We moved Meg to the stable where the trainer is this week. He brought a horse trailer to transport her. She was terrified of getting into the trailer. He led her to the trailer and lured her with sweet hay. She was so sweet leaning as far as she could without falling over then backing away due to her fears. The trainer said, horses are not “hard headed by nature they are just fearful animals”. They have survived for hundreds of years trusting their instinct to avoid fearful situations by running. Slowly but surely the trainer walked her around developing a trust relationship with her. He led her to safe places and spoke soft words of comfort. He even fed her some soft grass then each time he would lead her back to the trailer. After 40 minutes of developing the trust relationship she finally mounted the trailer. As Les and I watched this dance of trust we remarked how that is so much like us when we have had a bad experience. We are anxious any time we come back to a place of fear or failure. Many people feel that way about church.
Les and I thought, “we too need to provide opportunities to build relationship with people in a nonthreatening environment to build trust”. As that trust is built they are more open to stepping back into a place they may have been hurt in or just not know anything about. Just as it took time and patients for Meg to make that step, it may take lots of time and patients for your friend as well, but the end result is that they arrive where they can get the care and attention they need.