In the blink of an eye

I spend a lot of time alone. It suits me, I guess. For a majority of my life, I have either played alone, worked alone, lived alone or driven alone. One good thing about being alone is that you always get your own way....and if you talk to anyone, that person generally agrees with you.

While I am feeding cows or out horseback, I have a lot of time to think. And lately, I have been thinking about how quickly things can change in a person's life. Accidents happen so quickly, so do marriage break ups and other life altering events.

Recently, there have been several people I know seriously hurt while doing something with horses. My dad always says if you're gonna be around horses you're gonna get hurt. It happens. I have been kicked and bucked off and fallen with and bit. I've been knocked down, run over and had the be-Jiggers scared out of me. And while I have more aches and pains than what I imagine most women my age have, mostly due to wrecks on horses, none have been life threatening. But they could have been.

A girl I know got kicked at a barrel race a few weeks ago. She was life-flighted to Denver where she had an operation to repair a laceration to her pancreas. As far as I know, she is on the mend but still hospitalized. Many years ago, I got kicked in the chest as I was walking behind a horse at a rodeo. Threw me back into the horse trailer parked beside us. I'm not saying it didn't hurt, but apparently not seriously. Another lady I know had a horse fall end over end with her last summer. It killed her. I had the same thing happen two summers ago. I don't know how I got out of that situation. But I came out totally unscathed, other than my hair being full of dirt and my entire body feeling a lot like a bowl of jello.

My point is two-fold, I guess. One is that I have been incredibly lucky or (and this would be my guess) Somebody up there is a'lookin' out for me. And two, you just never know when something will happen, in the blink of an eye, that will literally change life as you know it. I believe with all my heart, that God in heaven is watching out for me, guiding my steps and making my crooked places straight. I believe that He has a big plan for me and is taking care of me and doing things to keep that plan in motion. To be honest, if I didn't think and feel this way, I'd be scared to death to go outside the door everyday, not to mention some of the things I end up getting myself into on a daily basis. I don't know what the future holds, and despite what some people try to say, no one does. So I think there must be a reason I am still here and still pretty much in one piece. But I also know the path I am on can change, literally, in the blink of an eye. My life could be turned upside down five minutes from now. What's that saying? If you want to see God laugh, tell him your plans? I'm grateful that He has kept me safe when bad things could have been much worse. And I'm grateful every night when I go to bed knowing Matt and Dad and I are all safe for one more day. Everything else is just gravy, I think.