~Your Heavenly Father

Postmarked - Today and forever

  My Dearest Daughter,
  
  I want to tell you how much I truly love you and wish that you would return my love. I wait for you. All day if I have to, but O how it hurts when you don't come! Some days we spend long hours together in conversation, while other days you merely give me a nod of recognition.
  Daughter, where is your heart today? (I ask for your sake. I already know.) If it was in me, you would not have yelled at your sibling or given that look of disgust to the immodestly dressed girl you passed on the street. If your heart had been focused on me you would have seen that your sibling was only trying to help and that girl on the street? She has never had love and protection from a father. She has not yet found me either. Why do you think I had her cross your path?
  Give me your heart child. You think you have, but I can see into the corners where you are still holding on tightly to a few reserved pieces; afraid to let me take full control.
   Daughter, please trust me.

Love,
Your heavenly Father  

~ To Compromise

  Satan is out to get you. (I hope you realize that by now.) He wants you no matter what, no matter the method he has to use. He hates to see revival in your life and he will fight for you even harder when he sees it happening. Satan comes to you saying that he only wants to make a deal with you. He will give you peace and prosperity, he says, but who is talking? The Bible calls him "the father of lies." You can NOT listen, cling to God's word! Satan may promise freedom, but in the end, it is only bondage that you are left in.

  You do not need to fear him! You can not compromise because compromise always takes away the glory of God. His word is not negotiable. It is firm. It is true. You are loosing ground to the enemy with every single itty-bitty compromise you make.

 

 That outfit is modest enough, isn't it?

It won't really matter that much.

I can do it just a little bit. 

No one would ever know.

  

  If you ever find yourself talking or thinking along these lines, you are dabbling in compromise, and God is obviously not in the center of your life, nor is He being honored. It is sin. Will you admit that? Will you repent and turn away from it? True repentance is always followed by obedience. 

   

  To sum it up, yes, Satan will fight to get you back, but God is stronger! He has already won! Cling to Him, live in accordance to His word, and you will conquer!   

~Without faith

  
"But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those that diligently seek Him."

Do you believe that? That without faith it is impossible to please God? Even though your life may look good, you do the right things, say the right things; if you don't have faith it is meaningless because God will reject it. 

He will reject your life.

He will reject you.

You MUST have faith! And faith in God comes from resigning your will totally to Him and trusting your life totally into His care. He can take care of you. If you let Hi, if you ask Him, He will take care of you! (Philippians 4:19) 

  Ok trust me on this one, because I'm learning this right now. And do you know what? He hasn't let me down, and He won't because He can't. His word is true!

     You MUST have faith! We must do our part and then He will do His. 

"I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and fortress, MY GOD!

In HIM will I trust!

~Psalm 91:2

Marcy and I took Dandy and Hank back to the creek yesterday to take these pictures and I'm really happy with them!

I was trying for a reflection shot but Hank had other ideas! Water is just a big toy to him! He thinks it is his duty to splash and paw whenever in it! But I did get the picture I wanted! I had to wade in up to almost my knees! It was cold in the beginning! But I had so much fun even after my boots filled up with water! The only drawback was that I could NOT fall with the camera! And I didn't so it was good!

But I'm not putting on the good one! I took it for the new photo challenge on Girlfriend Gazette so if you want to see my GOOD one you'll have to wait for their next issue to come out! And you can join in on the fun and enter a "reflection" picture of your own! Check it out!

Hank and Marcy did so very good even though poor Marcy got missed in a lot of the pictures! 

Woops! Sorry Marcy! Oh and not to forget my Dandy boy! He stayed on shore for Hank's moral support!

~Riding Dunny

Hey I rode Dunny today and Tashia came out to take some pix for me!

She did a really good job! I am so happy with these pictures! Thanks Tash!

Although some did get a little blurry or not quite focused but we were moving a bunch so it's understandable.

We ended up taking a bunch!

