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Painting of Parker Breding
NFR Contestant
“So our eyes look to the Lord our God,
Until He has mercy on us.” Ps 123:2a
Painting courtesy of Charley Art
Painting Inspired by Molly Morrow
PRCA Photographer
CONTENTS
OCTOBER 2014
THE LINE RIDER is published monthly by the
Fellowship of Christian Cowboys, Inc., 3125
Maple Lane, Cañon City, CO 81212.
Subscription: $45.00 suggested donation
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to
THE LINE RIDER, P.O. Box 1210,
Canon City, CO 81215.
All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may
be reproduced except with the written permission
of the Fellowship of Christian Cowboys, Inc.
Editors: Lynne Schricker & Linda Scholtz
Printing: Espirit Graphic Communications, Inc
Kennewick, Washington
Graphic Design: Annie Thomas
FEATURE ARTICLES
Donna Walker Testimony
God said He would not give us more than we
could bear.
MONTHLY COLUMNS
Spotlight On Youth: By Rachael Reinholt
…my favorite time is working or moving
cattle….
Bible Study: By Mike Shields
If the fence wasn’t broken, it will be.
Down the Road: By John Kissell
If this century old relic could only talk!
IN THIS ISSUE...
Back in the saddle again.
We have had a down time in
the production of the “Line
Rider” but are back in the
saddle again. This issue will
be our first edition of the year
and we are so pleased to be
able to offer you, our readers,
these edifying articles written by these dedicated and
talented folks. This is your
magazine. We would love
to hear from you and share
some of your stories. Just
contact the National Office
and send along your testimonies of God’s love.
Donna Walker Testimony
W
hen I think about
the women in my
life, they are my
mother, my mother-in-law and my
grandmothers. I feel God has truly
blessed me. My mind goes back to
a time years ago when my mother
was a major influence in my life.
It seems all my good memories are
centered around her. I always knew
I was loved and special in her eyes.
We did not go to church during my
childhood but my mother was always
there and taught me how to be a
mother by example. My mother-inlaw is responsible for my salvation by
raising a son to know and love God,
who then showed me the way to
salvation.
As a young girl I had always
loved animals especially horses. We
lived in the city until I was 14. I use
to beg my mother to let me have a
horse. I told her I would keep it in
the basement. Of course that never
happened, however when I was 14
we moved to the country. I saved up
my money from a calf I raised and
sold to buy my first horse. I got my
mare when I was 16. She lived until
she was 32 years old.
I met my husband Rowland my
junior year in high school, October
of 1973. Our love of horses brought
us even closer. We lived about five
miles apart so we would get on our
horses and start riding from our
homes and meet somewhere in the
middle. I did not know God at this
time; however I went to church with
Rowland because that is what his
family always did. We went to every
Sunday and Wednesday service. During a revival by Cecil Welch, God
tugged on my heart and I went to the
altar to be saved.
On June 28, 1975 I married my
high school sweetheart. We were
both 18 years old and had no clue
what life was really like. Being so
young, we grew up together. I had
only been a Christian for a year and
a half when we married. One year
after we married God gave me my
first miracle. I had worn glasses since
I was young. I was at a revival when
the minister said that God wanted
to heal someone’s eyes. I could not
see very far in front of me without
my glasses. I did just fine wearing
glasses but I felt like God wanted me
to be healed so I went to be prayed
for. Nothing happened immediately
but the next morning when I woke
up. I could see perfectly. I did not
wear glasses until I was in my late
40’s. I guess God wanted me to be
like everyone else in my generation
and I had to get bifocals. However
to this day I can see fine except for
when reading. God knew what was
in store for me in the future and I believe he wanted me to know without
a doubt that he could do miracles so
he healed my eyes. Life was good for
the next two years.
I became a mother on March
29, 1977 to a precious little girl. We
named her Kasandra and called her
Sandy. Sandy did not progress like
a normal child. When she was six
months old she was diagnosed with
Cerebral Palsy. She was such a sweet
little girl and always a joy. She was
Gods special little blessing. Two years
later on August 7, 1979 our son Jeremiah was born. Within a few months
he too was diagnosed with CP. Each
of them had different incidents that
happened at birth causing lack of
oxygen to the brain. However, doctors thought we could have normal
children. So now I had two precious
special children. They were total care
children. They could not walk, talk or
take care of any of their needs on their
own. It was like having two infants
that never grew up. They were happy
children and I feel they had a special
communication with God.
