Welcome to the Unbridled Faith Farm site.  I'm so grateful that you've taken the time to visit us.  My desire for Write'm Cowgirl is to share what I'm learning, with you, as I travel down the 'freedom trail' of life. - I would love to have you blog back to me, too!  There is so much to learn and so much encouragement we can share!

I read a book early this winter called, "ONE MONTH TO LIVE; THIRTY DAYS TO A NO-REGRETS LIFE".  Little did I realize at the time, but it set the direction for the rest of the season.    It begins with this:  Death is more universal than life; everyone dies but not everyone lives (Alan Sachs).  I am convinced that it is not the fear of death, of our lives ending, that haunts our sleep so much as the fear…that as far as the world is concerned, we might as well never have lived"(Harold Kushner).  I was immediately taken back to 1996 when I was diagnosed with cancer.  In the days that followed my priorities and focus changed dramatically.  Love took the forefront and petty details disappeared.  I lived with purpose, stayed fully in the moment, and began an intensely personal relationship with my Savior, Jesus Christ.  A month later, laying in the recovery room, I got the news that I was cancer free!  I proclaimed it as the best cancer I had never had!  I was so grateful for life and for the lessons I had recently learned.  Sadly, as the years went bye, the clarity of the experience dimmed.

I began to ask myself; can we all live more fully, like we're dying?  Isn't that how we were created to live in the first place?  Shouldn't we find out what we're made for and to use our talent, desires and gifts in the limited time we have here on earth?  I recalled visiting the cemetery where my great grandparents on my father's side were buried.  The old gravestones, and the lives they represent fascinated me.  What happened between 1860-1912?  They might have a poem or a kind saying, but what really was life like for them and those they interacted with?  What did she live for?  Whom did she love?  Was she well loved?  What were her passions?  What were she biggest mistakes and regrets?

We don't have control over where we started life, and we don't know exactly where or when it will be over.  We do, however, have a lot to say about how we live the "dash".  We can make the most of what we have today!  We can live Passionately, Love Completely, Learn Humbly and Leave Boldly!  There is a saying I have hung in my office:  My goal isn't to get safely to the end of my Trail Ride, but fully engage my life as my horse and I gallop thru all sorts of terrain and eventually come to a sliding stop, tipping back my head, and proclaiming Whew Wee, what a ride!

I'd like to dedicate this page to discovering who we were meant to be, finding our direction and balance, and experiencing freedom so we can make a lasting impression!  It's the on-going process of becoming UNBRIDLED! 

* An Unbridled Moment:  I got a call from Mollie Shambeau, Style/Assistant Editor of BRAVA Magazine.  She asked if I would be willing to be interviewed for their: Making A Difference" section. My first reaction was, "Yes, of course, thank you!"  Mollie asked if she could send a photographer over in a few days, and that they would like some photo's of me on my horse, to which I responded with a perky, "Of course!'  I hung up the phone and freaked out; it's the middle of winter, my horse is hairy, I have nothing to wear, how will I ever be able to pull this off, horses don't even look cute saddled in the winter, and the litany of fear went on…for a few more moments.  Then I grabbed a hold of my little brain, quieted my mind, and asked God what He had in mind…after all, He was the one that got me the interview!  A picture of riding Kisses (Dirty Kisses, my paint horse), in the snow, bridles and bareback came to mind.  I laughed and thought, ya right, Elaine.  It kept drifting up inside of me.  The  day of the  interview arrived.  It was 10 degrees below zero and windy.  Mollie and ………… were arriving at 1:00 p.m.  I asked a friend to come over that morning to help me.  We learned (Kisses and I) how to stop, back and make a left turn, that morning (with my friend ready to help me up or pick me up, depending…)without a bridle or saddle. It was cold and windy.  I couldn't lunge her first because I didn't want her to get swetty.   She was fresh (full of energy and excitement!).  The moment of truth came; we rode off, stopped, turned left (rolling over the haunches I might add) and made a nice little loop.  It felt so amazing!  I did it again, and again! I was beaming from the inside, out.  I hadn't fallen off!  It had been so much fun!  Kisses had taken care of me and I was so pleased with her!  I announced that I was having and UNBRIDLED MOMENT!  I realized that the close connection, and the prior training we had, made  it possible  for me to ask her for all she had!  We had a stop, a back, and a left turn, bridless!  She gave me what I had taught her (so far!).  It was a moment of Truth.  I was so pleased with her!  I didn't ask for a gallop followed by a sliding stop because we hadn't worked on that, yet.  I was pleased because she gave me all she does have!  I was so proud of her!  God reminded me that He sees us the same way.  He isn't disappointed because we can't do what others can,  He's pleased when we do all that we can do, when He asks us to do it!   Nothing more, nothing less!  When He sees us respond to Him with all that we have, He beams from the inside out, too!