I started off doing some groundwork with him first since I haven't done it in a while, but mainly just for fun! I do what Clinton Anderson calls "Lunging for respect and roundpenning for respect." It pretty much consists of directing the horse, keeping it's mind on you and disengaging the hindquarters. Since starting to use this method Dunny has really calmed down and started trusting me more. He still doesn't trust much at all but there is progress. He's a very tense horse so I like these exercises to get him relaxed before I ride. I don't do it every time. Just when I feel like it. I'd encourage you to go watch  some of Clinton's stuff. Especially his walkabouts. I've never seen them in person but I watched it on his TV channel.  

I had a bunch of small logs lade out in a circle and lunged him around them. He was a bit dopy though. He doesn't pick up his feet as much as he should.

Good boy!

Working on disengaging the hindquarters. I usually start off by doing this. I learned it from watching some of Clinton's stuff. I start by tipping his head back to me a bit, while encouraging him to move his hindquarters around. I either swing my whip a little or tap him on the rump. It's just like swiveling on the front end instead of the back. Because he they should just pivot on the front end. 

Then on to tacking up. He's such a good boy I don't need to tie him. Unless maybe if we were standing in grass, THEN we might have a bit of a problem. He can't resist eating! (Can't you tell!) When I was cinching him up I was like "You are FAT!"

Dunny knew how to ground tie when we got him so I didn't have to teach him that, but I have been training some of my other horses to. I start off by stopping them and dropping the lead to the ground. Maybe pet on them a bit and tell them to "stay," I like to use a hand signal with it. Usually I just hold up a hand when I say that. Not a limp hand. You need to have it stiff like you are commanding something. Then take a few steps away. If they stay standing, go back and tell them "good", pet them, what ever your reward is. If they do move to follow you or walk away, taker the leadrope and back then up to where you had them and do the same thing again till you can walk away, around, behind, what ever direction you want but that they stay there. Don't get frustrated. I'll take some time but if you keep at it your horse is sure to get it!  

I then warmed him up and did a good bit of cantering.
Yeah I ride forward. He is kinda hard to sit on when he's worked up. His strides are pretty surging until I can get him to collect. He likes to keep his head up though so I do need to work on lowering it a bit. A lot of fine tuning, but isn't that riding for ya?

On to jumping we go!! Nothing big, but I think it's fun! When I was younger a friend taught me how to jump English and ever since then I've been hooked! I can normally just feel when I need to rise and don't really have trouble going along with him. And yes you can jump western just watch out for the horn!

I LOVE JUMPING!!

And a bit more jumping!

Did I mention that I like jumping?? Ok I guess you get the idea!

• Do you like jumping? 
• English or Western?
• Have you taken lessons?
• What riding and training style do you use?

~Broken

  

>Yeah she's a bit dirty. Silly girl has a thing for laying in the worst places.<

  God delights in broken things because it is only when we have nothing left that we can realize the absolute need for Him.

  I'm not talking about a broken heart after a failed relationship. No. I'm talking about realizing that you. are. nothing. (That sounds harsh but please keep reading.) Your goals are insignificant. Your life without Him is useless, and the sin you live in is separating you from God. You trying to do good things on your own, is reeking in His nostrils. (Isaiah 64:6) And He would be completely just in sending you to hell. (all of us)
  But He doesn't want that! (2 Peter 3:9) So He gives you time. What will you do with that time? Go on living the same as you always did, or realize that He wants you. Do you see that? He wants YOU! An all-powerful, all-knowing God wants you! Not just part, not mostly, but all of you!
  So now you can see some of His holiness, His power, His might. Then you take a look at yourself: the pride, the deceit, the wickedness, how could He want you?
  {Psalm 51:17}
"The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit and a contrite heart, O God thou wilt not despise."
God desires a brokenness for sin. That's what He wants from you. Broken, humble, repentant, and then He'll add one- Forgiven!

 

~You can trust Him

  I want to share with you, four little truths that could (should) make a big difference in your life. I heard it from a preacher once and I've never forgotten it.
  These four things I'm about to tell you, are absolutes. They won't change, never have, never will. No matter who you are they apply to you! Whether or not you accept or believe them does not change their validity.

 So here they are:

1. God is older than you. {John 1:1-3}
2. God is wiser than you {Isaiah 55:9}
3. God loves you VERY much {John 3:16}       

And the last one. Are you ready?

