Quiet Voice Heard Loudly

When you hear the quiet, still voice of the Holy Spirit screaming in your ear, the peace of God envelops you. Game on.

The moment you hear from God it seems Satan attacks. He wants to steal that peace, veer you off the course God laid out for you, and seperate you from the Joy God has given you.

At the beginning of the week, I was struggling with the fact that a friend of mine's daughter was going to college, something I had always wanted my children to do. But the dream had waned as I struggled just to get my kids through High School. The older kids went off and made other choices and so did I. I bought the ranch. Now I was no longer in a position to fully fund their college.

With rising fuel expenses and numerous repair bills piling up at the ranch, I was feeling great heartache over not being able to pay for my son's tech school. He is a gifted mechanic and impressive welder. Tuesday morning my soul was overwhelmed with grief about not being able to pay for his school and then compounded by the "what ifs" if my other children would have decided to go to college, and a little self-indulgence about how much traveling and financial freedom I would have without the ranch. Before I got into too much turmoil over it, I stopped to pray about it. So glad I did!

In the quiet, still voice the Holy Spirit started unfolding God's answer to my prayer. The first thing I found was a career webpage about welding and a mechanic's career path and how very few of them go to college. The path of choice is an apprentice program where they learn on the job. When I got home, my son told me about a program he had found for a certificate at a lube shop he was interested in. He is also checking into other programs offered at body shops that would allow him to use the welding skills he learned in High School. Okay-- Thank you, Lord, for that reassurance.

Soon I had an opportunity to be reminded about the acheivements my other children were making. Amanda was explaining to a friend about her career path in Law Enforcement and how excited she was about it. She doesn't know this but I had turn away and wipe away the tears because I knew over hearing that was God saying-- hey I promised to take care of your kids. Lennon is enjoying traveling and touring the world (I do mean the world: Hawaii, Japan, Pennsylvania, Germany, and the not so popular one, Iraq). He is enjoying his travels and his job will open up many opportunities for him if he chooses to get out of the service.
So having been reassured that my kids were doing fine without a college fund, God in his quiet, still voice continued to yell at me. We had an excellent week at the ranch. Shafina's owners have been out working with her and training her to show this fall at the American Royal. Carol's been practicing her Parelli levels and I actually posted on Jazz (this means a lot of things happened I won't go into detail at this point). We have had several open ranch days at the ranch this month and it has been such a blessing to see everyone coming out and enjoying the horses and the retreat. The ranch has blessed so many people this spring; fishing, camping, and horsing around.

On Monday Night I let Satan take a stab at my soul, but . . .

On Tuesday, On Wednesday,

On Thursday, On Friday,








On Saturday, and On Sunday









. . . God continued to show me glimpses of his plans for the ranch and blessings that he will pour out on those who are drawn here. I am so grateful to be a part of it and for everyone who has and are making this dream come true. Sunday, as we cooled off in the shade from an afternoon of fun in the sun, we had an opportunity to talk about more spiritual things. We shared stories of when God spoke clearly to us and witnessed how quickly Satan tries to take those moments from us. When God speaks to you write it on your heart, remind yourself of it often, share it with others boldly, do not let Satan take from you the Holy Spirit's Quiet, Still Voice You Once Heard Loudly - - - think on those great moments often.


"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.(Philipians 4:4-9)"

Circle the Wagons

Time to circle the wagons. In pioneer days, the wagon trains would circle their wagons to form a defensive boundary around their base camp. Children would be allowed to play inside in safety. No matter what direction an attack came from the barrier would protect them.

Ever play "Red Rover?" A game where your team members clasp arms and yell, "Red Rover, Red Rover send Becky right over," and Becky then runs over and tries to decide the weakest link to break through your teams' arms. A weak player is strengthened by their bond to a strong one.

Circling the wagons provides the same type of protection. The team forming what they hope will be a protective perimeter to keep threats away from their precious ones inside: their children. You can not circle the wagons with one wagon. You can not circle the wagons with two wagons and maybe not even three. You need a team, a wagon train.

The wagon train is like a fellowship. A community that comes together to journey down the same path, caravanning together toward the same destination. When there is a threat, they circle the wagons to help protect each other from an attack. We live in a time of spiritual attack, we need to join with other believers and circle the wagons.

It's Just a Tree

We were lucky, we only lost a few trees during the storms last week and having 77 acres we have lots of trees to spare. Many people lost a lot more, entire houses completely destroyed. Although even they were lucky enough to escape with their lives. I am really glad all we lost were a few trees but I am sad about the loss of one tree in particular.

When my husband died in 2002, his family planted a tree in our front yard. An ash tree that grew in that spot for three years. When we decided move to a new home we told ourselves, "It's just a tree," but when the person who bought our house said she was going to cut it down we were very sad. We asked if they could remove it in a way that we could move it and replant it. Since it was only three years old at the time with care there was a chance it could survive the move. In order for it to survive, the tree removal service was asked to cut out around its root ball which is usually the same size underground as the tree growth above the ground. They agreed to try to save the rootball and were to call us and let us know when they would be removing the tree so we could pick it up. We planned to wrap it in burlap to keep the soil around the roots damp.

The day they called it was over 100 degrees. They called us at 3:30pm to let us know the tree had been cut down that morning around 8 o'clock in the morning. Cut in the cool but left sitting out in the heat with no water and very little of the root ball in tact and no original dirt left on the roots, discouraged we piled it into the back of the truck and hauled it about thirty miles. In the sweltering heat we dug a few holes trying to find a place bury this whithering tree.

As I watched the last leaf fall from its branches a few weeks later, I tried to convince myself, "It's just a tree." I reminded myself it was not my husband, if the tree survived I would still be living life without him but watching this tree die was very emotional. It reminded me of the last months and the last hours watching my husband's life fade away. The first summer we lived at the new house I avoided spending two much time dwelling on the stick that stuck out of the ground without a single leaf on it. However, I followed the advice of a friend and kept watering it but had no expectations of it coming back. Either it would or it wouldn't and either way, it won't change the fact that my husband died and this stick was just a dying tree.

I managed to ignore the stick in the ground all winter. In the spring, even when the other trees all around it were budding and growing thick shawls of green the stick that stuck in the ground without a bud on never bothered me. To me, "It was just a tree." It was just a tree until the day I noticed something on it's branch, what was that I wondered, "A bud?" It was a bud. The tree was budding, it survived. Within a few weeks it was more than a stick, it was a tree with green leaves on it. Within a few weeks it was more than a tree, it was the center of a wonderful memorial garden for my husband.

For the last three years, the tree has bloomed with a larger and larger bouquet of green leaves. Although always the last tree to bud in the spring, sort of like my husband, always late. The tree has become the center of celebrating how much his life meant to us. Last Christmas the kids decorated the tree with special ornaments they bought for him, each with its special significance to one of his children. It has been filled with chimes they have collected in his memory. The tree is now the center of the prime memorial grounds for beloved pets buried in the garden. As special as the tree has become, when I heard the news that the storm had taken out the tree, I told myself, "It's just a tree." It is not like my husband was taken out by the storm, "It's just a tree."

The kids and I tried to detach our emotions for our beloved husband and father, from this tree. Although we were sad to hear and see the tree snapped in half about a foot off the ground, we knew in our hearts it wasn't another loss of a person but just a tree. With or without the tree, we still miss him. I think even my father-in-law was sad to hear about the tree. I think he was happy when he learned that the tree got moved to the new property and survived. There was something about that tree that touched everyones' hearts. He said we should check the tree and see if had grown any saplings around it.

So I quickly ran out to check,

and there around the base of the tree

was abundant new life.

After I told everyone at least twice about the saplings growing from the rootball of the tree, I realized, "It was more than tree." It was a tree that had touched my heart. Until my husband and I meet again, it is the little things, like this tree, that keep our hearts connected.

Within hours of finding the saplings, a new garden began to appear around the fallen tree.

These words from an Oakridge Boys song ring out, "You are always in our hearts, and often on our minds, we will never let that die, just as long as we're alive"

Campfire Worship Ring Awaits You, Come.

