As an adult, I enjoy recounting the times that God gave his angels charge over me as a child and kept me in his loving arms through many accidents.
As a five year old child, I had very little "horse sense", but I was eager to learn, and my Daddy was eager to teach me. I went with him at every opportunity, and we always seemed to have an adventure.
On this particular day, we drove a few miles from the small town where we lived, to a small pasture where my Daddy was in charge of taking care of some cattle. We went to the barn and ajoining pens, and Daddy saddled up old "Amigo". He carefully placed me up in the saddle and then climbed up behind me.
We had done this many times before, and I knew the routine well. "Hold onto the saddle horn", he always told me. To a five year old sitting atop a full sized horse, the ground seemed a very long way off, so I had no reservations about holding tightly to the saddle horn. I was always reassured by the tender but strong right arm of my Daddy that reached around me, as he held the reins in his left hand.
We left the pens and rode into the pasture to count and check the cattle. On our first round, we came up a few cows short, so we started around to take another count. At this point the horse had other ideas, and wanted to return to the barn. I really didn't know what was happening as the horse reared on her hind legs, but I felt suddenly alone as Daddy slid off the rear of the horse, and was waiting to catch me there. I remembered my instructions: "Hold onto the saddle horn", and so I did.
The only visible means of control, the reins, had fallen to the ground and there I was holding onto the saddle horn of a loose and frantic mare. She began a fast trot back to the barn, and without the safety of my Father's arms, I was soon shook loose and fell tummy first directly into a large patch of cactus. The force of the impact with the ground, knocked the breath out of me, and caused me to lose one of my boots. I was unconscious for a time, and when I awoke, we were in the truck on the way to the hospital. My first words, as I began to survery my situation were, "Where is my boot?".
I didn't realize it then, but God had given his angels charge over me that day, and though the loving arms of my earthly father had been pulled away from me by the circumstances, my Heavenly Father had entwined me with His loving arms, and was protecting me from serious injury.
A friendly nurse helped my dad pick cactus from my stomach, and after a few days of soreness, I was none the worse for wear.
On many occasions since that day, God has intervened to protect his child from serious injury. My early years were filled with accidents, that could have been major, were it not for His protection.
What a privildge it is to know that the circumstances of this life cannot pull us away from the loving arms of our Heavenly Father. Some years later when I came to know Him as my personal Savior, I also came to realize how He had been with me that day, and how He has been with me constantly since the day I gave my heart to Him.
