~In His time

  I don’t know if anyone realized it or not, but so far I’ve written my blog posts on Mondays. Well this week it didn’t happen because I didn’t have time. That’s when I began to realize that I shouldn’t be trying to have things happen in my time, but to trust God and wait on “His time.” This week I really felt pressed to write but I didn’t know what about and like I said, I’ve been busy. So I was learning about waiting on God this week. Really, you can never learn too much about it, because we constantly need to be asking God “Is it Your time for this and in Your plan?” Until then, we shouldn’t be moving forward in that way. Most of us don’t realize how much God can and will bless us if we simply wait on His timing. He wants to show Himself strong on your behalf; allow Him to. Thinking about waiting on Him always turns my mind to two verses. Most everyone knows them but do they really think about what the verses mean? I don’t know. Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart;” How much of your heart? …All… Ok just checking. “And lean not unto thine own understanding.” I always like to emphasize the NOT. It says you’re not to turn to your own thinking. Well then turn where? It answers that directly in the next verse. “In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He (Not you, not the world, not the most intelligent person out there.) HE shall direct thy paths.” Pretty self explanatory huh? So instead of thinking “Do I want to do that?” think “Does God want me to do it. Is it His timing?”

Here are a few more pix from our trip to VA. I had Tashia chasing the horses so I could get pix of them running. But unfortunately this is the only one that has her in it while chasing the horses. ;)

 Isn't it just gorgeous?

From left to right, Jessica, Marcy, Tashia, and I.

Jess riding Hank on a trail ride around the farm.

~Trip to VA

It feels good to be home! (I love my own bed!) Last Monday my family and I left around 8:00 am and headed for Virginia. We were hauling our trailer with our four horses too so it took a little bit longer than usual. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention where exactly we were going. Oops. We were going to stay at my dad’s uncle’s place while they went on vacation. It was funny. Vacationing at someone’s house while they went on vacation! (Ok maybe just to me.)  Anyway we had a great time. They really didn’t have many things that needed done so we had all the time to ourselves. We rode our horses three of the five days we were there, played some volleyball, had fun driving around on the Kubota, little bit of ping-pong, they also had this really fun bean-bag throw game, went fishing and nearly got eaten alive by the mosquitoes, and took lots of pictures! I actually didn’t get to take as many of the horses as I wanted to but I guess I’ll be satisfied with what I got. Trail riding was the best part to me.
  The farm I think is somewhere around 400 acres. (Not sure though.) Either way its pretty big… and beautiful! I was always seeing things I wanted to take pictures of! It was also great just having all that time just for our family.
   My dad had hoped that we could use the time for spiritual growth, and I would say it did. We tried to listen to a sermon together each day. (I don’t think that quite happened though!)  But it was really encouraging what we did listen to. Two of which were: preparing for marriage: God’s way for getting there, and seeking God’s will for your life. I have found that you can never get enough on those two subjects. They, in a lot of ways determine where you will end up in life and your finale destination - heaven or hell. I am so thankful that I have parents that care enough about where I end up, that they show me these things now, and not after I have made all the wrong decisions. Also that they want to protect me from things that will lead me away from God or hinder my relationship with Him. If you ever think your parents are mean for … not letting you go somewhere or do something you want to, stop and examine yourself. God has put them in your life for a reason. He has given you to them for a reason. It is THEIR job to protect you. It is YOUR job to obey and honor them. They are only doing what they feel is best for you, and trust me, they can see a lot further down the road than you can.
~Hear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not. Proverbs 8:33

 These are just two of our saddles. I love pictures of saddles! And that's Hank in the background.

(Left to right) Ecco, Dunny, Dandy, Hank

Ok I have lots more pictures but they aren't edited yet. I'll try to get them done and put them on soon.

~Does God have your heart?

Does God have your heart?

 Do you spend your time texting friends over sending God a prayer? 

Does God have your heart? 

Do worrisome thoughts rule your mind more than the comfort of God’s word?

 Does God have your heart? 

Does your conversation revolve around silly impractical things or on spiritual matters?

 Does God have your heart? 

Do you waste your time on immediate pleasures or on eternal riches? 

Does God have your heart? 

Do your actions show you’re a Christian or do they deny the creator? 

Does God have your heart? 

Do people want what you have or do they see yet another person trying to serve two masters? 

Does God have your heart? 

 Does God have your whole heart or just the pieces you allow him to have? If God doesn’t have your whole heart, what good are you to Him? If He doesn’t have your whole heart who has the other pieces? What areas have you given up to Satan? 

