I Rode a Horse of Milk White Jade

Diane Lee Wilson, I Rode a Horse of Milk White Jade. Naperville, IL : Sourcebooks, 2010. 257 pages. ISBN: 978-1-4022-4027-0.

Diane Lee Wilson in her book, I Rode a Horse of White Jade has written a wonderful tale of how a Mongolian girl overcomes earlier setbacks in her life. The setting is thirteenth century Mongolia. Oyuna when she was a young girl a horse's hoof crushes her foot. She is crippled from then on. Oyuna's family and klan thinks she is cursed because of this accident. The girl, however, later thinks she has been marked by the horse. She thinks her vocation is to be with horses. I Rode a Horse of Milk White Jade is a story of a girl's love for her horses and how this love changes her life.

The reader would not have to be a horse lover to love this story. The book is about a love for animals, but it is also about being wounded by life. It is about achieving wholeness against great odds. It is about being optimistic in life's tragedies. I Rode a Horse of Milk White Jade would be an excellent read-aloud for kids. I read it to my kids and the whole family enjoyed it.

I thought about Jacob in the Bible while reading the book. He was marked by the angel when he wrestled with him. He had a limp for the rest of his life. All people have some kind of handicap they must bear. We all face a choice. Will we work to overcome our weaknesses looking to God for strength or will we give in despair? Remember Jesus asked the man at the well, "Do you want to get well?"