[my_unibots_shortcode_1]
Clint Sparks, a J Bar C Cowboy Church member in Palmer, has sat atop his horse since 2015 close to FM813 and I-45 to easily be a beacon of encouragement.
PALMER, Texas — Every Sunday, Gretchen McGuire sees him: a cowboy dressed to the nines like he simply took a time machine from the 1800s, sitting atop his horse in Palmer, waving and smiling at motorists from an Interstate 45 overpass, whereas holding an American flag.
On this specific Sunday, McGuire needed to cease and meet this western character who all the time brings a smile to her face.
She had simply completed a 24-hour shift from Parkland and was heading house on I-45 when she pulled up subsequent to Clint Sparks and his trusty steed ‘Dakota.’
“Hi!” McGuire yelled. “It just warms my heart every time I see you!”
Sparks smiled and pleasantly launched himself.
“You just made my day,” Sparks stated.
It’s ironic to listen to Sparks say what he did, as a result of he is the one normally making an impression on folks.
“Life’s hard enough, I just want you to have a good day.”
Around 2015, Sparks had a revelation: He needed to commit himself to uplifting others on Sunday earlier than church.
He sits atop his horse on I-45 alongside FM 813, down the highway from the J Bar C Cowboy Church in Palmer, the place he’s a member.
It’s a Christian calling for the 65-year-old. It additionally matches with a ‘cowboy code’ that Sparks lives by.
“It’s just a kind of way of life or the way you think,” Sparks stated. “You know, integrity means something, and honesty means something. You try to make things good for your fellow man. We’ve lost a bit of that, and we need to get it back.”
“This country is still great, but I think we have to help it.”
Since 2015, Sparks hasn’t been on the overpass each week. He’s missed some Sundays right here and there on account of household commitments or conflicts.
But in the event you had been a gambler, you would guess on seeing him in the identical spot each Sunday.
His day begins on the church. Sparks pulls his horse trailer in, and he prepares his horse Dakota for the experience down the highway.
Dakota is surprisingly agreeable about Sparks’ mission. He stands on the overpass, unfazed by the honking or site visitors.
“He don’t mind it at all,” Sparks stated. “He always gets goodies, though.”
Sparks will get dressed after saddling Dakota up. He additionally wears boots, chaps, a cowboy hat and has two western pistols holstered in his belt.
If there have been a casting name for an 1800s western present in Dallas, Sparks would have a head begin to be an additional.
“I like looking as authentic as I can, from the 1800s somewhere in there,” Sparks stated. “Back then, your word meant something.”
Once he is able to go, Sparks grabs an American flag, so long as it isn’t too windy, and heads to the overpass.
That’s when the honking begins.
Sparks does nothing however keep in the identical spot, smile and wave.
Motorists reply in form by flashing their lights, honking their horns, or waving again.
“If it makes their day, that’s what I’m here for,” Sparks stated. “People will stop down below me, or they’ll swing by for a picture.”
“They ask me, ‘why are you doing this?’ All I say? I want you to have a blessed day.”
“Just keep smiling, keep putting that one foot in front of the other and keep moving forward,” Sparks added.
Sparks did snicker, saying the Ellis County Sheriff’s Office and native police know him effectively.
Some folks have known as, reporting that somebody is perhaps making an attempt to leap from the overpass.
This reporter is right here to set the file straight as soon as and for all: it is simply Clint, somebody making an attempt to make a distinction.
“If it makes you smile, that’s exactly what I want to do. Just try to help everybody,” Sparks stated.
[my_adsense_shortcode_1]
story by The Texas Tribune Source link
[my_taboola_shortcode_1]
