Abigail Cross

I first heard of Crystal Peaks from Kim in 2017 or 2018, when she came to speak at the college I attended. I had been interested in and researching horse therapy, wanting to do something similar, yet at the same time wanting something more, of which I wasn’t even sure. Listening to Kim speak about Crystal Peaks, and the work the Lord was doing there through His people and His horses, I felt a passion well up inside me that this was what I wanted to do. Fast forward to 2020, I graduated college, got married to my now-husband, Matt, and moved to Corvallis, Oregon, where he attended Grad School at Oregon State. During our engagement in undergrad, when Matt mentioned that his professor had been talking to him about an opportunity for grad school, and asked what I thought about moving to Oregon, I got really excited, and immediately googled to see how far it was from Bend. To my chagrin, I found out that it was about 130 miles away. However, when Matt was finishing up at Oregon State and we began to talk about our next step in life, I applied for the Crystal Peaks 2022 internship as the Ranch was still on my heart. After being accepted to the internship, God really worked all things out for us to come to Bend. He opened a door for housing, provided not one but TWO job offers for Matt, and we found out we were expecting our first child, all in the same week!

I’m thrilled now to have joined the staff with little Levi to accompany me! I love being able to work with other members of this family who LOVE the Lord, and who encourage me in my walk. I love working with session families and seeing God’s grace in our ability to minister to each child that we see, spreading His hope, His mercy, and His love to them.

What is the funniest thing a kid has ever said to you at the Ranch? 

One kid asked me if horses eat the same thing that dinosaurs eat. I responded, “Well, depends! What do dinosaurs eat?”. Looking at me incredulously, he said matter-of-factly, “They eat dinosaur food!” Of course. Upon being prompted further, he clarified that dinosaur food was “weeds and oats and sticks and stuff.”

What is one life lesson or thing you have learned from working with a kid in a session? 

I learned to be flexible, to go with the flow and be open to what God has to teach even if things do not go according to my plan. I was working with a little 6 year old girl with one of our horses who was being a bit uncooperative that day, but it opened the door to talking about how horses can have off- days just like people can, and how she can be gracious with her sister if her sister is not having a good day! 

Have you ever had a favorite or unique pet?

When I was young, I was the most animal-crazy little girl, but we had no pets. I started out small - convincing my parents to let me get a few chickens (“they are useful! They lay eggs for us to eat!”). I worked my way up from there… rabbit, cat, dog, but the closest I could get to horses was goats, so I took it! I started out with two dairy goats, Comice and Rune, and could have had a small herd but only kept Comice’s first baby Chepi and then later her daughter, Oreo. These goats were honestly friendlier than some dogs! I could sit out there for hours with them and they would just stand next to me (or on me in the case of the babies!) just enjoying scratches. I love goats.