Life went on and in 1982 I became pregnant again. We did not plan
to have another child. My hands were
full with the two I had. After having
two CP children we were both fearful
of having another one. However we
would love this child like the other
two regardless of what happened.
When I was between four and five
months of the pregnancy I had a miscarriage. Due to complications I was
unable to have any more children. A
few months later we discovered Sandy
and Jeremy did not have CP like the
doctors thought. They had a terminal
disease that would attack the major
organs in their body and they would
die. There was no cure, no hope.
Here I was a mother of two and
there should have been three children.
Finding out so suddenly that I not
only lost the baby I was carrying but
was going to lose my other two children as well was unbearable anguish.
I could not believe God would allow
this to happen. I became angry and
bitter toward God. My faith was
shaken and I fell away from God.
I was so hurt! My heart was breaking, at times it felt more than I could
stand. God said he would not give us
more than we could bear. God never
left me; He was there all the time,
hurting with me. I left God but He
was still calling me. Praise God He
was, and I gave my life to Him again.
God forgave me and cleansed me of
my sins. I still did not understand
why my children were dying or why
I could not have children, but I knew
God was there with me. We believe in
miracles and God had healed my eyes
so I knew He could heal my children.
On August 16, 1985 at 6 am God
gave me a dream that he had healed
my daughter. I was so excited. At 1
pm that afternoon Sandy passed away.
God healed her in death.
Rowland and I had always wanted to have four children. We still had
Jeremy left and he was dying. Jeremy
mourned Sandy’s death. A couple of
months after Sandy’s death we talked
about maybe adopting. We checked
into adoption thinking it would take
us three years or more to get a child.
We discovered that by going through
Family Services we could get a sibling
group. Since our children were like
infants their whole life, we did not
mind having older children. So in
April of 1986 we became the proud
parents of Serena, Sarah, Dusty and
Jonathan, ages ten to four. Jeremy
had brothers and sisters to love and
we had a very active household. At
our adopted children’s encouragement, we became a licensed foster
group home having anywhere from
5 to 12 children at a time. We were
able to take in sibling groups, keeping them together. Life was full.
On September 14, 1993 Jeremy
passed away. He was 14 years old.
We were in between sibling groups
when Jeremy passed away. I felt I was
through being a foster parent. I was
Donna and Roland Walker with adult children Serena, Sarah Dusty, Jonathan,
Steven, Matt and all the grandkids.
mourning Jeremy and my physical
body was tired. We had just been
through 17 years of terminal illness.
Six months later on March 22,
1994, Family Services contacted us.
They had a 15 month old baby who
needed a foster placement. On that
day Steven came into our lives. This
sweet little boy saved me by bringing
me out of my mourning and giving me a baby to love. In February
of 1995, along came Steven’s little
brother Mathew. Matt was 3 months
old. We had the boys as foster children for four years when they came
up for adoption. We adopted the two
little boys. There was a 10 year difference between Steven, the oldest of the
two little boys and Jonathan, who was
the youngest of our older children.
Despite the talk of how crazy we were
to adopt more children at our age…
and many other comments… we still
felt God wanted us to adopt them.
We loved them so much; it would
have been like going through the
death of our children again.
During the 38 years of marriage
I have carried, delivered and lost
three children. We adopted six children. I have gone through and had
to deal with comas, feeding tubes,
seizures and numerous hospital stays.
God has been with me all the way.
For a while I was consumed with the
“why’s”. I still do not know why. But
I know God does. I learned I could
not let circumstances control my
life. Why was I healed here on earth
and my children by death? Only
God knows. God knew what our life
would be when we married. He knew
the struggles and heartache we would
go through. God gives us strength to
endure the trials that come our way.
I praise God for the wonderful husband He gave me, my true
helpmate of 39 years in June. I praise
God for allowing me to have Sandy
and Jeremy for as long as He did.
For letting me love them and for the
blessings they were. I praise God for
blessing me with six wonderful children and now nine beautiful grandchildren. We wanted four children.
God gave us eight.
Most of all I give praise for Jesus Christ my Lord, for the salvation
He gave me and for carrying me
through all the years. I praise Him
for the blessing I would never have
known without Him and for the
wonderful life He gave me. To God
be the glory.