Your dress?

 Do you think “Well this is what everyone else is wearing so its fine.” Are you serving God with those thoughts or Satan? 

Your speech?

 Have you started using words that dishonor God because you hear them and think they’re “cool,” so you use them? Are you serving God with your words or Satan? 

Your friends?

 Are the people you hang out with, you friends because of their wholesome personalities and godly standards or because they are the “cool” ones, the “in” crowd? Are you serving God by the friends you hang out with, or Satan? 

 Your attitude?

 Does your attitude turn negative when your parents ask you to do something or caution you about something? Does your heart and appearance match up? Are you serving God by the way you respect your parents , or Satan? 

 Your thoughts? 

 Do your thoughts immediately turn negative when you see someone? Do you analyze the way they dress, and compare them with yourself? Are your thoughts honoring to God or Satan? 

I wrote these thoughts a couple years ago when I was struggling to deal with some things. So I am not saying that I have all this down now, but I am working on them. Please think about them and I would encourage you to analyze your life. Do any of these things describe how you are or make you think of an area you struggle with? If you do, please go talk to God about them. 

 –If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9 

King of my Heart

 I have a King of my heart, 

Though to me He’s unseen.

 I can feel His love, 

For He’s kind and not mean. 

 He loved me so much,

 That He died so I’d live. 

The only requirement: 

My life to Him give. 

 So I gave Him my life, 

And now He is King. 

I’ll serve Him forever,

 His name honor, to bring.

 I know I’m not perfect, 

But I’ll try just the same. 

For He paid sin’s price,

 Come, lets praise His name!

~My Violin

Here are some more pictures of my violin. I took them just for fun and immediately fell in love with them!

~My buddy Hank

Well today I thought I'd tell you about my little buckskin paint mustang named Hank. We got Hank about 4-5 years ago, from Double Rock, a ranch nearby. At first I didn't really think much of him because it was around the time that I had to get rid of my pony Hershey. After a while I finally gave Hank a chance and started riding him. I found out that I had a lot to work on. Partially because I didn't know as much then, but mainly because he had major fear issues, we assume because of abuse in the past. I started working with him, and desensitized him to a lot of things: gates, hats, flags, and ropes to name a few. I came to realize that he had fear issues because he felt he couldn't trust anyone. So I decided to be his safe spot, the one he turned to when he got scared. (Don't know if I accomplished that but he trusts me now.)
  Does that sound familiar? Isn't that a lot like our relationships with God are supposed to be? We're human. We have fears and things that scare us, but what do we do with them? God is watching us and saying "I'm here for you. I can give you peace. I'm THE safe spot. Just give your life to me and I'll show you how to deal with your problems."
 The big problem I had with Hank was when I tied him to a fence. Now he didn't have a problem with being tied. You could leave him there as long as you wanted. The problem was that he would literally flip-out if anyone climbed on the fence he was tied to. He would remember something bad that had happened before and reacted to those fears.
 As Christians we sometimes have fears that keep taking us back because we are not dealing with them properly. We don't need to "Toughen up and face it like a man." We need to "Look up and face it like a Christian that has Jesus living in their heart." He is a strong tower, a shield, a very present help in trouble, He will never leave you nor forsake you.
  Here's something else for you to think about. Is fear from God? Well there is a godly fear, Leviticus 25:17b "but thou shalt fear thy God: for I am the Lord your God." But for the most part no, fear is not from God. How do I know? 2 Timothy 1:7 says "For God hath not given us a spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." So if fear isn't from God, it must be from Satan. And if it is from Satan, isn't that sin? So what are we as Christians, professing to have God living in us, doing with fear in our lives? I believe this is something we seriously need to think about, repent of, and turn away from. God does not want us living in fear or even to have a couple fears. He tells us to "Cast all our cares upon Him. Because He cares for us." (1 Peter 5:7) He can handle it and He will if you ask Him to and truly mean it.

Since helping Hank over a lot of his fear issues I can do about anything with him. We've done fun shows, team penning, sorting, LOTS of trail riding, swimming in the pond, played around with roping, ridden bareback and bridle-less, JUMPING (my fav!), lots of tag (he really gets into that!) he's become a pro at opening and closing gates, pulled sleds, and I've ridden him english (Now that looks funny!). My younger sisters ride him mostly now. I hop on him every once in a while when I see he needs a tune up or when I just want to go for a joy ride. He is pretty much an all-around horse now, anyone can ride him. Come on over and I'll give ya a ride!