I'm on My Way

Tell everybody I'm on my way

New friends and new places to see

With blue skies ahead

Yes I'm on my way

And there's nowhere else that I'd rather be

I figured these lyrics from the movie Brother Bear, in which the main character shares a name with the city that we are headed to, are a good way to describe my feelings right now.

I'm on my way now - boarding the plane to DFW, waiting through a seven-hour layover, landing in Anchorage and finally driving along the scenic route to Kenai. There really is nowhere else that I'd rather be. I have dreamed of the wonders of Alaska all of my life. To finally realize this dream is amazing.

We are partnering with Kenai Fellowship to put on a VBS and to complete some construction projects. I will be a part of the group clearing a prayer path. We will also construct a gazebo, put in a BBQ pit and picnic tables and create a cozy place for the youth to meet. In the evening, I will teach the three to five year olds.

That is the most daunting task facing me. I am planning the preschooler's hour in our VBS! Now, I've never done this before and I don't enjoy getting up in front of people. I keep telling myself that four-year olds won't care if I sing out of tune. I think the most important thing will be showing these children the great love of Jesus.

So now, I look forward to a life-changing experience. I can't wait to see how God will work in us and through us. And hopefully I'll get in a whale-sighting or two.

Superhorse

I'm sitting here watching the 133rd running of the Preakness Stakes. As I take a moment to enjoy one of my favourite sports, I shall also take a moment to indulge myself in a piece about my favourite animal.

What is it that draws humankind to horses? How can one horse draw the eyes of a nation away from a war or a depression? Seabiscuit did it. Secretariat did it. Barbaro did it. Only a very special horse earns the honour to be mentioned in the same breath as Secretariat or Man O'War. Only a Superhorse. And what a Superhorse Barbaro was. When this bay colt stepped onto the track, time stopped. All eyes latched onto him. People tensed as he waited in the starting gate. And when the gates swung open, everyone flew across the track with him.

Barbaro was a strapping two-year old ready to shake the foundations of the racing world. He was one of the best horses out there. And then came the Kentucky Derby - the first jewel in an almost unattainable crown. When the field broke, Barbaro was ready for the challenge. The horses raced to the finish, but none could keep up with the mighty bay colt. He won the coveted Derby by 6 1/2 lengths - the widest margin in sixty years. And he was still undefeated. Barbaro became only the sixth horse in history to win the Kentucky Derby undefeated and the first since Affirmed pulled the Triple Crown in 1978.

Suddenly, the Triple Crown was a possibility. Barbaro had taken a giant leap from being a bay colt with potential to a potential Superhorse. The next two races - the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes - became the biggest races in his life. Winning them would seal his fame as one of the greatest horses of all time.

Barbaro entered the Preakness as the heavy favourite. His owners, trainer and jockey believed in him. The country believed in him. Barbaro was the epitome of the thoroughbred horse - big, strong, fast and handsome. If any horse could do it, Barbaro could. He walked past the grandstand ready to run. With the amazing strength of a healthy horse, he broke early, bursting through the magnetic barrier. The early break did not injure the colt; he could still run. And then the field of horses broke together, with Barbaro in a good position. All eyes were on him as he bolted down the track. But after only a few steps, tragedy struck.

Barbaro's hind leg gave out on him, broken into over twenty pieces. Dreams shattered along with the colt's let. As Barbaro was pulled up, the watchful eyes in the grandstand filled with tears. All those watching cried out when the mighty horse faltered. Barbaro's race was over, his quest for the Triple Crown failed. His career ended, Barbaro would never run again. And so, the fight to save Barbaro's life ensued.

Once again, everyone watched and waited. One clear day, Barbaro stepped out of his ICU stall and into the sunlight. It seemed he could do it. Almost eight months passed, full of ups and downs. But once again, Barbaro faced a major setback. He developed laminitis in both front legs. On January 29, Barbaro awoke a different horse. He was in excruciating pain. This was too much. Such a brave horse could not be subjected to such pain. And so the painful decision was made to euthanize the colt. For eight months he had fought bravely through the pain. While it will forever remain unknown if Barbaro had what it takes to join the ranks of those elite few, we know that it was these eight months that truly made Barbaro a Superhorse.

It was not Barbaro's racetrack accomplishments that really made him famous. It was what came afterward. And this is why we are so acutely drawn to horses. Horses like Barbaro in particular. They have courage. They have heart. They persevere. Barbaro kept on pushing, even when he could barely stand. These magnificent animals walk right into our hearts and never leave. It is because they live to please. Barbaro's jockey put it nicely saying, "If tears could heal a wound, Barbaro would be healed by now." Unfortunately, no amount of tears can form a cure. But Barbaro can. He can serve as a shining beacon of how to persevere, how to keep fighting. For all of us. Barbaro displayed many of the best traits that can be found in this world. Maybe that is why one horse can capture the eyes and hearts of a nation. But one thing is certain - that is what makes Barbaro a Superhorse.

Great Plains, Great Cities

I sit out on the front porch in the dry Texas heat

And look out at the flowers and trees waving in the breeze

I think back to days long gone, lost to the urban world

A time when buffalo roamed the land and the prairie stretched on and on

Horses, wild and free, ruled this realm

No man set foot on this rugged land or marred its untamed beauty

But creatures passed unseen, unheard, drifting through the grass

Hawks called out, eagles soared, lions claimed their prey

And still this unhindered harmony, this majestic fruitful expanse

Held animals safe and plants unharmed from age to age

But this glorious land served as a bright and shining beacon

Men flocked from near and far to claim the fertile soil

Cattle thundered across the range and ate the grasslands bare

Homesteads sprung up and families settled

Fences enclosed the land

And so the Great Plains became great cities

Which I look out upon

And wonder if, a lifetime ago, this land beneath my home

Was a rolling sea, an endless stretch of golden prairie grass

"But there is beauty here, the beauty of space and of freedom, and the beauty of the wind feeling its way along the brown, grassy swells and ruffling the yellow ridges." ~A. C. Greene (on a plaque at Frontier Texas)