     4.  You can trust Him {the Bible}

You can trust Him. 

You don't know and will not know true peace and joy until you can wholeheartedly say "I trust you Lord" and then live it out.

  If you just agreed to the first three things then there really shouldn't be anything keeping you from accepting the last one.

  Maybe you think "If I give God everything and trust Him to lead me, He might ask me to do something crazy like- go to be a missionary to some primitive tribe in Africa, or marry someone that's not very handsome or my type."

  So I have a few questions for you:

• Does God want what's best for you?
• Does He have a plan for you?
• Would God ever allow something that is not good for you?

Yes, humanly speaking, putting your life in someone else's control is scary.

But God is not human.

He does want the best for you. (His best.)

He has a perfect plan for you.

He will never allow something that is bad for you.

You can trust Him.

So the question is: will you trust Him?  

~Being a "one-man-woman" part 2

Click here if you want to see Part 1
What does saving your heart, soul, mind, body, and emotions entail?
Saving you heart.
  It's keeping it so that one day you can present it to your husband. Just think how special it will be to tell {HIM} "I waited completely for you, so now I can give YOU my whole heart. Not just broken pieces or parts of it. The whole thing."
Prov. 4:23 says to "Keep your heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life." 
Really you have no right to give yourself away at all. (Not until God gives His permission) Are you under God's complete control or not?
Also in Prov. 31:12 it says "She will do {HIM} good and not evil all the days of her life."
Are you doing {HIM} good NOW, even before you're married? Flirting, having close relationships with guys, I don't think {HE'd} consider that being good to {HIM}.
Examine yourself. Are you doing things now that will hurt your future marriage?

Saving you mind. 
   I wrote about that more in THIS POST so I think I'll just let you go read that.

Saving your body.
  The first thing that comes to my mind is 1 Cor. 7:1b "It is good for a man not to touch a woman." If that confuses you a bit by the wording just rephrase it by moving the not in front of the good. It now says "It is not good for a man to touch a woman." Same meaning just a little clearer. And I really DON'T think this is talking about married couples!
  I don't believe it's right or good for a guy to touch me or for me to touch him. That right is saved for our spouses. Guys are set off primarily by seeing things but also by touching.
  You are responsible for how you display your body and possibly making men lust after it because of the way you dress. Do you realize that by wearing that "cute" blouse that fits you "just right", you are drawing men's attention to the shape of your body? That because it is tight they see your form and their minds do the rest? By wearing skirts or pants that show off your legs, you create an eye trap? If you are aware of this and what it is doing, how can you honestly say you are dressing modestly? Simply by not going as far as the world does, does not mean you are dressing modestly. Do you know what modesty is? It is a heart condition that manifests itself in how you appear. It must be in your heart and then lived out in your life. Modesty can NOT be simply in your heart, contrary to what lots of people are saying. Everything about modesty says "I want you to see Jesus through me. Not to notice me for the clothes I wear, but because of the freedom and joy I have in obeying Christ." Modesty will never make a man fall by looking at it. It is also to protect from defrauding one another; to keep yourself pure and the men around you. It's loving them enough to do everything you can to not make them fall. God will hold you accountable one day, for presenting yourself in a way that makes a man sin in his heart or in his mind. Do you know what defrauding is? I looked it up in the dictionary but all it said was "to cheat." Real helpful. So I went and asked my dad about it and he said a good definition to him is "to offer something that does not belong to you." By dressing immodestly you are offering your body to every guy you walk by. Therefore you are offering him something that isn't yours to give. Your body is God's and your future husbands. 1 Cor. 7:4 says "The wife hath not power over her own body, but the husband: and likewise the husband hath not power over his body, but the wife."
Please love God and your future husband enough to save yourself entirely for {HIM}.

Saving your emotions
   This is actually something I struggle with. I'm an outgoing person. But containing our emotions is another thing in saving ourselves completely. You know as well as I do that girls are emotional. We can not be handing them out to everyone that comes along. So easily we become emotionally attached to a young man without even noticing. We are defrauding him by giving him our emotions that we should be saving for our husband and our husband only. Well you may say, he might become my husband. Even so, you need to save yourself for the wedding day then. You do to some extent start giving {HIM} your emotions before the wedding but I don't know how much or when it should happen. (I'm not there yet!)

