Flash

by Rachel Anne Ridge

  Then it hit me. How many times had I stood in the middle of this very field and talked to God? How many times had I asked for help? Looked up in the sky and prayed for a sign? How many times had I searched Scripture for a message that would meet my need? And how often had God let my gaze fall back upon this stray donkey and given me a picture of His grace and love and guidance? This lost donkey had brought me to a place of encounter with Him more times than I could count.

  As a result, I was different. My heart had been transformed. My life was changed.

  I closed my eyes for a moment and thought about Saul and how a problem with donkeys had brought him to his destiny. And I wondered about all the “donkey problems” I faced in life. The times I thought, If I can just figure out what I’m good at, or, If I could just change this relationship, or, If I could make a whole gob of money.

  I realized how often I made the mistake of thinking that fixing things was what the journey was all about. If I can only “find these donkeys,” solve the issue, and get past this problem, everything will work out. I’ll go back to my normal life in my little town in obscurity and live happily ever after.

  Maybe we all do this. We wander all over the figurative countryside trying to solve our donkey problems. Our financial setbacks. Our hurting marriages. Our parenting issues. Our soul-killing jobs. Rocky relationships. Ill health. Insecurities. Fears. Doubts. We begin to think we’re on a hopeless mission and there is no end in sight. We feel like we have failed. We think we are insignificant. We think God does not see or notice us. We become frustrated with the task.

  But what we don’t realize is that, even while we’re out there in the middle of Nowhereville like Saul was, God has already been at work. In fact, Nowhereville is just where we are supposed to be.

  I started to see that all of our donkey problems, our hard situations, are the very things God uses to get us to a place of encounter. A place where our hearts are made new. Like Saul, we’ve come to the end of everything we can think of to do, and we’ve given up. And then we give it one last chance, one more shot, and boom. That’s the moment God shows up. When we’re out of our comfort zones, have used up all of our resources, and are at the end of all hope.

  That’s exactly the place where He meets us. That’s just where He’d met me so many times before. And I suddenly knew that it was through my circumstances that God had changed me. I’d gone from a starry-eyed dreamer to a wiser, seasoned woman who wasn’t afraid of hard work and overcoming obstacles. I went from fear of failing to confidence in His grace. From one who simply read about God’s strength in weakness to one who experienced it firsthand. From someone who despised the struggles to one who embraced the lessons found in them. All the situations I tried to fix were simply His means to get me to where He wanted me to be.

  I stepped close to Flash and leaned my weight on his shoulders, my arms crossed and chin resting on my hands. “Hey, Donkey Boy. My Flashy.”

  He brought his head up and turned to acknowledge me, his ears swinging around at the sound of my whisper. The sinking sun made his eyes look warm and understanding as I stroked his smooth brown coat and traced the dark cross on his back with my finger. His mane ruffled in the breeze, the coarse multicolored hair tickling my arm as I circled his neck one more time. Flash blew softly through his lips in a contented ppphhhfff.

  This journey is never about lost donkeys. Instead, it’s always about heart change. It’s about transformation. It’s about God showing up and making us new.

  Lost donkeys.

  God’s purposes.

  A date with destiny.

  Your journey isn’t about fixing donkey problems.

  It’s about transformation.

  We had nearly lost Flash, the donkey who had entered our lives as a stray diversion in our busy, overwhelmed world.

  Whew. I’m so glad he’s back home!

  Feeling gratitude all the way down to my toes, I made sure the pasture gate was closed and the chain was secured. Flash had been following my every move since we returned and now poked his nose over the top rung of the gate for a parting kiss. I laughed at the way his bottom lip jutted to the side as he rested his chin on the gate and gave me that irresistible donkey gaze. You know, the one that implores you for just a bit more attention—and a possible last handout.

  “Silly boy.” I leaned forward and pressed my lips to his soft muzzle and patted the sweet spot on his nose. “Go on, now.” He swung his head up and paused, turning his ears toward me just in case I’d change my mind about leaving. Then he swished his tail and moseyed toward the woods.

  Back inside the house, I made a beeline for my office. I grabbed the stack of “Missing Donkey” flyers I’d made, crumpled them, and threw the wadded papers away. Just for good measure, I knotted the trash bag and drove it to the end of the driveway, even though it was a whole day before the garbage collection. I wanted those signs out of the house so I wouldn’t be reminded of how close we had come to losing our four-legged family member.

  Stepping out of the Explorer, I tossed the bag to the edge of the road and ceremoniously wiped my hands of it. Done! But as I turned to get back into the truck, I had second thoughts. I untied the bag and pulled out a rumpled page, smoothing it on my leg. Perhaps it would be good to keep one as a reminder after all. I held the flyer in my hand as I sat behind the steering wheel, parked in nearly the same spot as that first night when Flash had shown up.

  What a journey it had been so far!

  Dusk had fallen, and as I looked through the windshield at the muddy driveway, my mind relived that cold, bumpy drive home from a job that wouldn’t pay our bills. That night, all I had wanted was a warm shower and an end to the struggles we were facing. My heart was too heavy and I was too tired to pray, but somehow, God had heard me.