We have our first fire ring! When I got home last night my brother-in-law, Mike, showed me a picture of an awesome fire ring. Thinking he was going to ask me if that was what I had in mind I asked, "Where is that located?" He said, "Right where you wanted it!" Cool, huh! Thanks, Mike.


'Come, Now is the time for Worship!' --- the campfire worship ring awaits you and your acoustic instruments and singing voices. Bring your camp chairs, bring your coolers, bring your flashlights (for trekking back up the hill at night), bring your Backwoods Cutter, along with your hotdogs and marshmellows!

Have you seen Maxwell?

LOST: MAXWELL -- LAST SEEN ON
225th Street, North of Tonganoxie

PLEASE HELP US FIND MAXWELL

It is hard to tell about animals. God gifted each of us with unique personalities and kitties are no exception. We thought if we just got Maxwell to the barn he would enjoy the refuge there. Little boy loves to play on the hay bales and visit with the other cats, not Maxwell. Scooby learned that if he doesn't run it is okay to kiss a dog on the mouth, not Maxwell. Maxwell's story is much different. Even though he had a pet dog at his old home, he freaked out when he met the dogs and they responded reactively making things worse. We did manage to get him to the barn and saw him a few days later under the hay bales. But no one has seen him for several days. There was a report of a cat that looked very similiar to Maxwell on 225th street but he ran away when called. If you have seen Maxwell, please let us know. We miss him!

Quest

Sundays at the ranch are designed to be laid back. Impromptu is the word of the day. Not like a Saturday where we have a list of tasks we have planned to try to get accomplished, Sundays are spontaneous. Lunch, after morning worship, leads us into the arms of our creator for whatever it is we need.

Today I had decided to call my horse up to the barn and doctor her wound. Reminded me of our Sunday teaching about Jesus healing on the Sabbath. I had to grin that I too would be helping heal on a Sunday, tending to the healing of the horse. Okay, it is a different magnitude but I still got to join in on God's healing process by applying the wound Kote. I called but Jazz didn't even look up from her munching of green grass to acknowledge my presence on the top of the ridge. However, my call did spark the interest of one of the white arabians and I assumed it was Chantol. She loves to visit with her humans and follows us around the pastures. About half way up the hill I realized it wasn't Chantol after all, it was Quest.

Quest came to the ranch a little over a year ago because he was pasture buddies with Mystic. He got on the trailer with her and so his owners gave him to us as a bonus. His riding history is unknown but he would not let us near him to put on a halter. I spent the better part of last summer playing the friendly game with him in a small square pen and getting him to accept the halter. He has been out to pasture with the herd since last fall and is not one of the horses that comes readily up to greet us when we walk among the herd.

Today he ran up, accepted a treat and when I opened the gate and walked away he ventured inside. With a little work and lots of friendly game that included treats, I was able to halter him. We just played on the lead line and the horse on his left side seemed very happy to be with me but the horse on the right side was more into rearing and calling out to the herd. Ever feel like you have two people inside. One is okay with your situation, the other side is over reacting to it. Horses don't communicate well between brain hemispheres but I have never seen anything like this extreme in Quest today. If I stood on his left, he was calm and okay with me but when I stood on the right he was reactive to the extreme. He kept trying to put me back on the left side and even reared up a few times.

It was still a treat to have such a God given opportunity to play with Quest. It got me really fired up about working the horses this year. Galahad and Zippi's first rides are planned for this summer. I look forward to seeing them all undersaddle this summer-- I guess we have our hands full-- Quest, Mystic, Apache, Galahad, Zippi, and Taffy. Each of them have their own story, their own personalities, their own challenges. I have often dreamed of riding on Quest-- isn't he beautiful? Just as the photo illustrates, he is a beautiful mover and as we build up his confidence this spring his Quest is just beginning.

While all this dreaming was happening at the barn the boys were out fishing. Rosco caught his fish again-- rumor has it he has made a deal with a couple fish that if they allow him and only him to catch them he'll throw them back. It must be Wilbur's family-- right Tiger?

What are your ranch stories? Let us know about your adventures at the ranch. Are you on a Quest?

Too muddy, Two pockets of sunshine

It was too muddy to take the paddle boat down to the pond today. At least it was too muddy to drive the truck in the boggy parts of the Back 40. Rosco says we didn't get the truck stuck because if the truck was stuck it would still be out there. "I didn't mean to farm the pasture, mom." Oh I am the mom.
It was too muddy to take the paddle boat down to the pond today. However, we took the paddle boat down to the pond today. Connor took her out on her maiden voyage of "Big Cat Lake." He put her to work chopping up algae so we can spray the pond when the water warms up to 60 degrees.
We woke up this morning and it was only 37 degrees. No one thought we would have the wonderful warm afternoon that we did. We were able to get the yard cleaned up and mowed and get the paddle boat down to "Big Cat Lake" without getting the truck stuck. Although the truck did stop moving forward and appeared to be moving in a downward direction, technically it was not stuck or it would still be out there sinking.
Our pocket of sunshine disappeared shortly after we soaked up a few sunrays at the pond but returned for an early evening of horsing around. Ali and Jazz agreed to let us catch them for their spring grooming. Our new friend, Dena, even got to show off her horseriding skills on Ali. Very impressive!
We squeezed all this into the last pocket of sunshine before it started raining as the last hot dog came off the grill for a late night meal.
We squeezed a lot into two pockets of sunshine today even though it was too muddy.

Spring is here!

Spring is here I am just sure of it! As slow as God seems to fully declare it, remembering the weekly ice and snow of winter is evidence enough that spring is really here. Although, walking out in the wind and chilling mist this morning may have made me question it. I may have been a little dramatic in declaring it was a blizzard and thankful there would be no need to bundle up and pull anyone out of a ditch -- again. How many times did we do that this winter?
Spring is here I am just sure of it! The trees have green leaves emerging from their winter slumber. The pastures are displaying a light green blanket pleasantly not quite long enough to mow. The crack of lightning and roar of thunder this week made me wonder if we had the right month turned over on the calendar. Wasn't it March that came in like a lion and out like a lamb? Is it really the end of April?
Whatever the date, we are looking forward to a pocket of sunshine at the ranch tomorrow and plan to bring up a couple more horses for Spring grooming. We'll be putting final plans on the locations of the campfire rings and hopefully, if it dries up enough to transport, we will get the paddle boat down to the pond.
It is true that "April showers bring May flowers," even if it rains ice pellets. This is what muck boots and stiff (aka favorite) socks are for!!

Dream it!

"Build it, they'll come," My sister said. "Dream it, they'll build it," God said.
God is doing great things at R4C Ranch and with only a couple of decent outdoor days so far I feel like we have accomplished so much. And so many people are calling and asking about the ranch, we are just so excited about getting to share this wonderful refuge with you. If we didn't get a chance to call you back come on out on Sunday for 'Open Ranch Day,' we would love to meet you and show you around.
We had an awesome day playing horsey Sunday. Wasn't it gorgeous weather? The horses were great and we spent the afternoon grooming a few of them and getting a few of them trimmed up and ready to go to work. I was so glad to get to stretch and take a short hike down to the retreat. We planned the locations of our fire rings (a small ring for boggy days and a large ring for the days when the bog dries up a little). We are going to put the campfire cafe in the small ring. Now that is what I am talking about! And if we get enough strong men out here one Sunday we might get to move a few logs to create our campfire worship ring. I am so excited about that. We found plenty of wood to burn so campfires shouldn't be scarce this summer.
I will put a list on the website but don't forget to bring your water bottles, deep woods off or backwoods cutter (for ticks-- sorry we are still in a fallen world), and camp chairs.
Keep checking back to the blog for more ranch stories. Check in with your comments and let us know about your adventures.
Thanks to everyone for helping this dream come true, to the kids for letting me drag them along on my wild adventures (more on that later), to Mike and Leland for shoring up those fences after the big storm and helping me round up the horses (more on that later, too), to Carol for dreaming with me, to Mom and Dad (who dream in green and yellow) for encouraging and supporting our dreams, and to our heavenly Father for His wisdom, mercy, and grace through Christ.

About Adults

A Connorism:
As I tucked my 10 year-old into bed last night, he asked me a question for which I gave him a thoughtful answer. He then announced, "You know, I have discovered there is more to adults than just being old. They are a fountain of knowledge. I guess they just soak that up along the way."

