Dr. James Dobson: Well, hello everyone. I'm James Dobson and you're listening to Family Talk, a listener supported ministry. In fact, thank you so much for being part of that support for James Dobson Family Institute.
Roger Marsh: Hello and welcome to Family Talk. I'm Roger Marsh. Now the tender and honest conversation you're about to hear features Dr. Dobson as he talks with his good friend Kim Meeder. Along with her husband Troy, Kim is the founder of Crystal Peaks Youth Ranch, in central Oregon. They founded this organization in 1995. Crystal Peaks takes rescued horses and pairs them with broken children, for the purpose of bringing both horse and human together, on a journey of healing. Today, the ranch serves four to 5,000 visitors each and every year.
We're going to get right into today's classic program, but before we begin, there's a very important issue which I must share with you. It has come to our attention that unscrupulous individuals have been using Dr. Dobson's image and likeness, to falsely endorse online products. This advertising is absolutely untrue. Dr. Dobson is in good health. He has not left the church and most definitely has not left the ministry of Family Talk.
I can't stress enough how important it's to know that Dr. Dobson has nothing to do with these online scams, nor has he ever endorsed any outside products or services, let alone any product or service that's not in line with biblical principles and values. Dr. Dobson cherishes the trust and confidence that you have given him, and the ministry, throughout the years, and he will always seek to uphold that trust.
Now a brief disclaimer, Kim Meeder will be sharing some details from her traumatic childhood that really are intended for mature audiences, so listener discretion is highly recommended.
Here now to introduce his guest on today's edition of Family Talk, is our own Dr. James Dobson.
Dr. James Dobson: Nearly 20 years ago, a publisher told me about a ranch near Bend, Oregon, that was using horse therapy to minister to hurting kids and vice versa, and I was intrigued, so I asked my team to book an interview with Kim and Troy Meeder and they are the people who founded and run this ranch.
What we did that day continues to be one of the most popular interviews out of 8,000 programs that I've done through the years. The Meeder's have been my guest many times since then and they remain close friends to Shirley and me. Their organization, Crystal Peak's Youth Ranch, has blossomed into a thriving place of hope and healing, for both the young people and abused horses.
Now about 10 years ago, Shirley and I flew to Oregon and right near Bend, to visit this ranch. We brought a camera crew and let me tell you, the Lord is doing incredible work through that ministry. I've seen it firsthand and what an inspirational day that was to us. I wish all of you could visit it and see it because it would bless your soul.
Well, Kim is with us today to give us an update on their ministry and to talk about her new book, Revival Rising. I'm excited about that, and I can't think of a more important topic to discuss during these volatile and unprecedented times, and let me tell you a little bit more about Kim Meeder before we begin.
She is a popular author and a highly sought after international speaker. Kim and Troy started Crystal Peaks Youth Ranch back in 1995 and they have witnessed firsthand, God's blessing on their work. I remember, I think when we started they had a 10 acre ranch, which wasn't enough. They now have a ranch of over a hundred acres and good things are happening all over the place.
Her first book was Hope Rising, which was so well received that the ranch was awarded the prestigious Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Award. Kim and Troy have also helped start over 200 similar ranch ministries, all over the world. And Kim, my friend, it is so good to see you again.
Kim Meeder: I'm crying already and we haven't even started yet.
Dr. James Dobson: Telling your story would take the whole program. It's amazing what God's done with you and Troy.
Kim Meeder: We serve an amazing God who can do amazing things through anyone who just says, "God, here I am. Will you send me?" And look what He can do.
Dr. James Dobson: We've experienced much of the same thing. We didn't have the money to build a ministry either. That was 44 years ago when I started Focus On The Family and we got a $35,000 grant from Tyndale House to get started. We ran out of money there. We were about to close, and we got together and had prayer, my mother, my wife and a friend. And we said, "Lord, we thought we were doing what you wanted us to do, but we're kind of in a hole now. So, if we did hear you correctly, this would be a real good time to hear from you again." And the next month, nearly $60,000 came in. It is amazing. So, we've experienced God's blessing just by depending upon Him.
How'd you get the money to buy that hundred acre ranch?
Kim Meeder: The ranch has expanded in a way that only Jesus Christ can do. We serve a God that can't be bound by what we think, or our understanding, or our logic, or our education, or our experiences. He's a wild God and He colors outside the lines of who we are.
And so we were having a ranch fellowship where everyone who wishes to come, we all crowd into a little barn. We feed everyone who comes.
Dr. James Dobson: And you don't charge anybody anything?
