Roy Exum: The Cowboy And The Kid

  • Wednesday, June 17, 2015
  • Roy Exum

It’s been years since anything this big happened in Tatum, Texas. Back in 1848, when Albert Tatum first built a plantation about 50 miles the other side of Shreveport, La., he declared his property-line boundaries were “out of gunshot sound of the mansion.” The mansion was huge, where hundreds regularly attended parties and got to sign their names on one wall of the dance hall.

Some years later, when track was laid for the Santa Fe line, Tatum’s son Paul, who everyone knew better as “Uncle Fox,” donated a huge chunk of land, drew out the streets, and named himself the postmaster. That was in 1885 so it’s been a long while since anything big happened, save the tornado of 1904, when half the town blew away, and the next year, when the other half burned down and also had to be built back.

So imagine the wait for “the biggest thing ever.” Finally it happened the other night at the rodeo. There was a big but gentle fellow sitting under a white Stetson on the front row when a tiny boy approached him. Here is what the child’s mother, Charity Stewart Robinson, posted on her Facebook page:

* * *

Dear stranger next to us at the rodeo,

When my son came up to you and grabbed your arm, you didn't know he used to be terrified of people.

When he talked to you about the bulls, you didn't know he was diagnosed with a language disorder.

When he jumped in your lap and laughed as you tickled him, you didn't know he had a sensory processing disorder.

You also didn't know as his mother, I sat in my seat, with tears running down my face, sneaking this photo. When we adopted him a few short months ago, we didn't know how long it would take for him to laugh, play and engage others like this.

You didn't know any of this, but you took time to connect with a child who has had to fight to learn to connect. My heart is full. Thank you.

* * *

Faster than a prairie fire in a stiff wind, the picture and the Facebook post went viral. Hundreds of thousands have now seen the cowboy and the kid but it’s not until folks read Charity’s note to the unknown stranger that the story “really gets legs.” And, oh, are they ever long ones.

Within a day or two people from all over east Texas were ringing the Robinsons' line to tell them the man was Jason Taylor, who preaches at the Bar None Cowboy Church between Tatum and Henderson, Texas. Jason’s daughter saw the Facebook post and immediately called her dad so he could see the impact he had made on a recently-adopted child.

Then Preacher Taylor invited the Robinsons to that Sunday’s service. When they got to the beautiful but rustic church, the pastor told about meeting Lincoln and, at that, young ‘Linc,’ to the delight and amazement of the crowd, marched right up on the stage to stand beside his cowboy friend. “It’s just amazing how the Lord works – yesterday he was a stranger and today he is a friend we sat next to in church,” said Charity.

“When we went to bed I had no idea when I woke up this post would be shared by so many. I also had no idea God’s plan for us was to drive 45 minutes to his church to be blessed by Jason, his message and his sweet congregation. So lucky that God made sure our paths crossed last night.”

Charity Robinson believes the key to helping children with challenges is to seek help early and urges parents to get involved in the therapy process so exercises and drills can be practiced at home between sessions. She also realizes that Preacher Taylor is now, shall we say, “on call.”

“The thing that has touched me so much is the outpouring of love and support from all over the country! We are humbled that God is using our story to touch others!”

One thing is for certain. There has never been anything quite like it in Tatum, Texas.

Don’t you wish that one day in your life you, too, can become a cowboy?

royexum@aol.com

A group of cowboys are shown being baptized in a creek by preacher Jason Taylor near the Bar None Cowboy Church in Tatum, Tx.
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