Lost Passion

After passionately getting into a mud fight with my oldest son at the gas station (I'll explain later), I realized something about the state of Christian evangelism in this country (from my humble observations). The story began when I met my son at the gas station to fill up my truck with gas. He had borrowed the truck and I specifically told him to keep it on the road. However, as I walked past the truck I noticed it was extremely dirty. It had mud covering the sides and windows and even some on the hood and roof. When I asked him about it, he said, "It rained and the dirt roads were muddy."
"But that is a lot of mud" I said then looked at the front and noticed strands of hay stuck in the mud and hanging from the bumper and mirrors. "Ummm... was there hay on the road."
His explanation seemed lame at the time and infuriated me. I let him know how I felt explaining my disappointment in a fit of passion that culminated in us throwing chunks of mud at each other.
The point of this story is not that I was right and he was wrong or even how I let this object be the source of a heated battle in front of his friends that may have jeapordized our relationship. Although I am saddened by both of our behavior. But what really amazed me is when I thought about the passion I put into that exchange in my desire for his respect, his honestly, and his obedience to such an extent that I have never gone to in the pursuit to save his soul.
As I thought about that, I thought about all the robust debates and arguments and passion in this country and realized I have never witnessed any such level of energy when it comes to Christians reaching out to the lost souls. I have heard many stories about how much peace one has about knowing they are saved and going to heaven but never any agony about how the lost are lost and going to hell. If we truly believe in our heavenly bliss, then do we not truly believe in the weeping and gnashing of teeth that the lost, some of our dearest loved ones included, will endure for eternity. Isn't that more important than a dirty truck and torn up hayfield?Yet, it grieves me that I have never got as passionate as that battle at the gas station in the pursuit to save my own son's soul.

Saving Maxwell

I learned something new about myself yesterday. I will sacrifice a foot but not a hand. I wonder why. Certainly, walking is better than handling things but under pressure I was willing to sacrifice the foot and not the hand. The decision came under great diress. We were introducing a new cat to the mix of too many farm animals that live on the property. On the way to the barn the dogs came up to introduce themselves and Maxwell, the cat, freaked out. Luckily, I was not the one holding him. After the cat handler was able to dig the cat out from underneath his skin, literally, Maxwell ran away from the barn and up to the house to hide in one of the window wells. While the original cat handler was in receiving first aid treatment, I proceeded to find Maxwell and see if I could persuade him to hide in the barn away from the dogs. However, the dogs figured out what I was up to and they obviously wanted to repay Maxwell's initial greeting of hisses and growls and scratches with equal impact of barks, growls, and fur-flying.
So back to the story of the foot instead of the hand enlightenment. During the attack of three dogs against one cat, I decided to go in and save Maxwell. In pulling the dogs off I refrained from intruding with any of my limbs. But as fur was flying, urgency was of upmost importance so I went into the middle of the pack with my foot. I attempted to push the dogs away from the cat without exposing too much leg. When that didn't work I stepped back and punted. Score! Dogs and fur flying, I covered Maxwell with a rubber tub for which he seemed grateful and would not come out of.
In the whole process, I discovered something about myself. I would sacrifice my foot but not my hands. Why is that? Do I prefer handling things, touching things, over walking? Have you ever played that game where you try to decided which of your five senses you would be willing to lose if you had to lose just one? Which limb would you be willing lose if you had to give one up?
Unfortunately, many of our troops that are returning home from battle with missing limbs or senses didn't get to choose. They didn't get to choose which limb or which sense or how many limbs or senses they would prefer to lose. All they knew is in the heat of the battle, they had to save Maxwell. They went for it without really thinking, some more willing than I, jumped in with their whole bodies giving their all. Some sacrificing much, some sacrificing all, and all sacrificing something. In the end, they all will learn something about themselves and much more: They will learn that they are braver than they thought they were, that their team is more important than any member acting alone, and that God is bigger than most people say He is.
Who is Maxwell anyway? What are you willing to sacrifice for the Maxwells in your life?

A Sister's Love

When my daughter was old enough, she begged me to have another girl because she wanted a sister. My sister and I were not really very close at the time. We had lived in other states since I was 16 and had gotten busy in our own little worlds. Remembering our sibling rivalries, I advised my daughter against having a sister. But every once in awhile, my sister and I would seem to be "in sync" with each other even if it only lasted a short time. She approved my "For List" when I got married, took a Sacred Path journey with me, and we even took our daughters to horseback riding lessons where we enjoyed riding as much as they did. And in between these adventures we both wondered how we could actually have been born into the same family, we felt we were so different. We would drift away from each other and get sucked back into our little worlds.
You have probably heard about friendships, that there are three types: the one that lasts a lifetime, the one that lasts a season, and the one that is only there for a reason. The great thing about a sister's love is that it is a friendship that has the opportunity to be all three. Even if you try to emancipate yourself, a sisters' love binds you together. And when family stuff always brings you back together even for a brief encounter like in a hospital waiting room, it's all you need to sync up again.
When I was in junior high, I had a good friend who was best friends with her little sister. I wanted that so much but every time I tried to bring my big teenage sister around it didn't work out. Either her friends talked her out of it or my friends talked me out of it and we went back to our sibling rivalry. Eventually, my friend from junior high school had drifted apart from her sister. Fortunately, for us my sister and I came to a point as mature women where we both realized we had become each others' best friend. A sister's love is like that-- it ebbs and flows but like an ocean wave it always come back in to wash over you. And I know that my friends from Junior High will always have opportunities to sync up again and if they are lucky, they will reignite their friendship. Sadly, my daughter will not have the chance to do this since she was the only girl in a family of four boys. But I imagine that will have its perks, too, as family stuff brings them back together over a lifetime.
In the meantime, I will treasure my sister's love for the reasons we are there for each other, for the seasons we came in and out of each other's bond, and for a lifetime of friendship.

Discernment & Hope

Friday night I got to see Joel Osteen live at Kemper Arena, and it was great. Joel and his family preached about Hope and living through the eyes of faith. I had been praying about how to be an encouragement to someone dear to me and I really connected with the Victoria's talk about "abounding love." Saturday I was able to share this with my loved one. I learned that Friday night while I was praying for wisdom on how to encourage my loved one's troubled relationship, God was already at work patching it up. What I shared was a confirmation of that for both of us. I knew what I heard during this "Night of Hope" was annointed and I even got the Holy Goosebumps to go with it. Praise God!
What was a shock was Sunday morning at my own bible-based church listening to one of the teaching pastors criticize (although he did not name names) Joel's message of Hope and Victorious Life In Christ. Aware of the criticisms of Joel's ministry, I prayed for discernment. Who is right?
As always, if there is a conflict in teaching we must revert to the source and so I picked up my bible and prayed for discernment. Lord, who is right? Whose teaching do I follow, Joel's or my teaching pastor?
I began to read Philipians 1 and was amazed to find the very scripture that Victoria had preached on that gave me guidance to encourage my loved one:
"And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight," and following that with a comma not a period was the answer to my prayer for discernment, "so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God."
Okay, so that quickly confirmed that I should trust the peace the Spirit was giving me about Friday night's teachings. Does this then mean I should dismiss my pastor's comments or even more drastically find a new bible based church? Probably not. My answer became clear as I continued to read Philipians 1:
"It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice."
This just reiterates the importance that each one of us remain in God's word. Why do you think the bible is the world's bestselling book of all times? So we can each have our own copy. We each need to be reading it so that we can become discerning and wise and be filled with the Hope that is God's word. And God's word walked among us when Christ was on earth and Christ walks among us now in God's word. We are not sponges meant to sit on pews and soak up preaching after preaching without considering it or evaluating it. We are to grow in the knowledge and depth of insight so that we will be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.
I believe that many of Joel's critics are missing the point-- Jesus is Good News! The slam on the doctrine of "positive Christianity" is an oxymoron. Christ is good news-- that is positive!! Christ came to bring Hope into the world, He embodies Hope, He came to set us free from our sin, to give us life in the Full. This is the message--- this is the good news.
But I am not upset with my pastor for criticizing Joel's message, as Paul says, "What does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice."

