Hello beautiful one!
It’s been a while since I’ve checked in. I’ve had it on my heart to share miracles God has done in my life in hopes to encourage your faith. Would you like that? A little email series of miracles? Let me know! And feel free to share with friends who might be encouraged!
I think we often limit ourselves by putting God in a box. We focus on what our eyes can see, but faith is believing in the things unseen and what we focus on, what movies we are playing in our mind, the thoughts we have… they matter. I often tell people, if you wouldn’t want to live it, then don’t think it. It takes the same energy to have faith and believe in good things as it does to worry, or ruminate on past hurts, or whatever it may be.
In this email, I want to share with you a time God surprised me with a lost dream, one I originally acted hastily with and didn’t make the right choice, but God always had a plan to restore this dream.
I hope it encourages you to believe big again. Believe so big God has to show up to make it happen!
And without further ado…. My wrong turn God made right.
For a very long time I had a dream of owning a Gypsy Cross horse, this is a specific type of breed. But because of the competition world I was in, this wasn’t really the common breed back then to do well in it (I was a pro dressage rider back in the day). Anyhow, after I rescued my horse Laredo another horse came across my path. There he was….the gorgeous Gypsy Cross gelding I had always dreamed of. Or so I thought….
Without prayer or much thought at all, I went and got the horse!
Welp…. That didn’t go well…..
I sent the horse to a horseman known for working with dangerous rescue types. This horse had never been ridden before, so I made an agreement with this trainer to get him going for me and then I’d take over.
Welp…. I thought that was the perfect plan…
…until I got a call that I had to come get the horse. This horseman was bucked off way too many times and deemed this horse unsafe to ride.
Grrrreeeeeaaaattttttt!!!!!! Some of you know the story of Laredo, another horse who had been deemed too dangerous and I had my hands full rehabbing him. Taking on another was too much for me at the time.
So after doing things “my way” and them not going as planned, I went to God “what do I do? This is my dream horse!”
To which God gently and lovingly said “This isn’t your horse, Ashley. That’s why this is not working out….”
With my tail between my legs, I re-homed the horse. He went on to being with who he was meant to be with. And after my disappointment and necessary pride swallowing, God brought incredible joy in my life by bringing my horse Ox to me. Not a gypsy cross horse, but an incredible horse who I loved dearly. I actually tried to re-home Ox at first! But every door would slam in my face. So I asked God “Is this my horse?” To which He told me “Yes!”. And Laredo and Ox went on to be the best of friends.
Well fast forward a few years, God speaks to me about another horse, this beautiful Belgian cross filly. I knew God put it on my heart that she was meant to join my herd. Finally I get my draft cross dream! (Belgians and Gypsies are different breeds but both the same type of horse called a draft).
My friends kept her for me for a while till I was ready to bring her home. She was just a baby when I bought her, a few weeks old! So she spent the first year of her life with my friends. I was a little confused about getting this horse. I had three other horses at the time… “are you SURE God? It’s okay, I don’t need this horse… I want to make sure I’m hearing you right”
“Yes Ashley, you heard me right”
It was time to bring this filly home and Ox had since went to heaven, and unknown to me at the time, God was getting ready to call Laredo to heaven too. God was so many steps ahead of me and already bringing in new horses to complete my herd. That in itself is incredible to me.
Fast forward again, here I am getting ready to celebrate my new filly Sunday’s 2nd birthday and lo and behold…. She’s pregnant!!!! We were all shocked!!!!!! It was an “oopsie daisie” pregnancy that none of us knew about.
But was it really a mistake? Or God’s plan all along…
7 days after Sunday’s 2nd birthday she birthed a beautiful colt I named Aslan. He’s beyond my wildest dreams, absolutely stunning inside and out. He is the gentlest and kindest horse I think I’ve ever met. And from the minute he was born he knew I was his person. A dream I didn’t even know to ask for! And yet the type of out of this world connection Disney movies are made about.
But here’s the real kicker…. There’s only one colt that could have impregnated Sunday….. guess what he is? No other than a Gypsy Cross! Yep…. God always had a plan to give me my dream horse. Better than I could have ever imagined.
He did it on His timing in His incredible way. I got the best “Two for one deal” in the whole world.
I let go of my dream of owning a gypsy cross after my mistake the years prior… …but God never did.
I believe we’ve entered a season of recovering lost dreams.
I have so many more instances I could share with you. But for the sake of attention spans, I know this is long as it is, I’ll share more miracles with you soon.
If you’d like help getting your inner world aligned with God’s amazing plans for you and kick to the curb all the dream stealing strongholds in your life, reach out! Whether through my one on one program, or my app Joy Rising with tons of life transforming resources, I got you covered!
I hope you dare to dream and believe!
And may you see your lost dreams recovered!
Would you like me to share more miracles with you?
My sweet Aslan, my beshert:
(beshert is Hebrew and means like meant to be, was God ordained, soulmates, kismet)
Aslan sleeping in my lap this last Saturday, a regular occurrence since he was born:
With love and wishes for your dreams to come true,
