Hope Rising
Authors: Kim Meeder
“I love good stories, and these are among the very best. Kim Meeder writes with a mesmerizing, wonderfully refreshing beauty. If your soul needs a fresh touch, reading this book is like opening a door and welcoming hope inside.”
A
LICE
G
RAY
,
BESTSELLING COMPILER OF
S
TORIES FOR THE
H
EART
“Wonderful … Exhilarating … Inspirational.… Kim Meeder captures that special bond between humans and horses, telling us why it’s the little things that make each day worth living.”
B
EN
W
ESTLUND
,
O
REGON STATE REPRESENTATIVE
“Hope Rising
details the amazing accounts from a special ranch that I have been privileged to support. These memorable stories will touch you deeply.”
B
EV
C
LARNO
,
O
REGON STATE SENATOR
HOPE RISING
published by Multnomah Books
© 2003 by Kim Meeder
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from:
Holy Bible
, New Living Translation
© 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by WaterBrook Multnomah, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House Inc., New York.
M
ULTNOMAH
and its mountain colophon are registered trademarks of Random House Inc.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without prior written permission.
For information:
MULTNOMAH BOOKS
12265 ORACLE BOULEVARD, SUITE 200
COLORADO SPRINGS, CO 80921
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Meeder, Kim.
Hope rising / by Kim Meeder.
p. cm.
eISBN: 978-0-307-56433-7
1. Crystal Peaks Youth Ranch (Bend, Or.) 2. Problem youth—Services for—Oregon. 3. Horses—Therapeutic use. 4. Animal rescue—Oregon.
I. Title.
HV1435.O7M44 2003
362.7—dc21
2003006576
v3.1
This book is dedicated to Beth Everest,
my precious little grandma who bought my first horse for me
.
Mimi! Look what you started!
IM
M
EEDER
2004 Recipient of the
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Award for Public Service
In 1972, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, U.S. Senator Robert Taft Jr., and Sam Beard founded the American Institute for Public Service, a 501c3 public foundation to establish a Nobel Prize for public and community service – The Jefferson Awards.
The Jefferson Awards are presented on two levels: national and local. National award recipients represent a “Who’s Who” of outstanding Americans. On the local level, Jefferson Award recipients are ordinary people who do extraordinary things without expectation of recognition or reward.
Kim Meeder was honored at the Jefferson Awards National Celebration of Service to America in Washington, D.C. on June 29, 2004. She was one of four regional recipients of the Jefferson Award and one of five national recipients to receive the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Award for greatest public service benefiting the local community. Soon after, she received a Red Cross Local Heroes Award which was read before Congress. Crystal Peaks Youth Ranch has since been blessed with visitors from around the world who not only seek healing for themselves, but also wish to give of themselves for the sake of helping others.
HE
P
LACE
W
HERE
H
OPE
R
ISES
Sometimes it is only through devastation that we find the truth. Hardship can be like a savage cleansing fire. All the things we think of as necessary to our survival are soon revealed as nothing more than the dross of complacent luxury, consumed by the fire as it burns down to the true metal of the soul. Hardship uncovers the only thing we truly need to survive—hope.
Within every heart there exists a special place, a place where the hopes and dreams of the soul soar, unchained by logical or physical entrapments. For some, visiting this unique place is a frivolous waste of time, a mental blowing of dandelion spores.
For others this place becomes the mountain meadow within their soul, the sweeping expanse of wildflowers and fragrant grasses, the streams of pure glacial water, where the spirit runs free.
It is a place where the impossible flourishes, where dreams survive the inferno of reality to become the miraculous wonders that draw us forward—it is the place where hope rises.
* All of the stories in
Hope Rising
are true. Some of the names have been changed to protect the privacy of the people involved.
My Gratitude for Hope Shared
How can one thank every grain of sand on the beach or every twinkling star in the heavens? All the tender souls who have graced this work, have, in their own unique way, added richness to my life. I am intensely grateful for each one.
I am thankful for …
My husband, Troy
Your constant love and support have made this ministry possible.
Without you my heart, my soul, and my life would be incomplete.
Ami Johnston
Your dedication to this project has been
as unwavering as the mountain skyline.
Without you I would have nothing but
a binder full of handwritten pages.
Judy Gordon and Margaret Sharpe
Your miraculous efforts have guided this book through the exhausting editing process. Without both of you I would have no mirror.
Sue Morgan
You are one of my broadest shoulders.
Without you my heart would be missing the joy of sharing the high wilderness places.
My Lord
Above all, my gratitude goes to You and Your sacrifice of love made for me, so that I could live.
Without You, I would have no love, no light, no breath … no hope.
O
M
Y
R
ANCH
K
IDS
You’re my handful of flowers,
My skippin’ rocks on the creek,
My melted ice cream,
Sweet kisses on my cheek.
You’re my shining light,
My little twinkling star,
The bounce in my step,
My last cookie in the jar.
You’re the miracle of life,
You’re the joy of first birth;
And all because of you
I’m the richest girl on earth.
Kim Meeder