Winter Wisdom

Winter does this to me, makes me feel lost. I become reclusive and dream of Spring. I don't know if it is the cold or lack of vitamin D or less contact with people or less activity at the ranch or the ache in my joints. I feel farther from God and start questioning everything. I think drastic thoughts about change-- moving, taking a new job, doing something different... it's almost like a desparate attempt to elude the winter desolation. I do this every year so this year I decided to remember the years past, what can I learn from them, how can I get through this winter by the Wisdom those years have shown me. The conclusion: Don't make any rational decision until Spring!! Spring changes everything.

So I turned back to God's word-- which by the way I had been avoiding along with everything else. Not because of intentional avoidance just neglect as I recoiled into my winter fetal position awaiting Spring's strike out to face the world again.

I love reading God's word so I don't understand what keeps me from reading it everyday. Today's gem was no disappointment, it reminded me that Christ did not come to the earth to make us all best friends but to draw a clear line between his followers and his enemies. Amazing how that is becoming so clear in the headlines as well as in our own homes. Jesus says, "God blesses those who do not turn away because of me."

God's word brings Wisdom to desparate hearts even in the desolation of winter, in the midst of this battle we wage toward peace and harmony for heaven's sake. In a perpetual seperation that can not be stopped, can not be reasoned, can not be persuaded, we cling to our Prince of Peace for Winter's Wisdom.

"Wisdom offers you long life in her right hand, and riches and honor in her left. She will guide you down delightful paths; all her ways are satisfying. Wisdom is a tree of life to those who embrace her; happy are those who hold her tightly." Proverbs 3:16-18. She is found in the Word of Our God, the God of Abraham and the fearsome God of Isaac.

It's Finally Here!!-- The Essence of Leading Prolific Small Group Meetings!

After a long anticipated wait-- your leadership package has finally arrived. The Essence of Leading Prolific Small Group Meetings is finally complete. I want to thank all of you who have been patiently waiting for us to get the kinks out and deliver you a quality product. Some of you have been waiting since August when our package was scheduled to come back from the printer and on behalf of R4C Ranch Productions I hope you know how much we appreciate you hanging in there with us.

We hope you enjoy your new training and motivational package. We have packed it full of powerful tools and ideas to help you transform your weekly meetings into life-changing small groups. The Essence of Leading Prolific Small Group Meetings covers skills in relationship building, leadership development, facilitating empowering discussions, and group member management. Your feedback is vital to our continuing desire to create quality leader materials and training. Let us know what you think of your new Leadership Package by commenting to this blog or emailing us directly at r4cr.productions@yahoo.com

If you haven't ordered your Leadership Package yet, you can do so at www.theleadinglife.com

Dream Ranch Journey

R4C Ranch Productions presents

--"The Dream Ranch Journey"--

This new blog at http://dreamranchjourney.blogspot.com is dedicated to reviewing and sifting through the billions of books out there to find and bring straight to you the "How Tos" and "Great Ideas" as well as the "Intellectual Stimulation" and "Spiritual Inspiration" to help keep you going on your Dream Ranch Journey.

Remember: The dream is the passion God put in your heart to lead you closer to him but the Journey is everything. . . no destination on earth is worth stopping at. . . so keep dreaming until God brings you home.

Welcome to the Country-- city girl!

What a blessing to have my children spending a Sunday afternoon working in the fields with me! While my 10 year old helped me with the new fence, his main chore to ride the ATV back and forth to the house and get us refreshments and tools we forgot, my 20 year old daughter born and raised in the city, was learning how to pick up round bales with the tractor. After she got her first bale set, she got a ride from my son on the ATV to come talk to me.

"Is something wrong with the tractor?" I asked.
"This just isn't working," she explained. "We are going to have to go get the truck and the flat bed. I was thinking we could stack several bales on the flat bed and move them like that. You can't seriously think we are going to be able to move all of these bales one at a time that is going to take forever."
After I regained my composure from chuckling so hard I said, "Welcome to the Country, city girl." After we exchanged a few more ideas and truths about tractors, lifts, and money, I suggested all she needed was some suntan lotion and patience.
"This isn't the internet, girl, it's farming. Relax and enjoy the sunshine-- one bale at a time."

It's Finally Here~ The Essence of Leading Prolific Small Group Meetings

After a long anticipated wait-- your leadership package has finally arrived. The Essence of Leading Prolific Small Group Meetings is finally complete. I want to thank all of you who have been patiently waiting for us to get the kinks out and deliver you a quality product. Some of you have been waiting since August when our package was scheduled to come back from the printer and on behalf of R4C Ranch Productions I hope you know how much we appreciate you hanging in there with us.

We hope you enjoy your new training and motivational package. We have packed it full of powerful tools and ideas to help you transform your weekly meetings into life-changing small groups. The Essence of Leading Prolific Small Group Meetings covers skills in relationship building, leadership development, facilitating empowering discussions, and group member management. Your feedback is vital to our continuing desire to create quality leader materials and training. Let us know what you think of your new Leadership Package by commenting to this blog or emailing us directly at r4cr.productions@yahoo.com

If you haven't ordered your Leadership Package yet, you can do so at www.theleadinglife.com

R4C Ranch Trail Ride Beginnings

Our first small group trail ride set out Friday, 9/14/2007. They opted out of the traveling through the herd and the woods but instead took the trails out to the hay field where they could let the horses go on a loose rein and enjoy some high speed adventures around the hay bales. We followed up with a second ride on Sunday and it was absolutely beautiful. We dodged the thunder and rain-- remaining mostly dry. The weather was absolutely wonderful. Not as chilly as the Friday night lifegroup on the deck. I just think we are not used to the sudden drop in temperatures of over a 40 degree spread from 105 degrees down to the low 60's.

The R4C Ranch Trail Ride Prayer:

Lord,
As we saddle up our horses and prepare to ride
We ask that you would be our guide
Not just on this trail but all trails of life
Lead us out of darkness and into your light

We thankyou for our equine friends
and Your majesty revealed through them
Let them carry us safely as we ride today
Reveal more of you, Lord, along the way

Prepare us for you, Lord, renew our minds
As we venture out, new treasures to find
Following our leader, Faithful and True
Every where we go, Lord, we'll follow you

In Jesus name, Amen.

Train Yourself up to be Godly

"When we are ambushed, survival kicks in and we revert to our training," Major O. explained, "that is why discipline and training is so important." Not all attacks are military and not all are physical. We are constantly fighting off spiritual attacks that strike at our greatest areas of weakness physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. If you have strengthened your faith and disciplined your mind in God's word, then you have a firm foundation to fall back on. "When we are ambused, survival kicks in and we revert to our training."

"For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge, and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perserverance; and to perserverance godliness (God-Likeness); and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing meausre they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." (2 Peter 1:5).
And this discipline will prepare you for when you are ambushed and help you prevail when you must stand on your training.

"So then brothers stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed to you..." 2 Thessalonians 2:15

"Have nothing to do with godless myths, but train yourself up to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come." 1Tim 4:8

Hope and Faith

Sometimes I think, it would be a cruel trick for the Creator to have opened our eyes to life and death and then let us live only to die into an abyss of nothingness. That is why I put my Hope* into the God of Creation that has made so much of humans that he came to us in Spirit and in Flesh to teach us about the plans he has made for our eternity after our dance on earth.

*Hope--> Archaic. Trust and Confidence

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." Hebrews 11:1

So what is that we do here?-- what is the point, you might ask. I love what Cat Stevens asks in his song, O Very Young. "Oh Very Young, What will you leave us this time?" It's not about what you had when you were here and you can't take it with you when you go, but what will you leave behind: An invention, an unfulfilled promise, a bit of wisdom in the heart of young person? No it's not about your loving will-- you can leave money and they will spend it, property and they will sell it, things and they will rust and depreciate-- all these things seem valuable to us but true value can not be left in a will. True value sews Hope and Faith into the hearts of those you leave behind.

