An HKP Reader’s Testimony
by Gerry Holman

The Miracle I Had Overlooked!

There are certain memories that are so deeply etched in your mind, that you can review it at any point, with amazing detail.

But what happened to me, in my early teens, although I could remember it as if I was watching a movie, I failed miserably in understanding what really happened, until decades later!

The reason I am writing about it is to show how easy it was for me to overlook a miracle… yes, a real, supernatural happening that only has one explanation.

And it took me years to look back and finally understand how God had intervened, and literally saved me from what could have been a devastating experience!

As a kid, I had the opportunity few youngsters get to experience. During the summer months, when I was on summer vacations, I got to visit my Uncle and Granddad, and their families, who lived on this big farm.

Life on a farm is about as practical an experience that anyone can have. To me, this farm was big. It had over 150 acres, and was backed by a huge mountain, which I could climb to experience the view from that high up. That was no easy climb.

Then came that particular summer that stood out way over just about every other experience I would ever have.

My Uncle Jut was used to his Saturdays being the prime time he used to ride his favorite horse, Beauty.

Beauty, was fairly young, and a the best looking horse on the farm. So, this particular Saturday, he took me with him to the barn, and I watched as he saddled Beauty, and then, walked her out to the pasture gate.

The barn yard was separated from the pasture with a rather high fence, and a very wide gate.

I watched as my Uncle opened the pasture gate, and then, mounted Beauty with as much ease as always. Beauty took off in a slow trot, following the inside of the fence line.

Riding a horse was never something I had ever considered to be hard. Back then, as a kid, I had the habit of walking to the movie theater every Saturday, just a few blocks from where I lived.

Westerns were the most popular movies for most of us boys back then. The theater was always full of kids, and popcorn — and after a cartoon, we would get to the main feature.

Back then, westerns were what got our full attention. We would dress like cowboys during the week, but on Saturdays, it was thrilling to see the star cowboys doing their thing as heroes.

We all wanted to be just like Roy Rogers or Hopalong Cassidy.

Horse riding in the movies looked like a “no-brainer.” Watching all those horses, I came to the conclusion that they were very easy to ride, no matter what the pace.

And I loved to think that I could easily become a cowboy, but I would need a horse to complete the necessary duo that brings the whole experience to life. Without a horse, nothing works for a cowboy!

That Saturday, I was thinking just how sleek Uncle Jut’s horse was. She could easily have been in the movies. She was not a pretty as Trigger, Roy Roger’s horse, but she was certainly extra-ordinary.

I entered the pasture, and closed the gate, thinking I would see my Uncle’s ride easier when I walked up to a higher place in the pasture.

Eventually, I managed to get to the upper side of the pasture that was close to the rise where the high mountain stood.

I watched as my Uncle made the long ride around the upper side of the pasture, and finally came up to where I was standing.

He dismounted, and came over to me with a question. “Do you want to ride?” he asked.

It was not something that I had expected. He had never asked that before. I was thrilled. He knew my answer would be positive.

He brought Beauty over in front of me, and raised the stirrups up to a level that fit me perfectly.

In no time, I was sitting in the saddle, with the reins in my hands. My Uncle backed away, and nodded at me, with a smile, to tell me it was time for me to flip the reins. It was something I had watched in the movies so many times.

But somehow, Beauty seemed to sense that I was a stranger on her back — and for whatever reason, she ignored my attempt to begin the ride.

I flipped the reins again, and slightly hit her sides with my feet in the stirrups. Still, nothing happened.

Looking back at my Uncle, I could see his concern. And then, to help me, Uncle Jut stepped up behind Beauty, and slapped her back side hard with his hand.

That did it! Beauty instantly jumped into a gallop across that pasture so fast, I could barely hang on.

I was bent over, looking straight down at the ground below me going at the fastest pace imaginable.

This was not what I was expecting at all, and I had no idea what to do other than just hold tightly to the reins and keep my feet from coming out of the stirrups.

