2. A Donk Named Gus (Written Jan 19, 2021)

Another blessing from God... Gus

So to understand how/why we got Gus... you have to understand how we got Star (our horse).  You see, my husband and I never talked about getting a horse.  We talked about how pretty they were to watch and such... but I never asked for a horse and he never mentioned wanting a horse but one day as he was coming home from work he said "I did a thing...".  Whenever he would say that, I knew I would need to prepare myself because it was going to be something totally unexpected or something kind of big.  

My husband drives a truck for living hauling mobile homes to various cities and states.  He has lots of trucker friends and they sometimes get on the CB and start talking about things and trading things.  Somehow, in a matter of a day... he had ended up bartering his old army jeep (that needed a lot of work) in exchanged for an AC unit....which he bartered for a horse and the use of a tractor from one of his good friends.  So after he said "I did a thing", he continued with "we're getting a horse!".  

I knew nothing...nothing... nothing at all on how to take care of a horse... but I knew that we couldn't have just one horse and not a companion animal for her... Horses are social animals and need to be around other livestock.  Scott said I could look for a donkey.  A donkey?  I asked for a Lama by the way...lol!

I know nothing... nothing at all on how to care for either of them!!  It scared me but I was excited about getting them.  

As we prepared the pasture and gate for our new incoming equines, I began to search for a donkey.  It was interesting because it was really hard to locate any donkeys.  I ended up calling several people and based on a recommendation from a good friend, finally signed up on some facebook groups that had donkey information.  It was with one of those groups where I found a horse/donkey rescue called Walk in Faith.  

There they had 3 male...freshly gelded donkeys.   This meant they were "fixed".  They're called Johns instead of Jacks.  Scott said I could go up and check out the rescue.  That very day (Saturday) I headed up towards Burleson... 1.5 hours away... to check out the donkeys and possibly put a deposit on one of them.

When I got there, I met Allison who headed up the rescue. She showed me around and I was able to see the 3 donkeys.  I was told that one of them kicked a lot so Allison wasn't going to adopt him out just yet.  

I took pictures of the other two and showed Scott and we both agreed that we wanted the larger one (Gus!).  Boy!  He was a mess and from what we could tell, he was "unhandled" which meant he was pretty wild.  I don't know what possessed me, but I put a deposit on him. To be honest, he was pretty sad looking.  He had airplane (floppy) ears, overgrown hooves, was pretty dirty.  He needed a good brushing.  Because Allsion had just gotten him and he hadn't been handled much, she hadn't been able to get close to him.  Oh my! What was I thinking?!

Everything fell into place and we arranged for Allison to bring Gus to our house a few days later on Tuesday. We didn't have a trailer back then.

On Tuesday morning Allison called me to let me know that she had received some new donkeys... and some were gentle Jennies.  She asked me if I wanted one of them instead of an unhandled one.  

For a brief millisecond, I thought about it...even called Scott but we agreed that we wanted to stay with the one we had picked out already. I'm so glad that we did!  That donkey was Gus!  

Though I have had my doubts on being able to work with Gus and was pretty scared about getting a donkey much less an unhandled one....I am still so grateful that we CHOSE him... the unhandled donkey!  

But he has my heart and I have fallen in love with him and can't imagine not having him.   I am so very glad that we got to choose him!  And about a week after he arrived at our home, Gus chose to trust me... be it just a little bit... He lets me near him when he didn't at first...to brush him and to let me love on him just a little bit.  

Life Lesson:
God chooses us.  Isn't that amazing?! We are pretty much a mess... wild and unhandled... full of sin... yet He chooses us. 

What a loving God!  

In all our ugliness, His choice is to love you unconditionally.
He chose to send His only Son for you...so you would be His.  

We don't deserve His love yet He still gives it to us.  

He has chosen a way for us to be with Him eternally... to have a relationship with Him forever.  

But the choosing is a two way street...too.  

He's chosen us...but we must chose Him.  We must chose to trust Him...to trust IN Him.  He's given us a gift (eternal life through Christ), but it's up to us to choose to receive that gift!  

If any of you reading this have a question on how to choose God through Christ, please contact me.  I would love to share how to do this!!  

May God bless you and I pray this story has touched your heart!!