It's All A Part Of Me, And That's Who I Am...

Mya's first horseback ride and she's already holding the reins!

Having a 2 year old in the house certainly keeps us on our toes around here! Whether it is Mya singing Ooey Gooey with me, or riding her rocking horse, or sitting in the rocking chair that my dad made for me and my siblings those years ago it reminds me of what has made me who I am today. Watching her learn and play and sing songs that I sang as a little person takes me back to the many home videos that are sitting in boxes upstairs. Most of them have been watched so many times over that I can tell you what is on every single tape simply by the dates on the case.

This past week I had to make some decisions about where I was headed next with my professional career, and I believe I made the right choice. I gave my notice at Marty Simper Show Horses today and will be starting full time at Aspen Grove Veterinary Clinic next week. How does this tie into being a little kid you ask? Well, by the time I was 3 years old I was asking for a horse and convinced one could live happily in either the laundry room or the basement! I was also constantly bandaging up my stuffed animals (which I had so many of that they took up more than half my bed) and told mom and dad that I wanted to be an "animal doctor" when I grew up. Instead of stifling these passions in my life my parents nurtured them, they allowed and supported me to become the woman I am today. As I worked today I kept thinking about the passage in 1 Corinthians about the body of Christ and how diverse it is.

1 Corinthians 12:14-20 "For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot says, 'Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body.' it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. and if the ear says. 'Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body,' it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired. If they were all one member, where would the body be? But now there are many members, but one body."

 My wonderful parents recognized the talents and God given gifts and passions in each of us kids, and instead of forcing all of us to be a hand, or a foot, or fit into their mold, they nurtured us to fit where God wanted us as individuals. Over my lifetime I have been blessed with many opportunities to ride and train with horseman and women from all over the country and my skills have been developed and tuned and tweaked along the way, but I have never felt that that is where God has wanted me as a full time occupation. It has always felt more as a training ground to use for something else later. I've also had the chance to work in several different clinics as I have moved around the country and had different levels of responsibility at each one. Each clinic I have been in has been a step up from the previous clinic and has stretched my skills and my knowledge a little further.

Who I am doesn't just apply to my skills with horses, or being a vet tech, but also with my love of teaching. I remember many days of teaching others as a kid, either helping teach my siblings chemistry, or when I started teaching riding lessons at 14 years old, or doing horse bowl and hippology, I was always learning and passing along the knowledge to others, and I loved it! As I have matured that passion has been molded and shaped, and some of the rough edges have been smoothed out (still a work in progress there!) and now I am in a place of leadership with the Young Professionals group at my church as well as helping teach the youth riders at the barn.

I may not be the class clown, or the wild one of the group, but He has created me to fit a purpose, a purpose He was molding and shaping me for from a very young age. It is all a part of me, and that's who I am.