A curious thing though. The last time I saw them, there were only four horses in the Band. Two had mysteriously disappeared. It wasn't until the next year that I discovered what happened (read Trail Tails 2010 to find out the "rest of the story" and the ways of the wild).
Well, true to my adventurous nature and forever searching for the trail less traveled, off I went to explore this vast, wonderful land. However, being out in the back country, one has to keep an eye on the trail, but also keep an eye on the weather. Which, in this case, was turning bad every minute. As I looked towards Fred's Mountain, I saw the black clouds beginning to gather quickly.
Reluctantly, I decided to abandon my original trail ideas and head back. It was a good decision. With every step, the cloud build up was getting worse….that was on my right. To my left, big white thunderheads were forming and also heading my way. If I didn't high-tail it out of there, I would be caught between both storms.
I had another decision to make. 1) Go towards Fred's, right towards the worst part of the storm (the shorter route home) and take the chance of not getting around it in time before I got hit? Or 2) take the longest route and hope I made it through that way? It wouldn't have been so bad, except the thunder started rolling and I knew the lightning was getting closer and closer. We were up in an open valley and a prime target. Did I start praying? You bet I did! and in Jesus Name because there is Power in that name!
I looked up at the sky and right between the mass of white thunder heads and the mass of blackness was a perfect trail of blue right in between. I made my decision, threw on my slicker and urged my horse into a long trot, following that 'trail in the sky'. As serious as this situation was, I had to laugh. I looked up on the "wild horse ridge" and there they were, watching us as Nocona and I high-tailed it up their valley. What must have been going through their heads?
Trotting and loping, dodging sagebrush and cactus, we finally made it off the ridge and onto the valley floor. I looked back up at Fred's Mountain and it was ugly. I started praying fervently again as I saw the lightning streaks come down and we headed into open country. The wind was so strong in my face that I had to ride with one hand on the reins and one hand on my hat. Then, I witnessed a miracle. The wind was in my face, but the black clouds were moving away from us! The Lord spoke to my spirit then and said, "I am bigger than the storm". Whooohooo! THAT was SO cool! As I swung towards our Rig in the middle of the valley, I saw that another set of storm clouds had formed over Fred's and was actually being held back. As I safely galloped into "camp" and up underneath the barn overhang, the clouds were released and the downpour was deafening. But, we were safely in. Praise God!
You know, the Word says your gift will make room for you (Proverbs 18:16). To me, one of the revelations of that verse is that He will put you in contact with the people that will be a part of where you are supposed to be to share your gift. In this particular case, the Lord was preparing an open door up at the Duck Valley Indian Reservation in Northern Nevada/Southern Idaho.
A woman came down from Northern Nevada to attend that Women's Conference. For a year or two, we had always heard about this gal and her husband and the awesome work they do as buckaroos and pastors up in their country. However, we had never met them, even in all our travels. This day, was the day that we were supposed to meet.
We were introduced and each started sharing about our ministries. I told her our heart for the Na
tive American Indians and how we sing/minister on the Rez's. Her eyes lit up. She told me that the singer/minister that usually does the outreach concert up at the Duck Valley Rez, could not make it that year. She was praying about what they were going to do to replace him. The very weekend of the Duck Valley outreach was the only weekend we had available in August. So, the door was open for us to go and meet and become friends with even more incredible Indians. This time with the Paiute/Shoshoni's in Owyhee, Nevada.
Not only did the Lord open the door on the Rez, but also united us with our now good friends, Bo and Cathy Lowe. We had a blast with them and were treated to homemade fixin's with Cathy's home cooked meals….from scratch....home-made sour dough biscuits and pancakes….home raised beef….milk, butter and cream for our coffee straight from their Jersey dairy cow. Nice!
