) realize that, that is a part of the development, that is a part of the plan, that is a part of how we get forward.
Think of a piece of finished furniture. It doesn’t start with really smooth, beautiful wood, it doesn’t grow that way. It grows in a rough version and it has to be sanded down and turned into something beautiful. It has to be developed and as do almost all things in life. This is the way our lives are. Sometimes I wonder if God doesn’t get tired of sanding on me and saying, “Ken come on just turn into pretty furniture would ya!?” That is the beautiful thing about God. He is not impatient with us, instead, He is absolutely forever patient, forever willing as long as we are striving to glorify and honor Him. It is the same thing in every area of our life, whether it is leadership at the job place, horse training, or raising our children. We develop forward if we have a plan.