Learning the song Control on Guitar

I love this song! I am still learning it on guitar :) The words to the song remind me that if I believe Jesus loves me so much that He gave His life for me ... why should it be difficult to give Him all of my life? To give Him control? " Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! " I John 3:1 "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world - the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life- is not of the Father but is of the world." I John 2:15,16 "Although it seems safe and logical to be in charge of your life, being in charge becomes a heavy, lonely responsibility. Your Father graciously offers to take your life, protect you, strengthen you, and comfort you on your journey. You need not fear relinquishment , for it leads to freedom, security, and the real you." -Cynthian Heald, "A Woman's Journey to the Heart of God"

Dreaming Vividly

I have always been a vivid dreamer...anyone else like that? I laid down for a short nap before supper and I just had the most amazing dream! Sometimes my dreams are so real!

So here is the story for your enjoyment...:)

I was in a large arena I have never been too. It wasn't fancy...just circular in shape. There were all these horses performing a horse show. (No, I haven't been watching the Equestrian games, or ever been to the Equestrian Center- although I would like to go now LOL).

As i was walking out I passed by one of the riders leading his horse out of the arena through a door the other horses had gone through. He said, "Do you want to try it?"

I am not a horse rider, but I would like to learn how . I said, "Sure". He helped me into the saddle. The horse was very tall and cream colored with a soft white mane that fell to the right side of his neck. I couldn't get my feet in the stirrups well before his trainer started leading him around the arena . The horse walked so gently that it didn't matter that I didn't have my foot in the stirrups; I didn't fall off. At one point the trainer said some foreign word that sounded like "souffer flocker". The horse leaped up into the air and I threw my arms around the horse's neck because I thought for sure I would fall off. The horse kept leaping, up and up and up...at least 20 feet into the air! Then he started his descent.

"I don't know how to stay on," I whispered in the horse's ear, feeling silly talking to a horse. (But in my dreams I am aware it is a dream so I thought he might talk back :) ) He just nodded his head once and I clung to him and he landed back in the arena . The landing was so soft....almost cloudlike...no stirring of dust when his hooves hit the ground...no jarring.

"You are an amazing horse!" I told him. He shook his head "yes" once more LOL! Then I looked around for his trainer but he had left.

"I don't know how to get down," I told the horse.

He nodded and just started walking towards the door that all the other horses had left through. But he walked past it to a different door.

"Ummm...all your horse friends didn't go through this door," i told him as he used his nose to push the fire bar on the door and leave the arena.

We were outside and it was night. The moon was big and bright and beautiful and thousands of stars were twinkling. It was a beautiful night.

The horse started running but again I didn't fall off. It was like being part of the horse.

The wind was blowing through my hair and I just hugged the horse's neck. He didn't even smell like a horse. Then he leaped again...even higher. The feeling of flying through the air was incredible! As we started down I saw he was headed towards a big oak tree.

"I'm afraid I will fall and crash into that tree," I said into his ear. He nodded his head and again gently landed like a cloud right before he reached the tree.

"You are so smart!" I told him. He kind of pranced around at that, like it made him happy.

"Don't you think you should get back to your owner though?" He nodded yes and then with a few more leaps over prickly spots in the terrain, and soft landings we were outside the arena again.

The door didn't have a fire bar to get in and I still did not know how to dismount. But the door did have one of those big silver buttons that open the door for handicapped people. He took his velvet nose and pushed the button and just walked right in and up to his trainer and another younger guy who was the one that actually took care of the horse. He helped me down and I apologized for taking the horse outside but explained that I had no control.

The helper guy said, "Oh, Hans always takes care of people."

"Hans is the horse's name?" I asked as I petted Hans on the head.

"Yes," he said. "Hans is the owner's name too."

I started telling him about the amazing leaps and landings and the helper guy said, "He is what we call in Arabia a 'cloud-stepper'. He can do things like that."

"Wow!" I replied. "How much does a horse like this cost?"

"About four million dollars," he answered.

Then I woke up. I would love to have a horse like that! I love dreaming :) Hope you enjoyed that! I should write a story about Hans!

The photo above is similar to what Hans looked like in my dream...only taller and broader.

And I did look up vivid dreaming which actually is a "real" thing. Dependent upon many factors. Particularly stress...which I have had a good bit of throughout my life and recently as well. So I think it is pretty cool that as a stress reliever God made my brain to be able to know I am dreaming and yet have such a wonderful, relaxing real dream!

And I looked up "Hans" and "cloudstepper" on Google....couldn't really find anything about cloudstepper. But found a very interesting article about a horse named Hans that lived some time ago and no one really knows what happened to him. It is about a very smart horse and was fascinating so if you like horses....you might want to check out this link. Clever Hans

Today I heard the whisper of God in an afternoon nap, an amazing dream and a story about a very intelligent horse. God is the creator of all things....rest (which I need), dreams (which He uses sometimes to speak to people and sometimes apparently to be a stress reliever) and horses (He made them so smart!).