Sometimes lemonade isn't that great regardless of the lemons used to make it

It's no great secret that our life is always a roller coaster adventure.  No matter how well planned I think the day/week is, something always happens that changes the orderly chaos I thought I had contained.  This past week was a prime example.

Madison was scheduled to show at her first dressage show in Billings, Montana.  Although her horse has been battling some lameness issues, we had her coffin joint injected in both front feet and she seemed to be back to her normal, free-flowing, fluid gaits.  On Wednesday, she had another lesson with Karla to tune her up before we hit the road for the show.  Ka Ching was a royal pain the butt!  She was angry, defiant and unwilling to work. 

As Madison moved to transition her from a trot to a canter, Ka Ching began to throw her head and then put her nose on the ground and bucked and bucked.  Madison fought a good fight trying to stay on, but in the end, she belly-flopped....and hard.  Then ka Ching stepped on her left shin as Madison laid on the ground trying to catch her breath.  I dealt with Madison and karla dealt with Ka Ching.  After an exhaustive lunging session, Ka Ching seemed a little more willing to please and Madison regained her position on top of the beast and rode on.

On Thursday, as I packed the horse trailer and gathered the remaining interstate health certificate the horse needed, Madison tried to give Ka Ching a light work out here at home.  This is where my kid broke down in tears and realized this weekends show was in jeopardy.  Ka Ching refused, REFUSED to move forward.  She wouldn't walk or trot down the center line of the arena.  WOULD. NOT. DO. IT!

I called Karla and we decided it was best to not spend $500 in gas money to haul the horse to the show since she seems to have some yet, undiagnosed lameness issue that is causing her to be this defiant.  We ate the show fees and decided to drive out and watch our friends and trainers show.  On Thursday I called the host hotel for the dressage show, The Dude Rancher Lodge in Billings and the receptionist sounded very pleasant, but also very distracted.  I told her I had a better price on Priceline and she happily matched that price. 

Fast forward two hours......I decided to check on the miserable weather (snow) forecast for Billings and was shocked to the point of insane laughter to see that the hotel I had just booked, had just had a wanted felon shot and killed there in a massive gun fight with police.  When I booked the room, the receptionist was distracted since the police were conducting their investigation and the crime scene was being cleaned of bio hazards.  Yippeeee!  It was at this point that I realized all the signs were pointing towards telling me not to travel to Billings.

In fact, the weather was so bad for Karla and her crew that either Friday or Saturday they awoke to 6 inches of snow.  This added to the chaos of trying to keep show horses clean and warm.  I'm glad Madison and I stayed home, but my kid is beside herself with sadness and anxiety about not having a functioning horse for this show season.  I hate to see her so sad and feeling as though her dreams are slipping away.  I hate to see her crying and worrying.  I hate to see her moping around.

The hunt is now on for a new dressage horse.  I suppose if she has the talent and drive to reach for the stars, Marc and I will do what we can to help her get there.  For anyone who doesn't think dressage is a sport, think again.  Both horse and rider have to be in great condition, mentally and physically and be totally tuned into each other.  Now Madison is ready to go and show and her partner is struggling.  Ka Ching will be heading to a specialist in Anoka, Minnesota and we are hoping that we get some answers to her lameness and refusals. 

And as usual, our carefully scheduled chaos goes on in disorderly disarray.

Isn't God really about love and not hatred?

I tend to quietly follow the politics of our country and take passionate stances when issues resonate deeply within my soul.  Politics have intrigued me for years and the machinations of humans never cease to amaze me.  You know way back when (1989) I received my bachelors in Political Science so I do have a smidgen of knowledge about the happenings of this union of ours.

Politicians come and go and with them, so do their beliefs.  Just as politicians come and go, so do ideologies of the times.  Within recent times, people of different races were prohibited from marrying.  Some people even backed that belief up by using the Bible.  Of course, time marched on, people latched on to new beliefs and realized that the world did not implode if people of different skin colors married and had children.

Of course throughout the course of human history, people have used the Bible to defend all types of issues.  Now given my liberal nature, I have no problem with people holding different values than my own, but I do have problems when people use the Bible and God as a reason to espouse hatred.  I take great issue with Christians who quote the Bible and use the Bibles words as weapons used to hurt.  Seriously, there are parts of the Bible that state an unmarried woman who has premarital sex should be stoned to death.  Or better yet, how about the sin of wearing multiple fiber clothing.  If people are going to say they follow the Bible as God's inerrant word, then they better be prepared to follow every last dictate in in the Good Book.

As a happy ELCA Lutheran, I am proud to be a member of a church family that embraces God's word in the Bible and that realizes how important it is to relate those ancient words to modern life.  Of course no one should be stoned to death for have sex out of wed lock and children should not be put to death for cursing their parent, but somehow these leniency's seem appropriate to those who claim to be following the word of the Bible.  Hmmmm, makes one wonder how they pick and choose which aspects to follow and which ones to defend as obviously having evolved with the progression of time.

All of this leads me to the topic of same sex marriage.  Seriously people, why do conservatives object?  I've heard all the crazy arguments that liken it to beastiality and other disgusting ideas.  Those who propose those ridiculous arguments are grasping at straws to save their narrow views.  I am thrilled that we have a President with courage enough to publicly state that it's a human right to allow marriage between two consenting same-sex adults.  BRAVO, President Obama and Vice President Biden!

Save the arguments people.  I believe that God doesn't make mistakes and when someone is gay, that's who they are and they are entitled to the same happiness and rights as heterosexuals.  As an ELCA Lutheran, our church accepts and embraces same sex unions and allows an openly gay, monogamous man or woman to be a pastor.  Now that is exemplifying God's love!~

Time continues to march on and as with everything else in life, once hotly debated topics that were viewed as abominations offending God (interracial marriage) have fortunately changed.  It's my desire and hope that someday every consenting adult in this country will have the right to choose which human they marry and have it recognized legally.