Jun 23, 2021

In case you missed it on our “Meet the Peeps” page, we have a pony. Lucas named him Jack after Jack Skeleton, although I prefer to think of him more as a Jack Sparrow. Either way, we have a pony and like both Jacks I mentioned, he’s a bit of a renegade nonconformist, although I prefer to think of it as adventurous spirited. Even though we were told he was super friendly and would “come right to ya” we spent the first couple of weeks we had him not being able to get close enough to even pet him, and so I began looking for some help. God led me to a young lady named Kendyl who came over with her trailer and her mom and they, along with some helpful hands from the Drove, wrangled him and took him to her place for training. 

Two weeks later she had him being led, brushed down, and advancing from a stall to a small pen or paddock area; making progress. A week or so after that (last Saturday) he broke out of his pen and she spent two hours trying to catch him again, so now he gets to meet Taco. Taco is a donkey with excellent manners and animal wisdom who mentors his peers (such as Jack) with less than perfect manners. In short, Jack is now tethered to Taco! Why? Because he needs a strong example. He needs to be led by another who has learned what it means to walk in obedience in order that he can reap the reward and abundance of life he is meant to have, because even though he thinks he is living his best life running around wild he has yet to experience the life of one well loved and cared for. His current situation will pull him along for the ride, so to speak, and help assure that he experiences a new way of life learning to come when called and receive care when needed. Of course, the goal here is that in time he will learn to surrender and will form good habits of his own. That he too might someday set the example.

Now I don’t know about you, but one thing (of many) that this gets me thinking about and examining is who and what has me tethered, and whether or not my master thinks I am one worth tethering others to. Jesus tells us that we are to learn from one another and that we are to teach one another, much like Paul and Timothy, older women and younger women, Taco and Jack; you get the picture. We are meant to lead and be led and whether we think we are being led/influenced or not, the fact is that something or someone or some ideal is leading. Spiritually speaking that means we are either being led by God, the enemy, or the flesh/self. I noticed a long while back that often time people who decide they are going to be nonconformist, rebellious, or whatever term they choose to label it do so with the mindset that they are not going to be told how to think or what to do, or that they are not going to assimilate or be like everyone else etc. etc. etc. The idea in their mind, at least as I see it, is that they want to be free to make their own decisions without someone else’s influence, and I get it, but I also get that making a decision based on the fact that you want to be different than the status or because you want to defy someone or something is still actually allowing your decision to be influenced by the status or the one/thing you want to defy. In other words, if they are the reason you are not doing something or are doing something then they still influenced your choosing that something.

By now you may be wondering what my point is. I guess it’s this, we are all influenced, and we are meant to be; the bible says so, but it also gives some great instruction about who and what we are to be influenced by. So rather than taking a misinformed stance that I am not, I prefer to choose to accept that I am and therefore make informed decisions about who (or what) I want to influence, impact, or teach me. This way I am careful to examine under the spotlight of God’s word and, as instructed, guard my heart. I am careful to pick up what God tells me I need and leave the rest, because I am not being unwittingly influenced but rather consciously choosing to learn. The other point is that it is not only important for us to find those worth being tethered to for ourselves and those we love, it is equally important to allow Jesus to form us into those worth being tethered to. Kendyl has great confidence in Taco because she knows his character. She also knows his ability to teach and lead and because of the combination of those two things, she loves him greatly and she depends on him often. I don’t know about you, but I want to be Jesus’ Taco. 😊That’s gonna be my new prayer while we await instructions for the next step and while He is preparing the path (and He is); Lord – make me a taco!

~ Jen