Gracie Girl Blog

Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

Matthew 7:13-14

I think I underestimated just how narrow the road would be. We often take the metaphor to mean that all Christians genuinely pursuing Jesus are on the narrow road. However, I’ve recently realized saying yes to Jesus means saying yes to His unique path for me and sometimes, it’s just me and Him on it.

Wrangling on a ranch out west sounds fictional, and the shock factor of telling people I’m cowgirling this summer was pretty high. I would never have known this was a real job either, had my mom not grown up coming to a guest ranch in Jackson Hole and had my parents not taken our family to a similar ranch growing up. The northern VA native to cowgirl pipeline is for sure a quite narrow road. Yet, here I find myself.

Chris Renzema’s song, conveniently called Narrow Road, has really been resonating with me. Here’s the bridge;

“So, I will walk wherever You’re leadin’
Cloud by day, and a fire by evenin’
You’re the lamp that’s guidin’ my feet
So I can see where I am goin’“

Wrangling out west sounds glamorous, but like all callings, it’s challenging. While tamer than it once was, the Wild West is no joke. On this ranch we are an hour from town, farther when out on trails. The natural elements are rough – the sun is strong and it snowed in the middle of June. There is a heavy drinking culture. We are riding real living, breathing horses on a sometimes unpredictable terrain. This call was not one inside of my comfort zone.

Yet, it aligns with my soul.

Although in an entirely different discipline and mostly in rings instead of on trails – I’ve sat on every type of horse. I enjoy the challenge, the relationship, the joy of working with these animals everyday. I enjoy sharing them with people – something I don’t often do with the performance horses I ride at home. The learning curve was tough, I had to learn to throw much heavier saddles on horses and tie different knots. The western way of doing things is much different than English riding, adding in that every barn/ranch does things a little different, there was a lot to learn.

The first week was especially hard. I struggled with the adjustment to new place, new people, and new job all at once. I was overloaded with change and we all know how I love change! Yet, God is still good and time flies and here we are at the beginning of our fourth guest week and it all feels so familiar now. I love that I can look out my window and see horses. I love the people I work with and our intertwined routines. I love the lack of humidity (sorry east coasters). I love this state and I can’t help but think of 13 year old Grace who first came out here 10 years ago. It opened worlds for me then and is still doing so now.

I’ve seen the verse above taken and used in a holier than thou way many times. With the tone of “Look at me, I’m on the narrow road and you’re not.” I want to put a different spin on it. My prayer is we have the courage to enter the narrow gate, the one the Lord has put on your heart. It is specific and difficult and takes stepping out and being brave, but you won’t regret it. May we also invite people into life on the narrow road. Whether it be a literal invitation or just in how we live our lives. At the end of the day, I want to be on the road made exactly for me.

In pondering this idea, The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost came to mind.

I know we all recognize the iconic “I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.” line. But what struck me when I read it again for the first time in years was:

“Yet knowing how way leads on to way

I doubted if I should ever come back.”

Once we start to choose the narrow road, and find the life that’s there, the wide road looks less appealing. Less for me. Easier for sure, and maybe less lonely, but not as rewarding. The narrow road is made for you, and Jesus is close.

Finally, for those wondering if wrangling on a ranch in Wyoming is as epic as it looks, it absolutely is. 😀