So all this does come down to saving yourself for your future husband but also saving yourself as set apart for God. He wants you to follow His will for your life. He wants you to save yourself. He want you to stay clean and pure, His precious daughter. 

~God has a plan

I have something very exciting to tell you! You may not realize this but God has very special plans for you! Higher than you could ever imagine. He has a special purpose JUST for you. People may tell you that you're not worth much they may even tell you that you're not very useful- don't get discouraged! That's when you can light up with a smile because you know that God has plans for you. (Isaiah 55:9) You are His special treasure.
  I always liked the second half especially, of Isaiah 43:1. God was talking to Israel but He's also talking to us too. WE are His chosen people.

 "Fear not: for I have redeemed you, I have called you by name; you are mine."

And also John 15:16
  "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that you should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever you ask of the Father in my name, He may give it you."

 So now that you KNOW He has a purpose for you, are you prepared to accomplish it?

• do you read your Bible daily seeking God's wisdom
• do you ask Him every day to show you His will for your life
• do you purpose to do whatever He asks, go where ever He sends
• do you spend your day talking with Him

God has a purpose for everyone, but whether or not it is accomplished depends a lot on the effort and emphasis they put into doing it. Don't get me wrong, God can make anything possible, but we need to do our part too.
  If you were to lose a nickel in the grass somewhere how long would you spend looking for it?
  But if you lost a $1000 wouldn't you keep looking till you found it?!! How valuable is knowing God, to you?

~Just been riding

I wrote up this post about a week ago then never did anything about it. So here it is. Just some pictures and an update on what I'm doing with my horses.

All the photos were taken a couple weeks ago by my lovely sister Tashia ;)

Yeah I've been riding! 

Jess was out riding with me too.

And yes I'm wearing sneakers! I like them better for riding bareback. (Don't ask me why)

Doesn't this look cool?

We were having a bunch of fun riding around bareback. As I'm sure you can see! I rarely ride Dunny bareback (except when I bring them in from the pasture) so I thought it would be fun to do it then. And you know then you don't have to tack up! LAZY!! I actually had one near disaster while doing it. I was cantering around and somehow got a bit out of place. So I tried to right myself and must have tensed up while doing it, because he took off! The bad thing was that I still wasn't in place to stop him and he headed right for a corner! As you can imagine I was trying to hang on while pulling back while prepare for a sliding stop or a quick turn. It wasn't looking good. Thankfully he just stopped and I threw myself around his neck to stop from flying over his shoulder. So it ended up OK and yes I went and did more cantering but with no more catastrophes! And also Tashia wasn't watching so no real embarrassing pictures! 

I've been riding Kat too and she's doing great! I started lunging her before I ride and it helps soooo much! A couple days ago I did her first round penning with her and riding her after that was amazing! She was so much more relaxed and was starting to extend a bit more in her canter. When riding, I was having problems with her cantering or lack of it. (before I started lunging and round penning her) She would canter a few steps and that was it. And just those few steps were so bad that I felt like a sack of potatoes flying around. I don't think she knew how to canter with a rider on her back. 

Before I had gotten her she hadn't done any trail riding but I've been taking her out and have never had her try anything! No bolting, no skitzing out, not even any panicky moments. She just takes everything in stride. Thats pretty amazing to me, knowing how little training she has had. She's just so calm! Its not because of me either, she just has such a great temperament. I love my lil gal! 

 

~Am I deceived?

In church today the minister asked a question- "Am I deceived?" Then he went on to ask "Am I being deceived?" I had to think about it.
  Yes, I know I must be deceived in some areas of my life, but the thing about being deceived is that you don't realize it! So how can I know? How can YOU know?
  I came to the conclusion that there is only one way to really find out because there is only one person who can tell you: JESUS! He said "I am the way the TRUTH and the life."
  You can trust Him, He won't deceive you. He wants you to be free from Satan's lies! Completely! But you will never realize them all until you go to Him and ask Him to show you them. Ask Him!