Kim Meeder: No, we don't. And this year, on July 4th, the ranch celebrated our 25th year of doing ministry for children with horses that have been rescued. And in 25 years, no family has ever been charged to come to the ranch and experience the love of Jesus Christ.
Dr. James Dobson: Tell us about the little girl that came up to you. You told me the story before you went on the air.
Kim Meeder: Yes. So, it was right after a fellowship and fellowship, they started for people who maybe have difficulty going to church or maybe they're afraid or have had an unfortunate experience or for whatever reason going to church is difficult. Coming to a barn seems to be okay. And what started out as a couple families is now up to 400 people that are being fed and gathering and worshiping God and then we share just a really simple message with one point because even I can remember one thing.
And so I happened to share this particular night and everyone was leaving the ranch in this great wave of humanity that was kind of siphoning down the driveway. And on that day, this little group of 4-H girls had come down from Washington state and they said, "We had this bake sale and we wanted to earn some money for Crystal Peaks Youth Ranch and for other kids who need help and so we wanted to come down and give this to you ourself and we wanted to volunteer at this place that means so much to us."
And I'm just so humbled by such kindness. And so they were asking me this shotgun question of all these horses and, "How come that one has one eye?" And, "This one's scar?" And, "What's that one's name?"
And finally I said, "You girls can't drive all the way home tonight. It's too far. Where are you going to spend the night?" And this little girl in the very front who was kind of short and kind of chubby and she hugs herself and she said, "We're going to be camping and it's going to be really cold."
And I just laughed and I said, "You know what? I just think that a day is coming when we're going to have enough room so that when groups like you come, you can stay here with us. Wouldn't that be wonderful?"
And in the sea of people behind this little group of girls, an individual turned and looked right at my face and that individual called me the next day and they said, "I have to meet with you and Troy right away." And my first thought was, I'm going to go to the principal's office again and accountability I'd spoken that night and that's such a good thing. And this is someone I know and love very much.
And so we met in my husband's office and this blessed individual said, "When I heard you say you needed more space, that's when I heard God tell me, 'And you are going to buy it for them.'" And this individual reached in their pocket and they pulled out a real estate flyer that I know well and they laid it down on Troy's desk and they tapped it and they said, "God has told me to buy this for you." And then they wrote a check for two million dollars.
Dr. James Dobson: Oh my goodness.
Kim Meeder: And paid for everything. And in one moment-
Dr. James Dobson: It's contiguous to the ranch that you had then.
Kim Meeder: Yes sir. Yes sir. It is.
Dr. James Dobson: It's just the piece of land you needed.
Kim Meeder: It was the piece of land we needed. Crystal Peaks existed in a rock pit for 17 years, a literal rock quarry, and this property is down the hill, across the street. The property lines are touching in the street and it's farmland. It's bottom land. It has hay fields and pastures and arenas, indoor and outdoor and a two-story home. And it has water rights. We have reservoirs that we pump the water out onto the fields. It has soil. It grows crops. We just planted 200 fruit trees and 500 blueberry bushes.
Dr. James Dobson: Kim, those kinds of things don't happen. There had to be a divine presence involved in that. To hand you a check for two million dollars for what you desperately needed. I wonder if you remember a day at Focus On The Family when you were there and after we'd done the program, I said, "I want to tell you listeners something. I believe in this ministry."
Kim Meeder: I'll never forget that day.
Dr. James Dobson: "I know what they're doing and they need more land. Would you provide it for them?" Do you remember that day?
Kim Meeder: I will never forget that day. And what you need to know Dr. Dobson, is that after 17 years, God answered your prayer and two years later he did it again and the ranch was increased again from someone who believes in the ministry of Jesus Christ in this place. And the ranch went from 8.9 acres of rock pit, to about 110 acres of farmland. Only Jesus can do this.
Dr. James Dobson: I'd like you to... We're going to talk about your book, I promise, but I'd like you to explain the science behind what you do because what is there between wounded, broken people, especially children, and horses? What is the connection between them and how did you discover it?
Kim Meeder: That discovery came in my own life when I was nine. And at nine years of age, that's when I would look at my parents and want to be just like them.
My mom was the most beautiful woman I had ever met, from the inside out, and she was kind and gentle and loving and my dad was a wild child of the wilderness and in my mind he wore a cape and flew and there was nothing that my parents couldn't do.
And it was during that season in my young life that my dad's best friend picked me up at my little school and drove me to my grandparents' house with my two older sisters. And the house was full of all these grieving, wailing people and I was just shoved into the arms of a woman that I recognized but did not know. And she was crying so hard that she sounded like she was choking and she just kept going around and around in this horrible cycle of, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I don't know what to say. I don't know what to say. I don't know how to tell you. I'm so sorry, but your dad has just murdered your mother and taken his own life and I'm so sorry."
