Why My Life Is Akin To "The Black Stallion"

   Remember those great classics we all read growing up? Little Women, Little House on the Prairie, Anne of Green Gables, Pollyanna, Cheaper By the Dozen, Where the Red Fern Grows, Gone With The Wind, and All Creatures Great & Small to name a few. Then there is Walter Farley’s The Black Stallion. The story of a horse & a boy. “The Black” is stronger, faster, and smarter than all the other horses, but because of his unruly personality is unable to compete in races. Alec can see the stallion’s potential. He knows if all that power could be harnessed, the horse could be a champion. With love and firmness, Alec trains the stallion, and the horse learns to accept the reins and the commands of his master to utilize his amazing speed and wins an important race.

   

   I know someone who is a lot like The Black. He is strong and smart and “marches to a different drummer”, which gets him in trouble sometimes. Just like the black stallion had to learn to accept reins and the commands of a master, my someone had to learn discipline and accept training to harness his quirks into something useful -in order to become a winner, too. We all have this deep need to fit in, so it's not an easy thing to feel constantly out-of-step with everyone else. 

   And like Alec had to keep believing in the stallion’s potential, even when it wasn’t going so well, as a mom I’ve had to ‘believe it forward’ through the ups and down of this roller coaster ride of life. 

   April is Autism Awareness Month. I’ve written quite a bit about our journey in the past, so there really isn’t anything new to say this year. Currently I am reading “Different: The Story of an Outside-the-Box Kid and the Mom Who Loved Him” by Sally & Nathan Clarkson. Even though Autism/Aspergers is not part of Nathan’s diagnosis, this book is an encouragement to me on so many levels. There are chapters about Wrestling God, Different Drumming, and Beyond “Why Me?” among others. I highly recommend it if you are dealing with a challenging child in your life.

   Here’s to the brave kids who are ‘different’, and the parents who are believing a loving Creator has an intentional plan for their life. (Especially when they can't see it yet.)  

   

“God is out there in the dark right past the spotlight, watching me perform this song called life.

 I don’t think He’s waiting for mistakes or counting the mess-ups.

I think He’s waiting to jump to His feet in applause.”

–Nathan Clarkson