Teenage Wisdom

I am always perplexed by the insights I gain from my teenage children. I was thinking about how hyper-sensitive they are to what other people think about them. If a teenager, and I am not naming names, doesn't have the proper attire that is a cause to skip school. You can not go to class if your new. You can't go to class if you've worn your only clean shirt already once this year unless its your absolute favorite and then you can wear that up to three times a week but not four or five. You can't go to class unless you drive a cool car or truck and if you have to have a ride from your parent-- you can only go if you get to drive up to the school or are dropped off at a friends so you can ride the rest of the way with them.

As I contemplated how to offer wisdom to my teenager about learning not to be so hyper-sensitive about what others thought something that took me two decades to get over, I realized the hypersensitivity did not seem to carry over onto what I thought about him. Okay, so maybe if you could take a little bit of the "I don't care what you think, mom" and apply that to your peers maybe you could reach a healthy balance.

Teenagers also have a strange sense of math. You can tell them how great they are for five days in a row with little response but if one day after school you ask them to pick up their mess they equate, "You never have anything good to say. All you do is yell at me when I mess up."

You would have thought I was never a teenager. But I was and that is why I probably act like I do now. Somehow I think every parent wants to protect their adolescents from going through what they did, if only they just did what we did right without doing what we did wrong--- then maybe they would be better adults than we are or at least better quicker. My daughter once yelled at me, "You just want me to be like you were as a teenager--- well I am not you, mom." The dilemna-- do I tell her? The last thing I wanted was for her to be like I was as a teenager but unfortunately I saw so much of me in her it was scarey. Well, I think she might turn out okay afterall!!

God's Glory

I just learned that the Hebrew word for "Glory" has a more fine-tuned translation than what we commonly consider splendor or greatness. The word is kavodh and means inclusively weight (or more modernly great treasure), abundance, and wealth.

"Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory (the great treasure, abundance, and wealth) of God the Father."

Interesting isn't it. Jesus brought Glory to God the Father. In otherwords, he was a great treasure to him. Jesus was God's wealth and abundance. That is why we want to be like Jesus to be a great treasure and of great wealth to God. "So whatever you do , do it all for the glory of God (1 Cor 10:31)." Do it all to be God's abundance and wealth. In all that you do be a great treasure to God.

"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Matthew 6:21)." Following the logic here, if you are God's treasure--- will not God's own heart be with you also?

Meeting With God

It's a new year and I just learned that God wants to meet with me! From the very beginning of mankind, God walked with us and talked with us and even looked for us when we were hiding because of sin. He asked us to design special places to meet with us and cleansed us so that He could dwell among us.
"... Make a sanctuary for me and I will dwell among you. Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you. " Exodus 25:8-9

I wonder: what is the pattern that God is showing us for his sanctuary today. Where does God want to meet you? What does the pattern of place, time, and furnishings look like? Will you run to this place knowing God is going to meet with you there?

Think about how you react if you hear your phone ringing-- not even knowing who it is, do you leap over small furniture and stumble over toys trying to catch the caller before they hang up? If there is a knock at the door, do you find the energy to get up out of bed, put on your robe, to see who is there? God is waiting for you at your special meeting place will you not find the energy to get up and to leap over small furniture to meet with him before he leaves. Would you miss a minute of his visit with you?

New Every Morning

Lord, I will wait for you.
You, Lord, are my portion.
Great is your faithfulness.
Your compassion is new every morning.
Your compassion never fails.
I will not be consumed.
Great is your love.

Good Fruit

"You can not change the fruit itself but you can change the root from whence the tree nourishes the fruit it produces." When I heard this a light came on in this wee little brain of mine. No wonder it seems impossible to change our bad habits or bad attitudes or bad tempers. We try to practice better habits, have better attitudes, and present more pleasant temperaments by polishing the appearance of the fruit. But bad fruit is bad fruit no matter how shiney you try to make it.
The only way to make bad fruit better is to nourish the root system that produces it. Build stronger roots that eliminates the need for improving bad fruit because wouldn't you know it the fruit it produces is good. The roots of true joy and happiness are naturally displayed in the fruit we produce. The good fruit is good habits, good attitudes, and pleasant temperments.
In Joel Osteen's book, Your Best Life Now, he encourages us to improve the root system by looking at the roots that produced the bad fruit. What is your purpose for not stopping a bad habit? What is the underlying reason you exhibit a bad temper or bad attitude? Once you know, don't hang on to that thing-- forgive a hurt, stop seeking pity, eliminate a fear--- whatever the reason deal with it and move on. Your life will begin producing good fruit as your root system becomes healthier and stops wasting nourishment on the bitterness of the past.

Hosea 14

Bring your confessions, and return to the Lord... and the Lord will say, "I will heal you of your faithlessness; my love will know no bounds, for my anger will be gone forever."

He promises to be like:
a refreshing dew from heaven

That falling on us will make us:
blossom like the lilly
send deep roots into the soil
branch out like olive trees
with fragrance as the cedars
We will live:
under God's shade
and
flourish like grain
blossom like grapevines
with fragrance of the wines

God answers your prayers and cares for you.
God is a tree that is always green
All fruit comes from him.

The wise listen with discrenment
and
righteous people walk in the true and right paths of the Lord.

The Lord says,
"I am the one who answers your prayers and cares for you."

To Do Life Today List!

To Do Life List:
____ Expect God's favor today... no matter your age, your health, or your circumstances.
____ Visualize your big dream and imagine living it at least twice today.
____ Write down the Top 6 things you want to accomplish today and do them.
____ Take one step toward your big dream today.
____ Read a scripture and think about it as you interact with the world today.
____ Be ready to be used by God today--- you're on-call 24/7.
____ Accumlate 30 minutes of heart-pumping activity today.
____ Think about the things you put in your fuel tank today (your body).
____ Think about the impact of the things that came out of your mouth today.
____ Work a puzzle daily to keep your mind alert (use it or lose it).
____ Read a chapter from a book today and journal what it meant to you.
____ Write down 10 Great things that happened to you today.
____ Thank God for today.

The Hard Decisions

Last evening my 17 year-old son and I watched a program on Leadership delivered by speaker, Chris Widener. He recommended that leaders make hard decisions quickly so that if you make the wrong decision you have more time to fix it and if you make the right decision you have more time to implement it. As my son and I discussed that, we realized a key contribution to our most heated conflicts-- he likes to make quick decisions which I always felt were impulsive and I like to analyze the details and make the right decision the first time which he felt was my procrastinating so I could hold him back.
During the conversation I did realize that I have a fear of making the wrong decision. I have an underlying need to be RIGHT! And so I put off a decision until it is certain to be the right one. The freedom to make the wrong decision with time to correct it may be just what I need.
The best part was the look on my son's face when he learned that he had a quality of great leadership. He loved to 'make hard decisions quickly.' We both recognized that we had a different way to approach a decision and that somewhere in middle we could come together. He could give me a little more time to gather the facts and I could make a decision a little sooner even if it was wrong.

Heart's Desires

I read a 2004 Cover Story from Time Magazine today about the discovery of the "faith gene." According to the author there is a gene sequence in our DNA that predisposes us to seek God. In Sacred Romance author John Eldredge posits that God placed in our hearts passions and desires that are designed to lead us back to him. "Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart (Psalm 37:4, NLT)."

We are hard-wired to seek after God and he gave us what we need, our heart's desires to find him. "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you," declares the LORD (Jeremiah 29:13-14, NLT). "

Of course we have the gift of free will and can use our hard-wire desires to pursue selfish delight and not find God. What a shame to miss out on having the desires of your heart and God too!

In Wild at Heart, Eldredge proposes that a man's heart's desires can be summed up into three categories: A battle to fight, an adventure to live, and a Beauty to rescue. Similarly he lists three essential desires in the feminine heart: to be fought for, to be swept up into an adventure, and to unveil her Beauty. What are your heart's desires? Do you agree with Eldredge? What desires has God put in your heart to help you find him? Are you pursuing them, for his delight or your own, or are you burying them?

The Car from Hell? or Heaven?