And I remember thinking, "Wait a minute, my dad loves me and he loves my mom, and you're a liar." And I just popped off of her chest and I ran out the back door in this nine-year-old effort to outrun the unthinkable and just ran and ran and ran until I just fell down in the dirt. It actually, it felt like miles and it was a very short distance and was inhaling dirt and choking and retching and crying and screaming. And I could hear my own voice saying, "Jesus help me."
And I wasn't raised in the church. I didn't even know who Jesus Christ was. To my knowledge, I'd been to church twice at nine years of age and all I knew about Jesus is, "I think He's the guy on the cross and all I know is that He's the only one who can help me right now."
I didn't know the power of Romans 10:13 that declares, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." All I knew in that moment was that there was a pop in my heart and an ignition of hope and a knowing you will get through this and you are no longer alone.
Dr. James Dobson: At nine years of age, you became an orphan, out of a stable two parent family in one episode, one day. All of a sudden you have no family.
Kim Meeder: The world changed.
Dr. James Dobson: How in the world you became the woman I see today. The Lord had to have done a miracle just to help you survive.
Kim Meeder: He has done many, many miracles.
Dr. James Dobson: How did you come to know Jesus?
Kim Meeder: I met Jesus in that moment, but I came to know who He was through a woman who lived a mile down the road and this woman had nothing. And by the world standard, she was so poor and she lived in a falling down house and yet she had everything because she had Jesus.
And every Friday, anyone who wanted to know about Jesus could get off the bus at her house. And this woman who was so poor, would just make cookies and punch up appear and we would play Annie Annie Over. She would give us a rag and we'd throw it back and forth over the house and run like race horses until we were all worn out and then we'd come bursting in the house, sweaty and filthy, and we would just chug down all the cookies and Kool-Aid. And then we'd go, "Okay, now we're ready." And we'd all go in on her orange shag carpet.
And I remember sitting on her carpet one day and she said, "Kimmy, do you truly know how much Jesus Christ loves you?" And my answer was just shaking my head that I don't. And she said that, "He loves you so much, that He gave His life so that you could live with Him forever. And He begins that process when you ask Him to come in your heart."
Dr. James Dobson: Now, what's the connection with horses?
Kim Meeder: The connection with horses happened during that same season. My two older sisters and I moved in with my grandparents and my beloved tiny little grandmother had the wisdom to buy a little horse for me. And between the friendship of a little wild horse and the love of Jesus Christ, this wild child's heart was redeemed. And that's how I came to know the power of God's Word, was on the back of a horse. Everything that I was reading on the back of a horse is where I felt the most safe in all the world and I didn't know that all those years of finding solace in the presence of a horse, and understanding the power and freedom and love found in God's Word, were always meant to go together. Always.
And I didn't know that those years of me learning that were like a figurehead of everything God had coming in store. "I'm going to allow you to go through this valley of the shadow of darkness because I'm calling you to help others find their way through just like you did, in the presence of a horse, by the power of my word and my love for them."
Dr. James Dobson: So you were discovering something that already was, which is an emotional connection between a broken child and a wounded horse.
Kim Meeder: Only Jesus Christ could make that happen. Jesus loves horses in a way that we don't understand. When He returns, He is not coming on a dolphin. Of all the things, of all the animals that He has created, He has chosen a horse to carry Him into victory. And all those who are following Him are also riding horses. And so horses, in a way that are not fully understood in this realm, are very precious to the Lord.
But I must tell you, and Dr. Dobson, I know you know this because you're a horseman as well, that when we are around them, their quiet strength and their willingness to carry us in our frailty and in our brokenness, and to yield their power to carry our weakness, changes us from the inside out.
Dr. James Dobson: They're magnificent animals. How you could look at a horse, the way he's designed and the purpose that God had for him and humanity, is no accident. That did not evolve. That was it was a conscious design there, not only for the way they're built and structured to carry a man and woman, or child, but the temperament of a horse. Why that big strong individual would yield his will to yours? I've never fully understood.
They serve. They serve throughout their lives. I mean, it is amazing. And somehow you have linked those two together in your ranch and you bring these kids in that are broken. How long does it take them to bond with a horse?
