When miracles happen
By Ruth Schenk | .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Stormhaven specializes in “broken.”
The five-acre ranch outside Shelbyville with a rambling white farmhouse and black two-story barn is where Southeast members Mike and Gaye Cox raised six
sons. Their nest has never been empty long. In 2007, when the boys were grown and on their own, Mike and Gaye founded Stormhaven, a place where abused
and abandoned horses bond with kids.
Gaye and Mike believe all things are salvageable. Each one who comes to Stormhaven has value. Everyone needs hope, and everyone needs God.
Stormhaven is home to 12 horses, two miniature horses, five cats, two dogs, nine chickens, a one-legged duck and a huge rat snake.
Each one has a story.
So does every one of the hundreds of kids who come to the ranch each year. It is a haven for those who deal with bullies at school, anorexia, sexual abuse,
health issues, depression and low self-esteem. As the kids reach out to heal the horses, who also were abused and abandoned, kids and horses heal
together.
It happened to 14-year-old Lexy Mathers, who came to the ranch four years ago with boiling anger that seethed into most everything she said and did.
Lexy’s mother, Amy Mathers, read about Stormhaven in a doctor’s waiting room and called Gaye. The ranch was different than anywhere Lexi had been before.
She was drawn to Raya, a horse whose name means “friend.” He accepted her “as is.”
“Raya is my angel in horse hair,” Lexy said. “He is so forgiving. If I accidentally bump his sore leg, he lets it go. And he’s always glad to see me. He has taught
me about patience and unconditional love. In many ways, Raya brought me to Jesus.”
This summer, Lexy, her mother and brother were baptized in a trough at Stormhaven after their decision to follow Christ. Now Lexy is the one offering
unconditional love to Raya.
She tries to get to Stormhaven every day.
It is close to 100 degrees in the burning sun the Thursday in August that Lexy beelines through the clusters of kids already at the ranch for the gate where Raya
stands near the fence. He is nearly blind with bony ribs that poke out of his sides. Rings of dry skin pock his coat.
None of it seems to matter to Lexy. She hugs Raya’s neck and whispers, “I love you,” into his ear. She rubs diaper rash cream and massages Raya’s hips and
back.
This horse, now 30 years old, has a broken leg that cannot be fixed with surgery.
“Even this, even Raya, I am learning to give to God and trust Him,” Lexy said. “I have learned that no matter how bad it can be, God can make good things come
out of it.”
Lexy is one of hundreds of kids, ages 5 to 18, who go to Stormhaven each year. They bond with horses like Ziporrah, who was on her way to a testing lab when
Mike and Gaye heard about her. A champion hurdler who severed a nerve, she held zero value to trainers. Some children partner with Tex, an aging
thoroughbred who was abused by overuse and now is racked with arthritis and bad feet. Echo was raced on pavement against four-wheelers, and Gracie and
Abraham were abandoned in muck-filled stalls.
Their issues speak to the kids.
Southeast member Maria Lanham, 15, went to Stormhaven nursing deep hurt after being bullied for four years.
“Bullying really changed me as an individual,” she said. “I need an escape. It has taken a long time for me to recover spiritually and emotionally, but
Stormhaven has been a great place for me to heal.”
In a strange twist, Lanham bonded with Gabriel, a horse with bully tendencies.
“When I came, even Gabriel tried to bully me,” Lanham said. “But he has helped me learn to forgive others as I work with him.”
Sophia Borkstron, 16, came to Stormhaven after moving to Waddy, KY, with her grandmother.
“Being here has taught me a lot about horses, but also a lot about God,” Sophia aid. “When I came, I didn’t know much about Him, but on Saturdays, we come to read from the Bible and learn.”
Erin Rommann works as a drug and alcohol counselor at Ten Broeck but volunteers often at Stormhaven.
“I love it here,” she said. “This is where we walk through life. When it’s hard, we see Michael and Gaye model grace and gratitude. They fall back on God
through everything. It’s been important to see that God didn’t promise easy. He asks us to give every aspect of life to Him. “
Mike and Gaye do not charge families who come to Stormhaven.
Though “free” can be dangerous in a tight economy, Gaye and Mike believe God will provide, and He does, whether it is a load of hay for the horses, the vet who
provides free medical care or the farrier who gives a huge discount for his services. Each month in the five years the ranch has been open has been a step of
faith.
This year, kids at the ranch have endured hard things. Horses they nursed and loved died, and they had to deal with loss and grief.
When Lexy learned that Raya had a broken leg, a large group of girls surrounded her to tell their own stories of hope and healing. One ran to the farmhouse to
get a Bible. That, Gaye said, took her breath away. In that one happening, she saw the chain of healing.
At Stormhaven, everyone sees God answer prayer for practical needs such as a load of hay, medicine for a horse, more volunteers, equipment or hands to help
with chores.
Sometimes answers come at the last minute.
“God loves to wait until the eleventh hour because He gets the glory,” Gaye said. “By the eleventh hour, there’s no doubt it is God providing for us.”
Parents and kids volunteer at Stormhaven. They muck manure, landscape, move hay, paint and work with kids. The Coxes have no regular supporters. The last
five years have been a walk of faith.
“We see miracles in kids’ lives,” Mike said. “God totally does it. God does all of it. He brings every horse and every child. I believe everything is unfolding
according to God’s plan.”
For more information about Stormhaven, go to http://stormhavenyr.org.