I really thought God had let me down after the same car from my God's Peace post exploded just three days after he got it and my son had to replace the entire engine not to mention hundreds of dollars of other things wrong with it. He had that replaced and then the instrument cluster quit working. A few days after getting it back from the mechanic he was stranded on the side of the road when his tire came off the rim. Is this the car from hell or what!!
I have been having conversations with God about this whole car ordeal. Did I not ask for a sign? Was that not you God that gave me a sign? The sign I testified about as your faithful witness while everyone watched and smirked and jeered, "What a peice of junk!" I prayed about this car purchase because I wanted your blessing-- what happened to your promise-- 'ask and you shall receive.' I did ask and this is what I get? I just felt stupid and publicly humiliated not to mention let down by God.
Last night my son came into my room and cheerfully told me he had fixed the tire. He was very proud of himself and happy that it wasn't going to cost him any more money to get it fixed. But he informed me that there was something wrong and the car was now making a knocking sound. Sigh! Now what? And the conversations and feelings of God letting me down again filled my head. When I walked by the garage, I heard my son and my nephew laughing. I peeked in and my son was bent over with his head in the engine compartment of his new but very old car. He was covered with dirt and grease from head to toe, wrench in hand, tinkering.
"Hey, mom," he looked up, "I think we figured it out." I smiled and left.
Could it be I just didn't get it? Was this God's plan all along? Since the car's engine exploded, my son has been at home working for me on the ranch almost every night to make up for the extra money to fix the car's engine. He has been in the garage tinkering with the engine, painting rusted parts, and affixing parts that are falling off. He's decided he really likes working on cars and is thinking about becoming a mechanic. His grades have been improving in school so he can participate in the technical college program as a senior in high school. Maybe the extra investment I had to make in the car is just what God ordered to keep him at home, safe, and tinkering in the garage.
"After I get you paid back, I am going repaint this car and redo the interior. It's gonna be a classic."
"Sure," I replied, "The car from heaven."
He smiled. "Exactly."

Mastery over the Previous Age

"The fact distinguishing our day from previous times is obviously our mastery over the scientific means of life. ... [new discovery] harnessed for our service until we possess, as no other previous age, [a greater means of living]. ... But when we turn our thought from the means by which we live to the ends for which we live, are we so sure that we are on a correspondingly higher level than our [fore] fathers?"
---excerpted from The Hope of the World by Harry Emerson Fosdick (1933).

FULL FAITH

Faith is being sure of what you hope for and certain of what you can not see (Hebrews 11)

Have FAITH.

Goodness is virture, excellence, generousity, value.

Add GOODNESS to your FAITH.

Knowledge is familiarity, a knowing, acquintance with facts, awareness, and the path of understanding.

Add KNOWLEDGE to your GOODNESS.

Self-control is like a city whose walls are fortified, to regulate, direct, or influence.

Add SELF-CONTROL to your KNOWLEDGE.

Perseverance is adherence to a course of action, belief, or purpose through suffering and trials.

Add PERSEVERANCE to your SELF-CONTROL.

Godliness is a great reverance for God, valuing all things from the creator, attained by knowledge and truth.

Add GODLINESS to your PERSEVERANCE.

Brotherly Kindness is exercising a tender, considerate, helping nature toward each other.

Add BROTHERLY KINDNESS to your GODLINESS.

Love is patient, kind, without envy or boasting, not proud, keeps no record of wrongs, rejoices in truth, protects, trusts, always hopes, always perseveres, never fails.

Add LOVE to your BROTHERLY KINDNESS.

Have FAITH full of Goodness, Knowledge, Self-control, Perseverance, Godliness, Brotherly Kindness, and Love.

Connor's Financial Planning

Connor said, "Mom, I realize that you are not going to increase the amount of my commissions. I understand that. Really, I am okay with that but can you at least increase the frequency of them?"

God's Peace

God promised he would be the Father to the Fatherless. I really caught on to that promise when my husband died and left my children fatherless. Yesterday, God really showed me his faithfulness. My son had worked all summer at the local grocery store and most of his hard-earned money had went straight into the gas tank of his dad's old pickup. I had agreed to help him buy a used car that would save him money on gas and allow him to put more of his money towards his insurance and hopefully have some spending money leftover as he paid me back for the car. He researched several cars and had taken my advice to not buy a couple of them. Then he found "The Perfect car."
I was not so sure. It was a little too sports car for me, not necessarily the gas saver I was hoping for, and I was not so sure it would handle safely in the snow. My biggest concern was that it was a sporty car and that he would drive it too fast. I started doing my research online and kept running into younger men who had bought these cars with their dads. I thought, yeah, this is the kind of car that would be cool for him to buy with his dad. I just didn't feel comfortable saying yes to this car... I mean what if something happens to him! What if he drives it too fast and gets hurt? I just didn't have a peace about it. I decided to tell him to find something else.
I went home last night and told him I decided it wasn't the right car. He tried to convince me it was. He said he did research and the mid-engine rear wheel drive he'd found handled well in the snow and it got 36 MPG in the city. I wasn't convinved my research showed that it only got 24MPG in the city and didn't handle as well in the snow. He said that I must have been looking at the GT's which were V6's. We had conflicting information and reviews. We kicked it around and I finally said, "Fine, you offer them $1000 cash and tell them we'll pick it up tonight." He tried to tell me how it was worth the $1895 they were asking and that I hadn't considered the stereo system and that other cars like it were on autotrader for a lot more.
I explained that I never agreed to buy him a stereo system and that just because they were asking for more in these ads didn't mean they were going to get it. Reluctantly he agreed to call and make an offer of $1100. They said they could go to $1750 or $1200 without the stereo.
A used stereo system for $550. Oh my son said, it is worth more than that you've never research stereos. I reemphasised 'not buying you a stereo.' I reconfirmed my position that the car was only worth $1009 according to TMV. He correctly stated that was an average and this car is worth so much more than that plus its got a great stereo. I finally agreed that I would allow him to buy it for the amount I had originally offered to help him out with which was $1500. And I prayed that I was not making a mistake.
"Lord, you promised to be the father to the fatherless. I don't know how to make this decision. Am I being too protective? Or am I making a big mistake. I am asking you to show me the right way. Do not let them accept this offer of $1500 if it is not a good idea, if it is not something you as his father would endorse. If you agree he should have this car then please protect him and help him to avoid the temptations to drive wrecklessly. Lord, I am looking for your answer by the outcome of this deal."
My son called and said, "If we bring $1500 cash tonight will you take the offer." No but they would accept, "$1600 if we came down tonight only." I said no.
Oh boy did we have a big fight after that. My son couldn't believe I would blow the whole deal for just $100. I said, "They will call back and if they don't it wasn't meant to be. We agreed $1500 and I really don't have the other hundred."
"Someone else is going to buy this car."
"I am telling you this is the game. You made a fair offer. It's $500 more than the TMV, that is plenty of money for that stereo. It's a fair offer. The $100 will go into the pocket of the one who stands their ground the longest. If it is sold out from under you, there is a reason and you don't want it anyway."
He was so angry with me. I told him to call him back and ask the salesman to take his name and number and call him back if they changed their mind. Soon I was on the phone with the salesman trying to convince me to buy the car for $1600. I said, "Listen, I did some research on line the TMV for that car is $1009. That means we've offered you $500 already for the stereo which is also used."
"But this car is a classic."
"You mean it has $134,000 miles on it."
"The stereo is worth $900."
"Listen, we have researched this car and feel that the $1500 is a fair price."
"We have more in the car than that. We paid $1400 for it."
"We are offering $1500 cash tonight. If you can't take that for it, I understand. Call us if you change your mind. Good night."
We hung up. My son couldn't believe I did that. I didn't mention to him that I was pretty set on the fact that if God said yes, they would come down to $1500 and that I wasn't going a penny over that and buy this car without God's blessing.
He went on and on about the extra $100. He couldn't believe I was going to let someone else get this great deal for $100. He told me how many ways he could come up with the extra money and I told him that is how you were going to come up with the $1500. I said, If you have $1600 march right on down there and get the car.
I took the opportunity to teach him a few things about buying cars. Number one, you can't be so set on getting one that you convince yourself this is the only car in the world for you. Number two, it's a game. Whose pocket should the $100 go into? Decide what you want to give for the car and be willing to walk away and find a better deal if they can't sell it to you for that. I feel $1500 is more than fair and I am not going to let them play me for another $100. And if they can't sell it for that-- that's fine too. There is another deal out there.
I don't think I had convinved my son until the phone rang about thirty minutes later and they said if we had $1500 in cash, tonight, we had a deal. I prayed on the way to the bank -- this is really from you right Lord? The sign at the drive up window said checks for over $1500 had to be done in person in the Lobby. Luckily we only needed $1500 because the lobby was closed.
He got his car--- I got God's peace~

I'm the Leader!

