My time had come.  I walked on jello legs towards the chute my steer was waiting in.  The steer turned his head to the side and we made eye contact as I lowered myself down onto his cream colored back.  Justin secured my rope for me – it wraps around the steer’s body right behind his front legs so the rider has something to hold on to.  At this point, all the guys had descended upon us to make sure I was set.  Justin stepped back and smiled – his eyes mocking me as he said “You ready?”  I tried to squeak out a “Not really” as the gate of the chute swung open and we were off!  With one of my arms high in the area and the other tightly secured, my steer lit out of the chute at a full walk.  Woohoo!  This was easier than I thought!  But the guys weren’t going to let me get away with such an easy ride.  They ran at my sweet little cream colored steer and flailed their arms and hollered.  He was not so interested in crazy human things, so he took off galloping and bucking across the arena.  I could hear the guys laughing in the distance and all I could think was, “stay on for the buzzer!”  I felt my balance start to slip, but I knew 8 seconds could not be much longer.  I was leaning to the side and holding on for all I was worth when finally the buzzer went off.  I let go and dropped into the dirt as my steer promptly returned to the gate, waiting to be turned back into his peaceful pasture.

My adrenaline was so high I hardly felt the scrapes from the dirt.  I was presented with my very own trophy – one with a little plastic gold colored figure of a bucking bull with a rider on it.  All of the softball trophies I had received in my entire life could not compare to this one.

My mom and Mrs. Brenda both came to pick Henry and I up from camp.  I couldn’t believe the week was coming to an end.  Justin helped us load Henry into the horse trailer, and once the back doors were closed he grabbed my hand.  We were too embarrassed to hug in front of my mom and Mrs. Brenda.  We made eye contact as my fingers slipped out of his.  Camp was over and it was time to return to my normal world.

Justin and I saw each other a couple more times in the weeks following camp.  We were both too young to drive so we met at the movie theater once, and I went to his house once.  In the end I broke up with him.  My faith is and always has been very important to me.  Justin did not share that.  The night I broke up with Justin I still “loved” him in the way a 13 year old loves.  But I loved God more and believed even then that I should be with someone who believed the same things I do.

Lesson for the day:  actually, there are more lessons from this day than you would want to read.  Instead, leave a comment about what you learned in this post

Soli deo gloria

~Sarah