Romantic Music

For those of you who, like myself, are huge fans of the Romantic era of music, you will love these two pieces! They are from our recital weekend before last. Anna doesn't make an appearance because she was bit by a scorpion the night before and thus was incapacitated :)

This first one is Jessie playing Chopin's Nocturne in Eb Major, Op 9 No 2




And this is yours truly....Brahms Rhapsody in bm Op 79 No 1

Hidden

Hidden

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He turned the truck off and slipped out from behind the wheel unsuspectingly. The silence of a place untouched by man's destructive hands greeted him, and he sighed contentedly - yes, they had been right...this place was gorgeous.

In front of him, the meadow fairly glowed with peace and happiness. Every beautiful yellow flower, every happy bird, even the sun itself - all sent forth a message of joyfulness that did his tired heart good. Marveling at the ability this place had to brighten his day, he set off through the flowers towards the trees beyond.

More calming beauty awaited him. These trees were old....and striking in their age. Their huge gnarled trunks were filled with a silent strength that made him glad they were firmly rooted in the ground. He slid to the ground and let his mind wander for a moment. The things they could do if these trees were able to walk and move! The branches looked like gigantic muscles...waiting for something to come that would put into action a strength beyond our imagination.

The bushes next to him rustled and he turned his head slowly to meet the startled eyes of a little fox. Indignant at the intrusion, the critter whirled around and dashed out of sight. He grinned and started on again. This place invigorated him! The very air was full of  joy....love....contentment...

His pace slowed. There was something off to his right...a darkness through the trees. Changing his course, he started towards it. It was a shadow. Just a shadow - nothing more, but it spoke of something. Discontent, maybe? Something not quite right. But then it was gone. He shook his head as if he was just waking up. Surely there was no discontentment here! Looking over his shoulder, he saw to his satisfaction that the shadow was gone. He must have imagined it.

As he kept going, it became obvious that he was getting pretty deep into the heart of the forest. No longer was there a path....the weeds and grass got higher and harder to walk through. It was as if the forest itself had put up a "No Trespassing" sign. But he was not to be stopped. His progress got slower and slower as he was forced to climb over fallen trees and cut through overgrown weeds.

Then he found it. The hidden heart of the forest.

It was nothing like the outside....nothing at all. Dark, overgrown, and filled with a sadness that entwined itself around everything. Winds of confusion whispered through the branches, and echoes of incompetence and insufficiency surrounded him. There were no flowers here, no birds. Nothing that in any way resembled the bright joy and happiness that surrounded it.

Confused, he turned to leave. Slowly at first, then faster and faster until he was running frantically through the trees. Running for the bright sun and the happy flowers. He burst out of the forest exhausted.

Shaken by what he had seen, he sank to the ground. It dawned on him slowly.....the forest was a picture. A picture of himself. His friends called him the "life-of-the-party", the happy, contented one. People loved to be around him. But deep within the heart of this man....hard to get to, and thickly protected with fallen logs and weeds - there was a weak spot. A vulnerable and hurting spot.

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What do you hide inside yourself? 

What is protected inside your fallen logs and overgrown brush? 

I know this is true of me....I can hide my real feelings oh so well. There's a "normal, around-people me" and a "by-myself me". Cutting down the weeds and clearing the fallen logs is hard work. Maybe painful work. But clearing a path is a worthy goal to work towards....not that every person you know needs access to it. But be willing to be vulnerable.

And remember that a lot of people you know have a hidden part of them. A place hard to get to....but a place that may need a reminder that there is a sun out there....and bright flowers.

"The purposes of a person's heart are deep waters, but one who has insight draws them out."

Prov. 20:5

Wet Weekend Fun!

And so our weekend starts............

Wet, muddy, dirty, and fun :) And ever so thankful that Justine seems to be doing awesome!!!!

Jessie met a gopher hole face-to-face!! LOL

Quick Update

First off, thanks so much to everyone who's been praying for Justine. Every day continues to be a battle at this point. She is home from the vet hosp and we are just trying to manage her pain while we wait for her gut to heal. For a lack of any better ideas, we're all guessing pretty strongly that's it ulcers - and treating accordingly. But this guess could be wrong.

She's still in a lot of pain, and could go downhill quickly. We have her under cameras, and watch her constantly - every hour through the night. We still covet all prayers! God is always good and we know He is working this for our good...even if we don't see it now.

