Meet Christi Gordon: Christian Reining Competitor
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Christi and Nugget - Photo Courtesy of Christi Gordon
Meet Christi Gordon: Reining Competitor
Interview by Abi Gordon
Your name and age is? My name is Christi Gordon, I’m 18 years old, and I’m a sophomore at Colorado Christian University.
How did you become a Christian?
The day I became a Christian was the biggest mile marker in my life. In late November 1996, my parents vacationed to Frisco, Colorado, to spend a weekend away. It was during this time that I began to be aware of God working on my heart. I was only three years old at the time, yet I knew something was missing from my life. I knew that Jesus was calling me to Himself and I was ready to give my life to Him. Desperately I wanted to talk with someone, but my parents were away and I felt uncomfortable talking with anyone else. Little did I realize that at about this same time, my mom had come down with the stomach flu, and as a result, they came home early from their trip. God works in unusual ways, and I never expected that just when I needed my parents most, God would make a way. The night they arrived home, November 30, I announced that I wanted to accept Jesus as my personal Lord and Savior. My parents lovingly prayed with me, but a three year old, they thought? Could she really be serious? I was. I knew that Jesus died for me and I wanted to accept His Gift. From that day on, I have been growing closer to Jesus as different trials draw me to Him, and as godly people He has surrounded me with encourage me in the Lord.
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How Foals Survive
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Photo by Rebekah L. Holt
Joie de Vivre
How Foals Survive
Firn Hyde
Photo by Rebekah L. HoltEveryone loves foals. Who can help it? With their long legs and fluffy manes and tails, foals are amongst the most iconic and beautiful of baby animals.
Foals are not just adorable, however. Everything about them – from those endless spidery legs to the way they sleep flat on their sides – was designed by God to help the next generation of horses live on.
Born to Run
Let’s start with the most striking feature of foals: the legs. A foal is born with legs approximately 90% of the adult length.1 However, the legs are not as thick or solid as they will be when the foal matures; in fact they look so long and slender that it seems a miracle they can hold the foal up. The legs often seem to get in the foal’s way. Many foals will forge or over-reach – striking the front hoof or leg with a hind hoof – simply because the legs are too long for the body. They will also have trouble learning to graze, having to resort to various contortions just to get their noses down to grass level.
God didn’t just give foals long legs to make them look cute! Going back to one of the most basic elements of equine nature, horses are flight animals. Unlike many herbivores, such as cattle and antelope, mares will not hide their foals in the grass and leave them. Foals can be seen running with the herd from day one, and if there is a threat, their first and best defence is to flee.
If a foal were born with legs in proportion to its body, like a calf or puppy, running would be hopeless. He would drop behind in seconds and become vulnerable to being eaten. But God gave foals legs almost as long as their parents’ and tiny, light bodies, a physical combination created for speed and hence, survival. They can easily keep up with the herd, taking huge strides. The gawky creature fumbling around in an attempt to graze turns suddenly graceful with a burst of speed.
One Spark: The Story of Wolraad Woltemade
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One spark
The Story of Wolraad Woltemade
Firn Hyde
Ivan Aivazovsky - Ship in the Stormy Sea
Screams filled the air and the hearing of the old man who stared in horror at a tragedy in the making. Screams from the men and women on the beach, throwing themselves towards the waves. Screams from the soldiers trying to stop them. And worst of all, the desperate, sobbing screams of the sailors on De Jonge Thomas as the relentless waves hammered their ship against the sandbank out at sea. Their cries were so terrible that they seemed to surf above all other noises to grab the old man's heart in an agony of fear and pity.
He pulled his grey stallion to a halt on the top of the sand dune, staring down at the storm-tossed bay. The wind was cold, but not as cold as the horror that blew through him. A huge hole had already been torn in the ship's hull, and precious human lives leaked out like blood from a vein.
