Oh Whats In a Name?

I've been meaning to explain where the name Starting Gate came from for a long time. Way back when I still had Instagram I remember putting up a poll about future story topics (Instagram is a social media platform that allows for a 24hour window 'story' or video diary type thing) and the history of the name "Starting Gate" was repeatedly suggested. Sometimes people wonder if I only work with retired racehorses or if theres some kind of race horse connection. As far as I know the only races Mika, Zeke and Tom have been in is who can fall asleep in the afternoon sun the fastest... No we don't have race horses here at Starting Gate but there is a different story behind that name.

I decided to do this for real, be brave and open a business working with horses to help people, I had an entire notebook page filled with ideas and keywords while trying to figure out the name of this place. I kept coming back to using the word 'Gate'. I read once that there are fences and there are walls that surround a property to protect it. The difference being fences have gates in them. We need to protect ourselves, our property, with fences because sometimes bad things need to be let out (pain, sin, etc) and good things need to be let in (joy, forgiveness, etc). I just really liked that parallel so I wanted that idea of a gate to be in the name of the business where horses help people. Now don't get me all warm a fuzzy here... I am a big big fan of boundaries and work hard to place them in my life but boundaries are a skill, and just like any other skill they take practice to perfect. Lots of practice. The "Starting" part of the name is a two part story. There was another book I read, actually just this last year, 4 years after Starting Gate was named and official that made the "Starting" kind of make sense. This book is the story of a Mongolian horse race where they ride a set number of hours every day then are required to rest at night and start the race again the next day. That idea of a daily race with required rest in between combined with the Christians' job description laid out in Acts 20:24 finished out the idea of 'Starting Gate'. Acts says this in chapter 20, verst 24: "...my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace." (NIV) I have been entered into a race, the race of life, to run without growing weary by the strength only given by God (Isaiah 40:31), a daily race of life to testify the Good News of God's grace. The world can use some good news. And I have a daily Starting Gate in my backyard to remind me every day to keep running. To Open the Gate (as you'll so often read or hear me saying) to let the bad stuff go, let the good stuff in and be able on my last day on this Earth to quote 2 Timothy 4:7 with all truthfulness. "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." 2 Timothy 4:7 NIV Will you Open the Gate? *Note: the books linked above are not affiliate links. I just like when a blog post links to things I can look into further so I thought I'd share the books I allude to. Thrift Books is a site I've used before to get quality books at a lower than brand new retail price. I highly recommend both Boundaries and Rough Magic. Enjoy!)