  There, in our headlights, was a mangy donkey.

  He looked at us, and we peered back at him, the dust swirling about his feet like smoke in a stage show. Grass protruded from his lips. He swallowed hard.

  The donkey did not look like a miracle. He looked like a lot of trouble.

  It would have been the easiest thing in the world to simply ignore him, drive up to the house, get ready for bed, and then pull the covers over our heads. Tom and I were tired and discouraged. We weren’t speaking to each other. We just wanted to put the day behind us and had every reason to keep going past him. And had we driven on by, I might never have given much thought about a chance encounter with a lowly beast in the road. “Huh, a donkey. That was weird.” He would have been the footnote on a tale of a horrid day.

  But Tom’s seat belt was already unbuckled, and he opened the door. And with one tired sigh and a decision to get out, the game changed.

  We thought we were rescuing a donkey that night.

  But the reality is, God had sent a lost donkey to help rescue us.

  We were the ones needing help. We were the ones who needed to know we were not alone. That God had not forgotten us. That He had a purpose for us. That we mattered to Him.

  We needed to know God was with us, and that we could still rely on Him. We needed to know He could reach down and make something good happen, and that He could still speak to ordinary people like us.

  So He put a donkey in the driveway.

  And we could have driven right by.

  But we would have missed the very thing we needed most.

  We could not have imagined the answer to our prayers would come in such an unexpected, inconceivable package. Isn’t it God’s style to provide something wondrous, something newsworthy, something with a little glamour to astound us? That’s what I would have envisioned. A package with fuzzy ears, an enormous head, big teeth, and a loud bray? Hardly. But then, God has a sense of humor. Perhaps He knew that it would take a reluctant, lost donkey to illustrate His message to reluctant, lost people like us.

  He gave us Flash. Through Flash’s example, we learned how to live abundantly in our circumstances, with gratitude and joy. He reminded us to keep
breaking down fences to find our passion, and we learned to run with horses and find satisfaction through serving others with love. He taught us to wear our donkey hearts on our sleeves and open up to the world around us. He reminded us to not be afraid of change . . . to let go of the past and embrace possibilities. His donkey trails pointed out that our plodding was really going somewhere after all. He showed us how to make the most of the days we are given. Such priceless lessons.

  Flash, in his own inimitable way, taught us how God interacts with His people. I found He uses the everyday parts of our lives to illuminate spiritual truths and to draw us close to Him. I think maybe I’d forgotten that. God’s voice is echoed in the stoplights, the grocery store runs, the walks in the park, and the chatter around the dinner table. He calls to us as we do the laundry and the dishes, balance checkbooks, and read bedtime stories.

  Do you hear Him? He is in chance encounters with unlikely characters. His presence is nearer than we can imagine. His hand is never far, and His Spirit hovers over us as we go about our daily lives.

  Sometimes, we just need to pay attention.

  Listen. Observe. Be still.

  Unbuckle our seat belts and get out of the car when we’d rather drive on past.

  This is what a stray donkey taught us.

  But most important, Flash reminded us of God’s infinite, unfathomable love. He reminded us that He takes worthless, unworthy, unwilling people and sets His heart on them. On us. On you and me. His love makes us valuable, worthy, and beautiful. He heals our scars, He provides for our needs, and He gives us more than we could ask for.

  We are His.

  We belong to Him.

  He calls us by name, and He brings us safely home.

  Lessons from Flash

  1 Remember your name.

  Know whose you are.

  2 Know where to find refuge.

  True sanctuary is found in God alone.

  3 Run with horses.

  The pursuit of excellence conquers fear.

  4 Find your passion.

  Passion leads to purpose.

  5 Be a trailblazer.

  Persistence makes pathways for grace to follow.

  6 Wear your donkey heart on your sleeve.

  A well-lived life is an authentic life.

  7 Stand where fruit is falling.

  The secret of abundance is in choosing gratitude.

  8 Be a service animal.

  You are made to serve in love.

  9 Embrace change.

  Don’t let fear of the unknown keep you from moving forward.

  10 Make things right with others.

  Don’t miss your chance to forgive, accept, and love.

  11 Your journey isn’t about fixing donkey problems.

  It’s about transformation.

  Q&A with Rachel Anne Ridge

  What made you decide to write about Flash?

  Flash is such a charming, endearing character, how could I not write about him? Seriously, I began to notice that I had these little scribbled notes and observations about him in my journals . . . things that began to develop into threads of understanding. I started to see him as my own personal object lesson! I guess I’m a visual learner, and this is how God makes things connect with me. When I wrote about Flash on my blog and saw how he resonated with my readers, it seemed clear to me that he should be the catalyst for the book.

  You mention in the book that part of your growing-up years were spent as a missionary kid in Mexico. What was your childhood like? How did your early experiences shape you to be ready for anything life throws your way—whether it’s starting your own business or discovering a donkey in your driveway?

  Growing up as a missionary kid really did prepare me for being open to new experiences. I loved the colorful culture I was exposed to—the people and the language (and the donkeys) gave me an appreciation for a simpler lifestyle than we typically experience in the United States. I think I’ve always longed to recreate that with my own family. Living in a foreign country, my parents modeled a view of looking at interruptions as possibilities and seeing inconveniences as opportunities for God to work, and I am deeply grateful for their example. I believe I could have easily missed Flash’s lessons without that mind-set of expectation.