I managed to look up briefly, and see that Beauty was headed straight for the closed gate to the barn.

I was sure she would stop her gallop at the gate. But the gate was coming up fast, and Beauty was not slowing down at all.

Finally, just as she came up to that gate, racing ahead, my mind went blank. The only thing I remembered at that point was the beginning of her jump, as I could feel my whole body rising off the saddle in mid-air.

Then, I remember opening my eyes, finding myself on the ground, lying flat on my back, with my left foot still in the stirrup.

Beauty was standing beside me, perfectly still, looking straight down at me, and not even attempting to move any further.

Uncle Jut came running up and opened the gate to get over to where he could help me get my foot loose and then, slowly help stand me up. I was stunned.

I am sure Uncle Jut had never seen Beauty jump like that before. It was totally unexpected, and it really put both us us close to a state of shock. It was like watching a car wreck close up. It took time for our minds to wrap around what had just happened.

At that point, I just managed to dust myself off, and walk out of the barn lot, without noticing that I had no pain whatsoever. No injury. No bleeding. No broken bones. No pains at all anywhere!

I remember walking away with one thought: my first horse ride was a complete failure.

I didn’t want anyone to know about what had just happened. So, I never mentioned this incident to anyone, not even my parents. I was feeling deeply hurt inside.

This event was so totally unexpected, and such a disappointment, that it was not something that I wanted to even remember for years to come.

It was not a reminder of a western with any happy ending. It was a horrible experience, and I just wanted to move on, and forget the whole thing!

Then, decades later, I happened across the news that Christopher Reed, the actor who had played Superman, had fallen from a horse, and had become paralyzed from the neck down — and he was a veteran rider with lots of experience in a saddle!

His life was totally handicapped — by falling from a horse.

Later, I would read ‘Gone With The Wind‘, and learn that two characters in that novel had died from falling from their horses.

At that point, years later, that I found my memory going back to that fence jump.

Only then, was I beginning to realize what had’ actually taken place.

God had intervened in that accident in a way that I had completely overlooked!

I had fallen from a height that was at least 15 or 20 feet high. I had landed flat on my back. How?

I was coming off that saddle mid-air. I didn’t land on my arms. I didn’t land on my head. I didn’t have any pains in my legs or anywhere else.

I got up with the same feeling I would have getting out of a bed in the morning. It was totally like a scene out of a science fiction movie.

That was impossible to think that I could walk away from that wild horse jump, without any sign that I had taken a dangerous, body-slamming fall.

Ironically, I heard on the news that a governor in some state out west had recently fallen from a horse, and was taken to a hospital with multiple injuries.

All these stories have me convinced me that I was totally wrong in what was God’s merciful intervention concerning my entire life.

It could have been much worse than I had ever imagined — and I had taken it completely for granted that I came away without a scratch!

Then, while I was still a teenager, I was attending a Religious Conference with other young people, in which we would hear a special Message each day.

There was one message that I felt was directed straight at me. The title of the Sermon was “Ride the Wild Horses that God Gives You.”

In my entire life, I would know that I had never heard a Message like that before or since!

Coincidence? No way!

Only God could put all this together over the years, and make a statement that gets my full attention.

What is He telling me personally? He is saying that things will happen completely out of my control. And at that point, I just hang on, doing the best I know how, even without any experience whatsoever!

Miracles follow in ways we never even expected, even when we find ourselves in the middle of a crisis.

It would be hard to put into words just how thankful I have finally become.

God has a way of doing the unforgettable.

There is no other way to see what happened to me.

In my mind, it is beyond question.

God literally gave me a genuine miracle, preserving my life as surely as if I had been raised from the dead!

God did a miracle that would impact my entire life, after decades of pure ignorance!

“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me.” Psalm 23:4.

Photo ^©Unsplash

~ Gerry Holman

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Materials used by kind permission of the original author.

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