When All Else Fails....

This post is by Bonnie Long, who gave me permission to share. Enjoy.

When my son was 4 years old I got him his own pony. It was a fine little pony and we enjoyed "Toffey" and my son could ride him well. So I thought since he kept asking me to let him ride on a trail I would I saddle up my horse and his pony and we would ride around our 5 acres. Everything went well until I got off my horse to take off the bridle and put on the halter to tie her up so I could help him with Toffey. Like most little kids he wanted to extend his fun a little longer so he asked if he could trot along the fence line while I did that. I was reluctant but Toffey was so good and things seemed so calm I agreed.

Much to my shock as soon as he took off the unimaginable happened. His saddle slipped to the left and his foot went through the stirrup. This scared him and he started to scream and the pony, not knowing what was going on, took off galloping. I stood there in horror watching my precious son get bounced along the ground just like a rag doll bouncing along behind a small child. Thoughts rushed through my head... “I can’t run fast enough to catch the pony. My horse isn't in a condition I can hop on and ride her to the rescue and that will take too long anyway.” I tried not to scream and make things worse. Suddenly Adam's helmet broke off and I knew he was in big trouble. I remembered the Bible saying cry out to me and I will help you. I cried out "God Help Him!" and instantly, not 2 seconds later but instantly before my words were finished, his foot was free from the stirrup and he was lying in the grass still alive.

I really don't remember what happened next in any order but I do know I could not unsaddle my horse or go to the barn for days. We took him to the hospital and the doctor said because of his age his bones were still sort of flexible so there were no serious injuries. They took x-rays of his head and all was well there. For some time he had bruises where the horse had stepped on his chest but he recovered fine.

Of course I never forgot how God intervened. I had been ignoring Him. I never read the Bible and hardly ever went to church. But, just like we would do for one of our children crying out in desperation, He heard my cry and came to the rescue.