When Ronda was eighteen, she was in her second year of nursing school. While she was at her friends place, they decided to go horseback riding. When they arrived at the stables, they were given horses that would try to out run each other. Since neither of them were beginning riders, they thought this would only give them a more exciting ride.
The horses certainly tried to out run each other. From the very beginning, Ronda struggled to control her horse. He kept on running off the path and into the thick forest. As they rounded the last turn in the trail that led back to the stables, Ronda’s horse certainly wanted to be the first one to get there. He charged ahead totally out of control. As the horse swerved to avoid a puddle, the momentum threw Ronda into the air with tremendous force. The trees circled above her as she crashed violently against one of them and fell to the ground.
When Ronda sat up, she knew something was wrong with her legs. Her friend quickly got help. As she was lying in the ambulance on her way to the hospital, she knew in her heart that she was paralyzed. “How could this be? I won’t be able to walk again!” she thought. She simply wanted to die. Everything seemed hopeless.
And yet, there was hope. Twenty-eight years later Ronda looks back and knows that Jesus gave her hope to overcome all the trials she would face. “I knew that if I trusted and depended on Jesus, He would help me overcome my anger, frustration, and fears,” she said. In many ways, Jesus was the only hope for her life. What would she have done without Jesus? Regardless of the circumstances of life, may we find our hope in Jesus Christ!