The Beauty of a Gift

A wish fulfilled. A dream realized. Hope sustained. Endless possibilities opened up. Those are the the things that arrived along with your notes of love and monetary donations. Did you realize you were sending all of that in your envelope too? 

What started out as a wistful wish to help an organization that has helped her so very much then turned into a dream. A dream with limitless outcomes and possibilities. But how? How could a 13 year old girl be the change that she wished to see in the world, as Ghandi believed we should be? A young person too little yet to work outside the home to bring in her own money, but yet seeing that money was the biggest way to help, she thought and thought and prayed and wished for a solution. Knowing that she is loved very much and knowing that there are many who would love to help her in any way that they can, I suggested she write a post on this space and see if her words would move and inspire others to want to make her cause their cause. And so she did. 

And one by one and two by two donations arrived in the mail. And every time her face lit up. And every time I choked up while reading the words other sent to her offering their support. When a donation would arrive the other kids would ask who it was from. And with the names would come stories about the people who cared enough to make Sarah's cause their cause. Old soccer families, friends and acquaintances from high school, best friends from college, loved ones who have known Bob since he was very, very little, and of course, our family. A lot of the donors my kids did not know and the good memories and stories I was able to recall from the days when those people were an every day part of my life was a very sweet tender walk down memory lane. 

Sarah and I made a copy of all of your notes and included them in the donations. Hannah is a published author and I knew that she would love to read the words written  from you to Sarah. For her to see the love behind the donations would mean just as much as the money itself.

We arrived at the ranch a bit early today. Sarah presented your gifts as a single large donation. Hannah was blown away by your generosity.

Thank you so very much. From the depth of my being. Thank you. You all did so much more than just donate money to a wonderful cause. You gave a young lady Hope.

Here are some pictures of where your money went to:

This is the sign from the main road. 

This is Skyview's driveway. We just pulled into the ranch from the road. 

More of the driveway. On the left and right are the beginnings of two of three pastures for the horses. Skyview is situated on 80 acres and almost all of that is exclusively for the horses. 

Part of the horse pasture on the left. 

This is Hoseanna. This is the horse that Sarah rides every time she comes to Skyview. The barn behind Hoseanna was built (I believe) last spring with the help of donations. It houses the hay for the winters and also allows Hannah to provide lessons despite any rain. 

The tack room. 

Sarah rode bareback today. 

A small playground for siblings to play on while the rider is taking lessons. 

Getting on Hoseanna. 

I always bring carrots to feed the other horses while Sarah is riding. I love spending time with these animals. This space is just as therapeutic for me as it is for Sarah. This is Faith. 

I love how her ears were facing different directions. I think she was listening to a bird at this time. 

Normally, Sarah has riding boots, but we were only planning on dropping off the donations today and not riding so Sarah did not have them on. Hannah asked Sarah if she would like to ride on the spur of the moment of which Sarah, of course, said yes. 

This fresh boy is my most favorite horse of the whole herd. His name is Eli. He is a bratty spoiled rotten boy, but I just love him to pieces. I bring a whole bag of carrots most weeks just to feed him. There is a hay trough in this part of the barn that the horses can have access to unlimited hay. He refused to come out of this space today and into the pasture to get his carrots. 

I think Eli expected me to come into the arena and give him his carrots instead of him coming out to the pasture to get them. Needless to say, he did not get very many carrots this afternoon because I refused to go into the barn and he refused to come out. 

Sarah and Hannah were using mouth wash to treat Hoseanna. I am not sure what was wrong with her, but whatever it was mouthwash is supposedly the cure. 

Donations given.