“Never forget what Jesus did for you. Never take lightly what it cost Him. And never assume that if it cost Him His very life, that it won't also cost you yours.”
~Rich Mullins

Nov 28, 2013

Thankful..........

One of the biggest blessings in my life? These people right here. My best friends.

These crazy, silly, outrageous, amazing, supportive people.

We've grown up together, made memories together.... There's been plenty of times we've all made each other crazy, but we couldn't love each other more. God has seriously blessed me!! This picture is the best thing that happened today...we've never had a single good picture of us all together. 


And this one just for kicks ;)


"Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness,
And for His wonderful works to the children of men!
Let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving,
And declare His works with rejoicing."

Ps. 107:21-22

Nov 27, 2013

A Feast!

Jessie says she's not eating anything today......or tomorrow....up until tomorrow night. Cause she wants to be "good and hungry"!

I can understand - when the menu includes turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, green beans, cranberry relish, stuffing, sauteed mushrooms, dilly bread, pecan pie, chocolate pumpkin truffles, chocolate cheesecake, a chocolate fountain with strawberries, angel food cake, vanilla wafers and marshmallows..........

Anyone drooling?

Have a wonderful and super blessed Thanksgiving tomorrow!!

And don't eat too much ;)

Nov 19, 2013

Saying Goodbye Hurts


The hardest thing about loving an animal? The inexplicable goodbyes......the unanswered questions....the losses.....

"Dog's lives are too short....their only fault, really."
~Unknown


She brought us so much joy in her short life, and I'll never forget her. 
Why God chose to take her? 
I don't know.
Did He have a reason?
Yes....that I'm sure of.


“Remember me and smile, for it's better to forget than to remember me and cry.” 
― Dr. Seuss


"When you're going through something hard and wonder where God is, remember the teacher is always silent during a test."
~Unknown


"God's plan for your life far exceeds the circumstances of your day."
~Louie Giglio


She was just a puppy....not nearly as  big as other people's losses and problems. But she was very special to us....to me....and I'll miss her.


But God is good.

Nov 17, 2013

Boring Men


Guilty as charged.

I mean, honestly, what girl doesn't imagine that ultimate breathtaking proposal...saw this on Facebook the other day and thought it was awesome.

That is, until I read this article. 


Convicted! As awesome as overwhelming experiences and romance and surprises are, they're not what's important. 

Here's some clips from the article.....but if you have time, go read the whole thing. It's worth it.

How a man proposes isn’t what makes him romantic. It’s how a man purposes to lay down his life that makes him romantic.

The real romantics are the boring ones — they let another heart bore a hole deep into theirs.
Get it: Life – and marriage proposals — isn’t not about one up-manship — it’s about one down-manship.It’s about the heart-boring years of sacrifice and going lower and servingIt’s not about how well you perform your proposal. It’s about how well you let Christ perform your life.

Nov 16, 2013

Bright Lights


A few nights ago, we were out coyote hunting with the boys. Now I know that sentence was just plain scary, but no, nothing bad happened...no crazy adventures...it's safe to keep reading :)

I found out that sitting in the dark combined with having to be excruciatingly silent makes a great recipe for some quality thinking time. Avid hunters must be smart men! But anyways, as I was sitting there mulling over some different things, I became increasingly more and more aware of the blindingly bright arena lights a few houses down from where our coyote-stand was. (Like a deer stand, just no deer)


As we sat there longer, my desire for the cowboys to be done roping and SHUT THE LIGHTS OFF grew stronger. They were completely obliterating any night vision I had and were so overpowering that before I realized it, I was no longer thinking about coyote hunting. My thoughts were completely consumed with "How much longer will these lights be on for?!?"

The seconds and minutes seemed to drag, my eyes burned, and everything else became completely non-important. Down the street under the torturous lights, the cowboys laughed, roped cows, and let the lights shine on...oblivious to the misery they were inflicting. And still I sat there, shifting my head to every conceivable angle to try and find some way to block my eyes from the lights.

Suddenly, they turned off.

And blessed darkness ruled the neighborhood.

For a few blissful moments, I sat there completely content...despite the cold and the rather uncomfortable position I was sitting in. All I cared about was that the horrible, blinding, all-consuming lights were GONE! My eyeballs could relax.

That's when I noticed it......the small porch light on the barn across the alley.


No big deal at first, but as my eyes started to adjust to the darkness, the light became more and more of an annoyance. Pretty soon, I was nearly as distracted by the little porch light as I had been by the blinding arena lights.

That's when it hit me.

How often do we do that in real life? Some big, gigantic, life-changing, all-consuming event takes up every moment of our thought life. Maybe it's something good.....maybe something painful....but all the same, the rest of life gets put on hold as we focus so intently on this one thing. Small annoyances and distractions become non-important in light of the enormity of the situation before us. 

Then it disappears. 

The relationship heals...
The sickness is overcome...
The wicked, harmful person moves away...
The vacation is finished...
The amazing Scriptural revelation starts to diminish....
The wound gets better and the scar fades....

.........and life goes back to normal.

For a few days, weeks perhaps, we're changed. We're more thoughtful, more caring, small annoyances don't bother us as much. We live in the moment, enjoy people more, love harder, laugh more often, are more thoughtful and grateful. 

But then, as we adjust, the little things start to grate on us again. 

The dog still barks...
The sibling still does that irritating habit...
There's still parts of the Bible I don't understand....
The headaches still come...