Kim Meeder: Every situation is unique and separate, but typically very, very short amount of time. A very short amount of time. Only Jesus could know that this bonding with a horse, helps our heart find peace and relax, so that we can receive his redemption in his salvation. The horse would tell you, "This isn't about me. This is about the one who made me. Let's discover his love together." And that's the foundation of what the ranch does is, pairing hurting children and hurting families with horses that have also been rescued from their own wreckage.
Dr. James Dobson: We're running out of time for today's program. Truncate a story that you told the very first time you were on my broadcast, back in the Focus On The Family days, about a little boy who was so utterly broken, shattered. He had been abused terribly and you introduced him…
Well, you tell a story. We got about three minutes. You think you can tell it?
Kim Meeder: I can do it. And so this young boy came up with a counselor and they were unannounced. All the horses were in use, but one, and the counselor said, "Can you help us?" And I said, "I think so." And so I told this little boy, I asked him first of all, "Hey Adam, have you ever ridden a horse before?" And he just looked down and shook his head. And I said, "Well, would you like to today? And I have this pony in the back of the ranch that would very much like to meet you."
And he looked up at me and he flashed this little grin and he took off running. And from any other perspective, that would've looked wonderful. And from my perspective, I was horrified because all of his teeth were broken out by his own dad. His dad would get drunk and he would beat his son so badly that every tooth in his face was broken. And then he would shoot at him as he ran away in his yard. And the counselor told me, "It's a miracle he's even alive."
And so we brought the pony out and I helped this little boy do everything by himself, by just putting my hands over his hands and giving him that victory of accomplishment, and then I stepped back. As he stepped toward this pony, this little blessed Hobbs reached his neck around, so tightly, that he held Adam in his neck, so tight, that he couldn't raise his arms and he was afraid. He just rolled back and looked at me and his eyes were so frightened and I had never seen this pony do that before since.
And I just blurted out what I thought and that was that, "Oh my goodness, Adam, you must be so special. This pony's giving you a hug." And you could see his face relax and his eyes start to move back and forth as he's understanding. And he declares out loud, "He likes me. He really, really likes me." And those broken little teeth could have never been more beautiful in that moment.
Dr. James Dobson: Oh my goodness.
Kim Meeder: And that's the foundation of what we do at the ranch, every day.
Dr. James Dobson: You still cry over that story, don't you?
Kim Meeder: I do.
Dr. James Dobson: And so do I.
Kim Meeder: Someday.
Dr. James Dobson: I wish I could have been there. I wish I could have seen that.
Kim Meeder: Someday, I hope for a strapping young man to walk up my driveway and say, "You will not remember me, but I will never forget you. My name is Adam. And I'm alive and I'm okay because you introduced me to the love of Jesus Christ in this place."
Dr. James Dobson: Oh my. Kim, you have flown here to Colorado Springs to be with us. Don't you dare move. We're going to close this program and we're going to keep talking and we'll let people here tomorrow what we're about to say.
Kim Meeder: Yes, sir.
Dr. James Dobson: I appreciate you being here. You are a great lady.
Kim Meeder: Thank you, sir.
Dr. James Dobson: And you got a great husband named Troy. God be with you friend.
Kim Meeder: Thank you.
Roger Marsh: Well, that was our own Dr. James Dobson here on Family Talk and his heartfelt conversation with Kim Meeder. Be sure to tune in again tomorrow to hear part two of the program, as Kim will be sharing about a woman named Kathy, and how she received healing at an Ignition Conference, held at the Crystal Peaks Youth Ranch.
You know, much like there is an attack on the foundation of marriage and the family right now, our nation is also experiencing a spiritual civil war. Ideas we once commonly shared, are now being ridiculed in the public square. The spirit of our nation is being strained, and this is no coincidence, as Dr. Dobson reveals in his two disc CD set entitled "America's Spiritual Civil War."
On the first disc, Dr. Dobson welcomes popular conservative author and speaker David Horowitz, and they discussed the origins of hostility towards Judeo-Christian values.
Then on the second disc, Dr. Dobson talks with popular radio host Dennis Prager, about his documentary called No Safe Spaces. It details how free speech is under attack on college campuses all across the nation. To get your copy of this special collection, just visit drjamesdobson.org and click on the resources tab, then select Store. "America's Spiritual Civil War" is our gift to you for a suggested donation of any amount in support of the ministry of the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute.
That's right, you select the amount that you would like to donate, and then we'll send you this valuable resource, right to your door, as our way of thanking you for your gift.
Again, you can give a gift online at drjamesdobson.org and then click on the resources tab. I'm Roger Marsh inviting you to join us again next time for another edition of Family Talk, the voice you trust, for the family you love.
Announcer: This has been a presentation of the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute.