At the ranch we spend quite a bit of time in the barn either cleaning horses, tacks, or even stalls. Sounds kind of crazy but a majority of the time it leads to testimonies and devotions from others with us about God's grace and miracles all around us.
Last night I was telling two of the wranglers about my senior year in college when I was diagnosed with an AVM in my brain (all of the details would be more than anyone would want to read in a blog). The thing that I mentioned was that as soon as I had walked into the ER at the hospital, I lost my sight. I can tell you that was an odd feeling but honestly with the other things going on it was the last thing on my mind. I regained my sight after the surgery but immediately realized that I was blind to the right.
My perception had changed with this newfound darkness on the right side of my field of vision. I was blessed to be able to see but concentration was definitely a struggle when looking at the world with half light and half darkness.
This helped me to gain a fresh appreciation for what Jesus meant when He said, “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” (Matthew 6:22, 23). You see, our world is filled with things that can cause spiritual eye injuries. TV shows, movies, magazines, video games—our culture in general—are filled with dark imagery that can blind our souls to the good things of God.
While an agriculture student at Eastern Ky University, I had the opportunity to have Mike Judge as a professor. Mike was also the Director of Farms at EKU at that time, he would hire a student to work with him at his office and the farm. I was lucky enough to work with Mike for my last few years at EKU and blessed to be able to call him friend. Mike was color blind and while it is hard to believe someone would poke fun, we would often make comments concerning his wardrobe that would make him question what color tie he had chosen for that day. You see, he would have to memorize patterns and the colors that others told him the ties were so he would know which shirt to wear them with. Honestly, he never forgot the correct patterns to wear but we did often have some fun making his sweat.
Mike told me a story once about his sight issue and how it resulted in a traffic ticket. You see most stop lights are vertical with the red on the top and green on the bottom. For Mike he knew what to do based on the location of the light, not the color. Soon he found himself in a small town where they had decided to turn their lights horizontal. Of course he had to make a decision and being a math whiz, he knew he had a 50/50 shot at it and there was no traffic on the road. He knew how his guess went as the policeman pulled him over.
Mike recently passed away and I am blessed to have been taught so much by him as a teacher, employer, mentor, and friend. His sight, along with my own has helped me to better undertand when Jesus said.
" Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light. These things spake Jesus, and departed, and did hide himself from them." (John 12:35-36 KJV)
Mike and I had sight but both had issues that changed the perspective that could result in us making the wrong choices. For me the darkenss was forever there and took away from the light. It's hard to explain but in some ways it made me want to avoid the light. But the light is what keeps me on the right path so I had to learn to always concentrate on that portion instead of the darkness. Soon I realized that I no longer even noticed the darkness.
Our world is full of this darkness. Like the town with the stoplight turned sideways, the world may also change the position of some of these things so we will still notice and possibly make the wrong choice. I'm going to follow Jesus words and choose to walk in the light and not let the darkness overtake me. I hope you do the same.
Brad Hornsby
Triple R Ranch
606-305-6343
brad@triple-r-ranch.org
www.triple-r-ranch.org
Last night I was telling two of the wranglers about my senior year in college when I was diagnosed with an AVM in my brain (all of the details would be more than anyone would want to read in a blog). The thing that I mentioned was that as soon as I had walked into the ER at the hospital, I lost my sight. I can tell you that was an odd feeling but honestly with the other things going on it was the last thing on my mind. I regained my sight after the surgery but immediately realized that I was blind to the right.
My perception had changed with this newfound darkness on the right side of my field of vision. I was blessed to be able to see but concentration was definitely a struggle when looking at the world with half light and half darkness.
This helped me to gain a fresh appreciation for what Jesus meant when He said, “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” (Matthew 6:22, 23). You see, our world is filled with things that can cause spiritual eye injuries. TV shows, movies, magazines, video games—our culture in general—are filled with dark imagery that can blind our souls to the good things of God.
While an agriculture student at Eastern Ky University, I had the opportunity to have Mike Judge as a professor. Mike was also the Director of Farms at EKU at that time, he would hire a student to work with him at his office and the farm. I was lucky enough to work with Mike for my last few years at EKU and blessed to be able to call him friend. Mike was color blind and while it is hard to believe someone would poke fun, we would often make comments concerning his wardrobe that would make him question what color tie he had chosen for that day. You see, he would have to memorize patterns and the colors that others told him the ties were so he would know which shirt to wear them with. Honestly, he never forgot the correct patterns to wear but we did often have some fun making his sweat.
Mike told me a story once about his sight issue and how it resulted in a traffic ticket. You see most stop lights are vertical with the red on the top and green on the bottom. For Mike he knew what to do based on the location of the light, not the color. Soon he found himself in a small town where they had decided to turn their lights horizontal. Of course he had to make a decision and being a math whiz, he knew he had a 50/50 shot at it and there was no traffic on the road. He knew how his guess went as the policeman pulled him over.
Mike recently passed away and I am blessed to have been taught so much by him as a teacher, employer, mentor, and friend. His sight, along with my own has helped me to better undertand when Jesus said.
" Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light. These things spake Jesus, and departed, and did hide himself from them." (John 12:35-36 KJV)
Mike and I had sight but both had issues that changed the perspective that could result in us making the wrong choices. For me the darkenss was forever there and took away from the light. It's hard to explain but in some ways it made me want to avoid the light. But the light is what keeps me on the right path so I had to learn to always concentrate on that portion instead of the darkness. Soon I realized that I no longer even noticed the darkness.
Our world is full of this darkness. Like the town with the stoplight turned sideways, the world may also change the position of some of these things so we will still notice and possibly make the wrong choice. I'm going to follow Jesus words and choose to walk in the light and not let the darkness overtake me. I hope you do the same.
Brad Hornsby
Triple R Ranch
606-305-6343
brad@triple-r-ranch.org
www.triple-r-ranch.org
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