I am a great leader. The only thing holding me back is that no one wants to follow.

Puppy Love

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made." Psalm 139:13-14

Yesterday I went in to wake my 9 year old by teasing, "Okay-- rise and call me blessed." You know from Proverbs 31 her children rise and call her blessed. Like that is ever gonna happen in my house. Guess what, he grinned and said, "You are blessed mom." That made my day! These moments of unexpected bliss are why I went through the hassle of birthing him, loving him, worrying about him, disciplining him, teaching him, and footing the bill for him.

God is love and he created us to share that love. Maybe it is the same way in which we decide to get a puppy, because we want some living being to express love to. What better subject than a puppy who expects nothing from you. I guess that is why we have babies, too. Because we love to express our love and we imagine these tiny infants cuddling in our arms smiling up at us. Of course, it doesn't take long for reality to hit. Just like with the puppy who starts chewing up everything you own, kids soon learn to talk and "I love you" isn't always at the top of their vocabulary list. By two they don't seem to idolize you as much as they once did. Once they start school, you no longer know everything. When they become teenagers, you no longer know anything. Expressing our love for them becomes extremely challenging.

Children aren't going to praise us just because we went through birthing pains to have them and all sorts of pains to raise them. However, It doesn't change the fact that we love them. We did not choose to have them so they could worship us. We wanted to love them. We loved them first ... we love them always... through it all. And if things work out right, they can carry that love with them throughout their lives when they feel like no one else in the world cares. Unselfish love endures forever in the hearts of those who recieve it.

Loving first, without expectation of love in return is what unconditional love is all about. It is why your puppy is so happy because he expects nothing. He bounces up to you for a pat or a scratch behind the ears and if he doesn't get one he doesn't mope off. Instead he bounces off somewhere else and tries again later. But if he does get a pat or a scatch he is filled with tail-wagging excitement. Everything he receives is a blessing over and above what he expected. In this same way we should reach out and love others with the heart of a puppy's love; no expectations. Giving love should be the goal that brings us joy and the return of that unexpected love, a blessing over and above our expectations.

"Remembering the words of the Lord Jesus himself said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." Acts 20:35

Hope for the Control Freak

I have been called a control freak a few times. Okay, maybe I don't work that well with others and maybe my eye for details is a few sizes larger than the average person's but control freak? Whatever. However, in the remote case I lean toward being a control freak I heard on the radio this morning that the Sunflower Dental Group will let me be in control. Isn't that great! They even have a back up plan. They said, "We'll let you be in control and if that doesn't work there is always laughing gas."

~"Laughing gas," hope for the control freak~

Pampered Pets

All I can say is city pets must be really whimpy. I just read a Reader's Digest article on keeping your pets bug-free. They suggest if your dog gets a tick to remove it and take the dog to the veternarian to analyze the bite area. I am pretty sure my vet and my dog would not be on speaking terms by the end of the summer. And frankly, I wouldn't be talking to my vet either because I would be in the soup line ... broke from those daily trips to the vet. Country dogs however do get ticks. So if we see 'em we'll yank 'em out but if not the ticks tend to fill up and fall off on their own. If they fall on the ground, we stomp 'em and watch the explosion. Do not stomp them if they land on the deck or the patios because blood stains! We are not heartless though, if the dog does get a lump or infection from a tick bite we clean the infected area with an anti-bacterial wash. We also load the dogs up with tick spot prevention goop to cut down on their chances of getting a tick in the first place.

A Heart for God

Many of us spend a lot of time wondering what God's purpose is for our lives. We take inventories and interest surveys to find our God given talents and gifts. We pray for answers about what job, what ministry, and what schools God has planned for us and our families. At times it feels like we are lost because the answers seem unclear... do you think God may have just wanted you to choose? But we know the feeling of being in God's sweet spot... that place where we know we are walking on the good path God has laid out for us. We continue to search for that spot and prayerfully ask God to continue to nudge us back on it. So what does God want from us? I beleive all he wants is our heart.
There are over 774 references to heart in scriptures, some versions boast 996 references. There are hearts being hardened, filled with pain, drawn to others, rejoicing, and sinking. There are evil hearts and glad hearts. God speaks and prays in his heart. You can find out a lot about God's heart and the heart of man in the scriptures. I search his word to find out exactly what God wants from us. It became very clear God does not want us to go through the motions of being righteous, he wants us to give him our hearts fully.
Here is a little heart to do list straight from God's word:

• Fix these words on your heart (Deut 11:18)
• Love him with all your heart (Deut 30:6)
• Yield your heart to the Lord (Josh 21:3)
• Return to the Lord with all your heart (1 Sam 7:3)
• Your hearts must be fully committed to the Lord (1 Sam 8:61)
• Pour out your hearts to him for God is our refuge (Psalm 62:8)
• Open wide your hearts (2 Cor 6:13)
• Let Christ dwell in your hearts through faith (Eph 3:17)
• Let the peace of God guard your heart in Christ (Phil 4:7)
• Set your hearts on things above (Col 3:1)
• Let the Peace of Christ rule in your heart (Col 3:15)
• Purify your hearts (James 4:8)
• Set apart Christ as Lord in your heart (1 Peter 3:5)
• Apply your heart to understanding (Proverbs 2)
• Keep his commands in your heart (Proverbs 3)
• Trust in the Lord with all your heart (Proverbs 3)

This is just a sample of God's heart to do list. If you find more please share them in the comment section. These are God's will and purpose for your lives! Rejoice in your heart for the Lord will make your paths straight when you search for his discretion and understanding like a hidden treasure.

Inside Looking Out

I have been stuck in this head of mine looking out for as long as I can ever remember. Sometimes I just want to get out of my head and get a bigger picture of the world. I have to wonder if I were blind and deaf would I still feel as if the center of my existence was inside my head or would I have a more over-all body experience. I forget sometimes that I am getting older on the outside which changes the way others look at me but not necessarily the way I look out at others. The nucleus of my life view seems the same as when I was even nine years old or younger. I have more experiences in my head now but I still peer out from behind this same set of eyes. From that perspective nothing has changed, I'm still in my head peering out at the world. Age has only changed the way I process what I experience, making some things simpler to understand and others more complex. Yet, it's still me, the same girl that was peering out decades ago; still here on the inside looking out.

The Owner of All

We are God's possessions and He wants us to live like it. If everything we own is God's, even ourselves, then why do we find it difficult to share what we have been given. God wants us to lay down everything, even our life, to follow him. That at first glance seems like a tall order. Do we all sell our houses and live as missionaries? Do we give away all of our possessions and have nothing to leave an inheritance to our children? If not, then what.

I have been contemplating this for a few weeks now. How do I truly become a disciple of Christ when Jesus said, "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters-- yes even his own life-- he can not be my disciple." Luke 14:26. He wants everything! And yet, I have two children to raise and the bible also says if one doesn't work one doesn't eat. At first this was very conflicting for me, who will provide shelter and clothing for the nomadic missionaries if no one is allowed to own a home or have possessions that would benefit them. Is it right to expect others to work to take care of my children and provide us shelter.

If we do have possessions, part of what God wants is us to be generous with what we are given. "If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?" 1 john 3:17. Most of us get that but we live it out in a varying degrees. Even if you think you are doing well in that area let me tell you that that is not enough. Christ said to give up everything! Be like Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:14, "I will gladly spend everything I have for you and expend myself as well." If you truly are convicted of that then you will start to give away everything and even then Christ says that will not be enough. So should you just give up and go back to life as usual. Of course, not. So how do we get this right?

God doesn't forbid us to have material or money. Actually he wants us to be great handlers of money but what he has been trying to tell us is that rich owners have a difficult time getting into heaven. They are tempted more with greed and hording, they have more to be selfish with, they have more to mis-manage, they have more to give up when God says sell your possessions and follow me. They hang on to material things and gain their self-worth by their possessions. They forget who they are and begin to conform to the world of money and possessions which causes them to lose God's peace and freedom.

