Faith over Fear

Since the world is in the midst of a pandemic, it seemed apropos to share my thoughts on how life often require us to choose faith over fear. Faith is described as a complete trust or confidence in someone or something, while fear is the belief that someone or something is dangerous and likely to cause pain. I do not know about you but being driven by fear or believing that something bad is going to happen all of the time, sounds pretty miserable to me. Therefore I prefer to choose faith over fear.

When Wade and Aggie Moomaw started their ranching career, they had to have a strong faith in what they wanted to accomplish. If they had let fear of loss or financial strain creep in, they would not have found joy in this lifestyle. They had to be prepared for the many setbacks and have a resolute faith that they would be able to provide a living for their family when they started their journey to be cattle ranchers.

In 1950, Wade and Aggie started ranching with a dozen colts and then started building their cattle herd one animal at time. Early in their marriage, they both had jobs working in the orchard and packing shed, along with a variety of other jobs working on ranches and taking care of stock. They had the humblest of beginnings and were extremely wise and frugal with the money they made. Eventually they built their herd up to 150 cattle and they owned over 2000 acres. I cannot fathom the amount of dedication it took to persevere through 3 different devastating fires that laid their land bare. Every time a fire would go through, it would require them to start over, fencing and restoring their land to a place where they could continue their ranching livelihood. The house has always been spared, but there was always overwhelming losses. They had to choose faith over fear time and time again through their 60 plus years on the ranch.

That brings me to Tim and I and our faith. Both of us have a strong belief that when it is your time to go, it is your time to go. So, although this pandemic has so many in fear of dying, we trust God will protect us until it is our time to go. After all, Tim has encountered many close calls in his lifetime because of his rodeoing, scuba diving, skydiving or flying, and so far he has survived. He says his guardian angels are tier one operators (like elite Navy Seals), because regardless of horse wrecks, parachute malfunction and scary flying conditions, he is still alive and kicking. One thing is for sure, we both have a firm and resolute faith that God is in control and we need not fear what the future holds.

Now living that out in a real and tangible way is not always easy. I still tend to worry quite a bit, but over the years have gotten much better at trusting in God’s sovereignty in all situations. The constant in our world is that there are many things to fear. Right now, it’s the pandemic and how it is affecting our economy and future. Will we ever get back to a place where we do not worry about it? I am not sure, but I want to believe so. This requires me to choose faith over fear many times throughout the day.

Now as for the ranch, it also requires us to choose faith over fear. There are so many things that can go wrong. Animals get sick, hurt, and die and calving season is especially worrisome. The lack of rain or snowfall creates fire hazards or lack of water for the cows to drink. Just like farming, ranching relies on weather, markets and mother nature in order to survive. Thankfully, ranching is a more of a hobby for Tim and I as we don’t rely on it for an income. In fact, it’s a good thing we have a regular job, as the costs far outweigh the profits, in a monetary sense anyway.

When all is said done, we must face the uncertainty of how we can maintain the ranch by faith. Being able to practice patience for rain, or trust in the markets, builds our faith. We know there is nothing we can do to change things, so we must trust in God to provide what we need. The one thing I know for sure is that every time we ride together, it draws us just a little closer to each other and God. Its like heaven on earth.