  Donkeys are often labeled “stubborn” and “ornery.” Yet Flash seems to immediately win the heart of (almost) everyone he meets. Why do you think we respond so strongly to him? Do you think all donkeys have people magnetism?

  I do think that donkeys are particularly endearing to people! First of all, there’s the cuteness factor. Those ears! Those noses! But also, I think there is a humility and gentleness they exude that draws people in. They are extremely social and loyal, two qualities that make for good relationships of any kind. Flash has a huge personality that people respond to, and his adventures make everyone say, “Awww.”

  The “stubborn” stereotype is one that we “donkey people” are very sensitive to, and we try to educate others about it. Donkeys aren’t actually stubborn; they are cautious by nature and will hesitate (or refuse) to do anything they are unsure of. Rather than bolting from a frightening situation like a horse might, they will stop and think about it. They must trust their owner or handler completely in order to do what is being asked of them. Too often, a handler becomes frustrated and will mistreat a donkey, which only creates distrust and exacerbates the “stubborn” myth.

  You share in the book about an art teacher who discouraged you at a young age, and as a result it took you years to own your artistic gifts. How did that experience change you? If you ran into that teacher today and got up enough nerve to say anything, what would it be? Did your experience affect the way you guided your own children to discover their interests?

  What a sad moment that was! Looking back now, I can only imagine that the teacher may have been preoccupied or may have simply been caught in a bad moment, which had an unintended negative impact on me as an insecure seventh grader. I don’t harbor any ill will toward him now, and saying anything to him would not change the past.

  That experience has made me very aware of how powerful our words can be, and I’ve tried to be a positive encourager for my own kids as they’ve discovered their interests. I always had art supplies, tools, paper, and bits and pieces of things on hand so they could invent and create whenever they wanted. Today, Lauren is a graphic designer, Meghan is a music teacher, and Grayson is on the path to becoming an aerospace engineer—so they’ve definitely found their niches!

  Since Flash joined your family, you’ve become an advocate for donkey rescue and care worldwide. What have you learned about the importance and social value of donkeys, specifically in developing countries? How can others get involved to help?

  I’m so glad you asked! Having Flash has opened my eyes to the great impact donkeys still have on the world, and also the immense need for rescue and welfare. We live in such a modern society here in the United States that we rarely even see a donkey as a pet, let alone as a working animal. Yet there are more than fifty million donkeys in the world, most of whom do the hard work that sustains families and whole communities. Often, these animals are overworked and suffer poor health, which decreases their life spans and their ability to help the people who need them.

  One organization whose mission is to aid the welfare of donkeys, horses, and mules is THE BROOKE in the United Kingdom (thebrooke.org). They help some of the poorest communities in the world by providing programs and treatment for their working equines.

  THE DONKEY SANCTUARY in the United Kingdom (www.thedonkeysanctuary.org.uk) is well known for its work with donkeys. They foster and adopt donkeys in need and participate in animal welfare work around the world.

  SAMARITAN’S PURSE (samaritanspurse.org) provides donkeys (and other livestock) to rural families who need them, particularly in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. Donkeys can pull plows and wagons, haul products, carry water, and provide transportation. They make a huge difference in people�
��s economic lives by allowing them to earn a living and create a future for themselves. I love that.

  PEACEFUL VALLEY DONKEY RESCUE in San Angelo, Texas (donkeyrescue.org), is one example of a donkey rescue organization and has facilities around the United States for rescuing, rehabilitating, and finding new homes for donkeys. I’ve personally visited their facility and even adopted a new donkey friend for Flash from them! They do incredible work for the “forgotten” donkeys of America.

  You can help any of these organizations with monetary donations, and some are looking for hands-on volunteers or people who want to foster or adopt donkeys. They make excellent pets and companions, so you should think about getting one!

  In this book, you share with great candor and vulnerability about overcoming your fear of taking risks on new opportunities. What are you doing now that you never would have dreamed of doing before Flash came into your life?

  Well, writing a book about a donkey, for one thing! Flash has taught me that my “sixty-two chromosomes” are enough to allow me to “run with horses”! I think of that phrase often, especially as I’m presented with projects and opportunities that scare me, such as speaking to groups and writing a children’s book, as I’m doing now. Facing fear is hard, but it’s worth it.

  The story of Flash spans some difficult and tumultuous times for your family. Is there a specific quote, thought, or Scripture verse that sustained you throughout?

  No matter what happens, it seems I always come back to Psalm 90:17, which has become my life verse:

  Let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us,

  And establish the work of our hands for us;

  Yes, establish the work of our hands.

  PSALM 90:17, NKJV

  I created a huge print of this Scripture for our living room so we could see it every day. It was (and is) my prayer for our days—that we would experience God’s beauty and favor, and that He would take the work of our hands and make something good happen. Sometimes just breathing this verse as a prayer was all I could do in the midst of my struggles, and I believe God has really been faithful to answer it.