God wants us to be rich and live abundant lives just not one that involves putting our worth in material possessions and money. "Watch out! Be on guard against all kinds of greeds; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." Luke 12:15 It is our heart about material possessions that God wants. He wants us to let go of all of our ownership. Let go of ownership of our money, our material possessions, our father and mother, our children, our brothers and sisters. We don't own any of it. It's God's. We are God's possession and so is our money and material possessions, our family. All belongs to God and what God really wants is us to live like that is true in our hearts. To really Get IT and Do It! To be great stewards of all he has put in our care-- managers of his wealth and the homes he has put us over. With it comes God's peace, for you can loose nothing because you have never owned anything but if you manage what you have well, the Lord promises to give you more to manage.

It's not about getting more but doing what God wants with what you have. It's about being a great care-taker of the possessions and money God has entrusted you with. What are you doing with God's stuff? How are you putting God's money to work for him? Are you investing your time and money and possessions in things the owner would be happy about or are you mismanaging His resources? If you were the owner, would you fire yourself or give yourself a raise? Are you still hanging on to material things and money as if you own it? Can you grasp the reality--- you own nothing and never will!! You own nothing but are fully provided for by the Owner Of All who loves you!

The Cost

In Luke 14 Jesus said don't even begin to be my disciple until you are willing to give up everything. If you are not willing to give up everything, you run the risk of only building a foundation that you will never build a building on and everyone will laugh at you. "They will say, 'There is the person who started that building and couldn't finish it.'" Luke 14:30

"But don't begin until you count the cost." Luke 14: 28

If a king determines he can not defeat the enemy with his count, he will send a delegation to discuss terms of peace while the enemy is still far away. Are you sending a delegation or giving up everything? The enemy is near.

Do you have other things to attend to? Did you start out as salt but lost your flavor? Do you love your father and mother, your spouse and children, and yes, even your own life more by comparison?

"Come, the banquet is ready."

Together as a People

We have often debated over the need to assemble with believers. I mean afterall God is everywhere and if you are a believer then you can worship God anywhere so why worry about whether you go to church on Sunday morning or fellowship with other believers during the week. Often we defend church attendance by Paul's word in the new testament to come together to encourage each other and of course to follow the commandment to observe the Sabbath and make it Holy. Holy means to set something apart and Sabbath means to cease from work or labor.

Today in my readinmg of the word in Deuteronomy 33 a few passages stood out that seem to add weight to the blessing and priviledge to assemble with other believers. I'll just share them here as they are written and you can ponder them.

"The Lord became king in Israel-- when the leaders of the people assembled, when the tribes of Israel gathered as one." Deut 33:5

"Bring them together as a people. Give them strength to defend their cause; help them against their enemies." Deut 33:7

"Indeed he loves his people; all his holy ones are in his hands. They follow in his steps and accept his teachings." Deut 33: 3

What Prayer is Worth . . .

In accordance with the Holy Scriptures, the prayers of the righteous;

• are answered.
• give courage.
• give mercy.
• invoke God's presence.
• get God's attention.
• are pleas which produce the knowledge of afflictions in our own hearts.
• cause heaven to hear our hearts.
• cause heaven to uphold our causes.
• are heard by God, who hears them and responds.
• open God's eyes and attentiveness.
• reach heaven.
• move God.
• are answered petitions.
• are accepted by God.
• listened to by the Lord.
• give back the love which the God of Life gives to us by day and turns into songs in us at night.
• cause God to hear our voices.
• cause God to turn an ear to our cries.
• come before God.
• are set before God like incense.
• go against evil.
• please God.
• add years to our life.
• in faith, cause receipt of whatever we ask for.
• are the only way to cause some demons to come out.
• for the poor and destitute are considered by the heavens to be memorial offerings to God.
• cause favor to be granted.
• are not for Show.
• open the way to help others.
• perfect the saints.
• cause God to remember us.
• abound in love and increase our knowledge and insight.
• relieve anxiety.
• are consecrated.
• make sick people well.
• are powerful and effective.
• cause the Lord's ears to be attentive and His eyes to be open.
• are saved in Golden Bowls on heavenly altars.
• Are hand delivered to God by angels.

Better is ONE Day!

A coyote crossed my path this morning. Not sure what that means but things went down hill from there. Sure is Monday!
A smiley face appeared on my system computer this morning in the who is in control box. I know what that means; I don't have control of the system and neither does anyone on the link.
A call from the elementary school came in while I was working to solve the smiley face problem, "Your son is balled up on the floor and won't respond to anyone because he can not be allowed to take a metal bat to the cookout." I can't believe I sent my son to school with a weapon, either.
A message appeared while I tried to email the system log files to the technical support engineer, "You're locked out."
Another message appeared when I tried another computer, "Error... access denied." I concluded it would probably be best not to touch anything that has its own brain (CPU) today.
A phone call came in but every phone I picked up went dead. Whose idea was it to give phones a brain anyway?

After this I finally admitted to myself, "You're really not having a very good day."

A call came in from my boss who said things have gotten worse but I just said, if you need me it would probably be best to call me tomorrow.

Yesterday was so drastically different:
My teenager went kicking and screaming to church telling me it wasn't right to force him to go to church. He was priviledged to sit through the preacher's sermon on the importance of observing the Sabbath. God's perfect timing!
My youngest son got an excellent report from his Sunday school teacher, he was in love in Jesus. He said, "I sang to God and you know what, you were right, it made me feel so good."
My afternoon was awesome, productive, and God was so near.
My son got some one on one time with his baseball coach in the batting cages and afterwards told him know how much he appreciated a great coach. A great parenting day afterall.

Today, fighting the smiley face demon, I understand these worship lyrics more intimately, "Better is One Day in your House, Better is One Day in your Courts, Better is One Day in your house than a thousand elsewhere."

Better is ONE DAY!

Arrival

We tend to live our lives as if we expect to arrive somewhere. You might think you will have arrived when you have more money, get a better job, find love, or build that dream home. Most of us discover that when we do make more money we just want even more. A better job can add stress or increase our desire for a better job. A new love is soon discovered to have human faults just like all the others and that dream home, well, it comes with its share of pitfalls to. Soon after we have reached what we set out to achieve we discover we haven't arrived at all and must set out for a new destination. If we can't achieve what we thought we would, we become depressed or give up on achieving anything at all.
Where is the final arrival? What is it then that we are truly searching for? If not in this world then what are we doing here?
To truly be satisfied in our daily lives we must discover that life is a journey not a destination. Arrival doesn't happen until the end when we meet our Creator face to face for the first time. But that doesn't mean we should disregard the thrill of the journey. I have noticed that this is precisely what many young people try to do. They want the destination instead of the journey-- more money, a better job, and true love, NOW. Right out of high school, at 18, they can't understand why they can't just get a career. Why shouldn't they be hired for the good paying jobs? Somehow they want to skip the gaining of experience and blink onto the destination.
As I look back on my life, those moments of striving toward a new arrival place were the most thrilling and enjoyable times in my life. Although I remember feeling frustrated, often inadequate, and even hopeless. But these times gave me the experience to really appreciate the achievements, to be prepared for pitfalls that came with them, and to share the journey with others.
I believe that is what the journey in this life is all about--- it is the time between arrivals that will help us appreciate the new life we will have with the creator. Joy in life is understanding and finding peace with the perpetual cycle of the journey knowing the true arrival is yet to come.

My Answer

Do I know anything you don't know? Do I feel anything you don't feel? Are any of my thoughts unknown to you?
Do I see anything you do not see? Do I hear anything you do not hear? Are any of my days unknown to you?
Do you feel my heartbreak? Do you know my joy? Are any of my tears not counted by you?
Is there a prayer I've prayed you haven't heard? Have you missed even a word that crossed my lips? Is there a moment of my life you have not witnessed?
You've come to me with open arms and yet I can not touch you. I always know that you are there although I can not see you. And yet, I feel an emptiness that can not be filled, an unquenchable thirst.
What is this longing that this world can not fulfill? This great divide that comes between me and heaven and all that is under heaven. You are my every breath and my life is in your hands.