Prayer Request

Prayer request.....I know this seems so small with what's going on in Oklahoma right now, but my little mare, Justine, is super super sick. 

It all started Saturday evening, and at first we thought colic. But, she's about 5 1/2 months pregnant, and as timed progressed, we started to think it was a uterine torsion...basically the uterus has flipped over. After our second trip to the vet hosp. this morning, they ultrasounded her, palpated, and said her uterus is in great condition. Got to see the little baby's heartbeat....pumping along healthily at 120/min. 

We have absolutely no idea what's going on. At this point, the vets are as puzzled as we are. She is at the vet hospital till tomorrow morning, and we're basically just trying to wait it out. Overall, she acts totally normal, but then she has these rounds of incredibly intense pain. This morning, before we left for the vet, I thought she was going to die...the pain was so bad. It absolutely kills me to see her like this, and especially to not know what's going on. 

Justine is an amazing little mare - an incredible producer, solid driver, absolutely gorgeous. When people come over to go driving with us, she's always the one we give to them because she's so safe. Please, please pray that God would fix whatever's going on in her....cause right now He's the only One who knows what's going on.

Courtship Question

I've been doing some thinking about courtship lately, and have a question for all you wonderful people.

When/if someone asks to court you (or for guys - when you go to ask to court a girl), how important should it be that your hobbies/interests match up or at least support each other?

For instance.....the three main loves in my life are horses, photography, and music. In no specific order :) Of course, I don't expect to marry an equine photographer who composes epic music in his spare time while wearing a cowboy hat and Wranglers! But on the flip side, with the hobbies God's put in my life, I could never see marrying a guy who loves the city, and would never dream of roughing it in a tent in the woods just enjoying this beautiful world.

Anyways....as most of you all blog readers are young single Christians like myself who are thinking through these things as well (or awesome moms who are thinking about this for their kids), I'd love your thoughts!

Reckless Obedience

Reckless

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For just a moment, he stopped. Not hesitated...stopped to think. In that brief moment, so many things flashed before his mind. He closed his eyes, and remembered.

Remembered that this was the single most important thing he'd ever done in his life....and the most dangerous.

Remembered that he was so incredibly overpowered by the enemy who stood defiantly facing him. He wasn't even supposed to be involved in this in the first place. This wasn't his fight. Or was it?

Remembered that there had been no impressive approval from God that this was what he was meant to be doing. There had been no "open doors" leading up to this. Quite the contrary, actually. Every thing he had tried to do to prepare for this had failed. Every thing that friends and well-wishers had tried to help with had turned into more of a hindrance than a help.

Yet for all this, there was no hesitation in his mind. Why not?

His mind refused to stop - racing back farther in his life.

What would his parents say about this? What if it failed....then what?

Most of his friends and family would probably openly praise him and say what a brave attempt it was, and then think to themselves how incredibly foolish he'd been. Speak at length about how proud they were of him, and secretly wish he'd stayed where he belonged.

Still no hesitation - why not?

All the odds were against him. In all reality, he was a still a boy - a popular, well loved, good looking boy, but what did that matter out here in the real world? The enemy was big, strong, smart, and had way more weaponry than he did.

But still no hesitation. Still no thought that this wasn't what he was meant to do....no thought that this wasn't right. Why not?

Why not? The question swirled around in his mind. How was it possible that he was so absolutely terrified, so completely uncertain....and yet so confident?

Because this was obedience.

The answer washed over him like a wave. Even though he didn't have all the pieces together, this was what truly being obedient was. Knowing what was right, and doing it....no matter what you were up against. Being recklessly confident because it was the only choice left.

His eyes were open now. Wide open.

And David ran to meet the giant.

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 I was reading the story of David and Goliath yesterday, and was hit by how amazingly reckless David was. 
How often in our modern world do we over-think a decision? 
Do we try too hard to "make sure this is God's will"? 
Do we wait too long for the door to open when we should just kick it down ourselves? 

"Closeness to God is not about feelings. Closeness to God is about obedience. It's just as simple as that."
~Rich Mullins

Eating Snake

Love this kid ;)

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there!!!

I want to take a sec and tell you about the most amazing mother ever!! My mom is a truly awesome woman...an incredibly hard worker and talented in so many ways. Best of all is the way she strives to honor God in everything - from bringing Him glory with our horses, to how she raises my sisters and I. Mom, I love you, am grateful for you, and owe so much to you!!!

P.S. Anyone wanna guess what we did for Mother's Day??? :) :) :)