......and we go back to the same person we were before.

Don't stay the same. Don't go back - go on. Go on and find what He was trying to teach you, where He was trying to send you, and how He was trying to grow you.

When God is gracious enough to give us a life-changing experience, we would be wise to let it actually change our life.

Nov 11, 2013

Fly Away Home



Maybe I'm silly....or sappy....but this movie makes me cry every time....and this song never fails to give me chills. 

Feeling nostalgic tonight....

Nov 5, 2013

Siblings {photo contest}


Entering this in the "Siblings" Photo Contest being hosted by Kelby over at His Farm Girl. Click on this link http://hisfarmgirl.blogspot.com/2013/10/photo-contest_27.html to enter or see the other entries :) :)

Nov 3, 2013

Letter To A Horse-Skeptic


My Dear Horse-Skeptic,

I'm not entirely sure I've met you before, but I've met many others like you....you look at us Horse-Nuts and scoff, saying, "What good is a horse? What use? The age of horse drawn carriages is long past." Or maybe you say, "Sure they're pretty and fun, but I have more important things to invest my money in."

Well, I have something to say to you....bringing me up around horses was one of the best things my parents could have invested their money in.

Let me enlighten you....

My sisters and I learned how to ride shortly after we learned how to walk.




Many of our free hours were spent on horseback...and if it was too hot, we were inside playing plastic horses and building miniature barns :)



The majority of our weekends were spent as a family at horse shows...







But it was hardly all fun and games.

Growing up with horses taught me patience. Horses don't always do exactly what you'd like, and they're certainly not going to do it if you're impatient. For a young person, that's an extremely hard thing to control, but it is of absolutely necessity if you're ever going to get anywhere. 

Growing up with horses taught me perseverance. When I was 8 years old, I fell off and broke my arm. Very traumatic experience :) It took me months to ride again...months of tears, of fighting, of terror, and of defeat. But the day I finally went out to the arena by myself and screwed up the courage to ride again, the feeling of triumph and accomplishment was not something I quickly forgot.  

Growing up with horses taught me respect. When you work with a horse, you're working with a creature literally 6-7 times bigger and heavier than you are. If that doesn't instill some respect into a person, I don't know what will! He will be much more liable to work with you and perform his best if you treat him well....even when he doesn't deserve it.

Growing up with horses taught me about unconditional love. You can push a horse a long ways before they'll ever stop loving you. 

Growing up with horses taught me about work. Hard work. Back breaking, exhausting work. But it taught me that work is good, and to be grateful for it. 

Growing up with horses taught me about responsibility for someone other than myself. Horses require commitment with no days off, and for every hour or two of fun, there are days of drudgery that have to be sludged through. Regardless of weather or anything else, I am still responsible for those that I have been given stewardship over. 

Growing up with horses taught me that outward appearances don't matter....all they care about is your heart. Literally. Age, sex....none of that is important. Only your character and your personal actions are what matter. 

Growing up with horses taught me the value of money. "A penny saved is a penny earned" and boy is that true with horses. While horses can give you a desire to work hard to earn money to spend on your next show outfit, they also teach you to learn to prioritize. As tempting as it may be to sink $10,000 into colic surgery to save the dying horse in front of you, you are forced to look realistically and practically at the situation and make the hard decision....against everything your emotions are telling you.

Growing up with horses taught me about communication. Ask for what you're wanting in a way clearly understood by the opposite party...you'll always get better results.

Growing up with horses taught me about the joys and tragedies surrounding the creation and birth of a baby. I learned how they were made, planned for, and sadly, sometimes die before they come into the world. And I learned that the sleepless nights spent waiting and watching some crafty broodmare can result in one of the most beautiful things on this earth.....the birth of a true miracle.

Growing up with horses taught me about sportsmanship and competition. The ribbon isn't what matters at the end of the day....what matters are the things you learned, the people you met, and the memories you made up till that point. Everyone who competes fairly is a winner, and those who cheat in the ring are likely to cheat you in other areas of life. I learned that healthy competition drives one on to a higher standard. The harder you have to work, the better a job you'll do.

Growing up with horses taught me to plan ahead. The choices we make today effect the things that will happen down the road. The investments we make cannot be cared for without savings to fall back on. Boring things like land and vehicles and buildings suddenly become important. Caring for your truck can make all the difference between a safe, fun trip to a show, or being stranded on the side of the road with a four horse trailer in the middle of Phoenix's summer.

Lastly, growing up with horses taught me how precious the fun times are. You never know when a horse will get taken from you, when life will change, and when those times are over. Cherish the present, love what you have, and enjoy the life God's given you.

Looking back, Skeptic, I can't say that we've "wasted" a penny spent or an hour invested in our horses.

I have no regrets about the time I've spent at the barn, and nothing I wish I could change.

All I wish, is that more children could have the opportunity to learn from these animals before they are faced with the responsibilities of adulthood.

Sincerely,
A Horse-Lover


Nov 1, 2013

All In A Night's Work

Our evening consisted of attempting to track down random gunshots,
the world's best hamburgers,
running down the road in the dark with guns and flashlights to save a howling banshee cat-in-distress,
a downright hilarious and highly competitive game of Charades,
and fighting scorpions with our bare hands.

Say hello to the Redneck Avengers....out to save the world with shotguns and SureFires.

Beat that, Tony Stark.