~In His Presence

This story like scene has been going around in my mind for a while and just a few days ago I wrote it out. Read them through. In a million years from now, where will you be?

{Taken from Matthew 7:22-23, 25:31-46}

The room was cold and still. There I stood-alone. A hooded figure flitted around me, bringing to everyone’s attention my failures and sins. I could not look up. The shame of my sin weighed on me heavily. What could I say? It was true.
  The black cape on the hooded figure swirled around him as he brought accusation after accusation against me, till finally he flung his hand towards me with a slender finger pointing, he hissed “Guilty!”
  All eyes now rose to the seat where the heavenly Father, the King of glory, sat waiting. Slowly He rose up in all His majesty and glory, and stepped forward.
  I lifted my eyes up to see Him staring back. But as I watched, I noticed He wasn't looking at me, but behind me. Watching His eyes I saw them harden, and with that He turned away. My heart froze in fear and I cried out “Lord! Didn't I teach in your name? And by your name cast out devils? With your name didn't I do many wonderful things?” Rushing forward I reached out to take a hold of His robe, but before I could, two heavenly beings pulled me back. “Lord!” I cried out again. He stopped, squared His shoulder, and replied “I never knew you.” Then without even looking back He commanded “Depart from me, you that work iniquity!”
  At His command the beings drug me away, out of His presence and away from His love forever.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The room was still. There I stood-alone. A hooded figure flitted around me, bringing to everyone’s attention my failures and sins. I could not look up. It was true.
  The black cape on the hooded figure swirled around him as he brought accusation after accusation against me, till finally he flung his hand towards me with a slender finger pointing, he hissed “Guilty!”
  All eyes now rose to the seat where the heavenly Father, the King of glory, sat waiting. Slowly He rose up in all His majesty and glory, and stepped forward.
  I lifted my eyes up to see Him staring back. But as I watched, I noticed He wasn't looking at me, but behind me. A smile spread across His face. Suddenly I felt such a calm; a peace that went completely beyond my understanding. Almost…almost as if someone were there behind me, standing with me. Looking over my shoulder I saw Him! There was someone behind me! The Prince! My Savior who died for me! Stepping forward, He extended a hand towards me. It was marred and bruised, and in the center of the wrist there was an ugly black scar. Looking up into His face I saw tears in His eyes, but even more than that-love. Such complete love and…peace.
   Slowly I raised my hand and took a hold of His, and Oh, there was such power in His hold! He then turned to the King and spoke “Father, this is my child. I have bought her with my blood. She is free!
   Then He looked back to me and said while taking both my hands in His “Come, ye blessed of my Father! Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you fed me, thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you took me in, naked and you clothed me, sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came unto me.”
   Confused I looked down, “But Lord, I’m afraid you must be thinking of someone else.” I said while shaking my head. “When did I ever see you as a stranger and take you in? Or naked and clothe you? And when were you sick or in prison that I came to see you?”
   Turning me towards the people, He smiled and extended a hand out over them. “In as much as you have done it unto the least of these, my brethren, you have done it unto me!”    

~Called, chosen, and faithful

(Photo credit-Tashia)

I was glancing over Revelation when I came upon this verse: "These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for He is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with Him are called, and chosen, and faithful." That made me think that these are qualifications for who will go to be with Him.
1. They are called. (Isaiah 4:1b)
But do you know, everyone is called. God gives everyone the opportunity to come to the knowledge and understanding of Himself. Otherwise He would not be just.
2. They are chosen. (Eph. 1:4)
Again, I believe everyone is chosen. It's just that not everyone accepts. (2 Peter 3:9)
Here comes the big one.
3. They are faithful. Can that be said of me? Will that be said of me?
When I meet the Father face to face will He be able to say "Well done thou good and faithful servant!" Or will He turn His back on me and say "I never knew you." I think those are the scariest words anyone will ever hear. Because at that point there will be no hope. It is sealed.
  But we are not there yet! We still have a chance! While there is breath, there is hope. So I wanted to say this:
How you live today is going to determine where you spend eternity.
What you believe today is going to determine where you spend eternity.
How you treat others today is going to determine where you spend eternity.
Your life RIGHT NOW is vital! The world tells you "You're young so live it up!" When you are older you can settle down and get serious. What does God say?
Ecc. 11:9-10 says "Rejoice, O young man, in the days of thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou; that for all these things God will bring thee into judgement. 
Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart and put away evil from thy flesh: for childhood and youth are vanity."
  OK so you may not have been faithful in the past. Don't give up there! Confess your sin, turn away from it, and move on to what God has really called you to!

Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth.
.......in the days of thy middle age
.......in the days of thy old age 

~Are you willing?

We are all faced with this question. Are we willing to be used by God? Where ever He leads, will you follow? Where ever He sends, will you go? Do you know that if you are a Christian you have already answered this question? When you accepted Christ into your heart and life you agreed to let Him be the guide. So are you living by that? 

What do you consider is being used of God and serving Him? Helping out an elderly person? Giving money to a needy family? Yeah those are definitely good things, but if that is all you do, you're not entirely allowing God to use you. Both those examples were physical needs. So what about spiritual needs? How often do you minister to people's heart and soul instead of their bodies? There are sick and dying people everywhere. The problem is that there are even more spiritually sick and dying people out there going to hell every day. Yes, God does ask us to help others sometimes by...mowing their lawn, but really what lasting good is that if we don't stop to take the time to encourage them and show them we care? 

 

 Jesus asked Peter "Do you love me?" And of course Peter said "Yes." How did Jesus respond? He said "Then feed my sheep." I don't think He meant physically.  

A Higher Calling

I'm here for a purpose, I'm here with a calling

To encourage the week, and lift up the falling

God's counting on me to trust and obey

And with His help I'll go all the way

I'll give my mouth to being His voice

My hands I'll give to His sovereign choice

My feet to go where He wants me to be

My eyes to have pity on lost souls I see

My heart to those that are hurting within

And show truth to those that are struggling with sin

So Lord I ask for strength from you

To continue my journey, your will to do

~Peace I leave with you

"Peace I leave with you"

The Father says to me

"Not as the world giveth

For I give freely

Let not your heart be troubled

I'm bigger than any fear

Do not be afraid

For I am always near

Will you please just trust?

I'm waiting to show my power

Just cry out to me, child

I'm listening every hour

You don't know how it hurts
When you do not come to me
If you look into my face
The tears in my eyes you'll see

My body was scarred for you
Yet you seem not to care
You go to all your friends
But don't come to me and share

Yes, I do know them already
But I want to hear your voice
I want you to come to me
I want it to be your choice

Forcing you is not my will
I just simply call
But if you do not heed my voice
I will cease to speak at all

You don't know how long I'll wait
So please don't delay
My face will light up with a smile
When you come to me and pray"

God can take care of you. Do you believe that? He can take care of your money and your health, your family and your things. He is all powerful. He is all mighty. So many times we limit God because we do not believe he can do everything. We don't ask Him to help our financial situation, but we will go to a bank and get a loan. We don't go to Him begging to know why we have a sickness and for Him to heal it, but we do run to the doctor and get a prescription to fix it. What are we telling Him when we do that? Do we really trust God? Do we really cast our cares upon Him? Because He does care for us and wants to show us He cares. We need to put down our feelings of relying on man for help and let God show us His power.
  Now I'm not saying going to the doctor is wrong but first I would encourage you to ask God: Is there a reason why you are letting this happen? or Is this a consequence for allowing some sin in my life? Everything boils down to our relationship with God. Are we where we are supposed to be?
Is my heart right with God?

~Being a "one-man-woman" part 1

Are you a one man woman? Is your heart dedicated to waiting for the "one" man God has for you?
Maybe you don't understand what that means. Let me break it down a bit. To me (in my words) it's saving yourself completely; your heart, soul, mind, body, AND emotions. (So many people tend to forget about that last one.)
First off you will have to believe that God has one and ONLY one man out there for you. (IF it is His will for you to marry at all.) If {HE} is God's will for you, {HE} will be perfect for you. No, I didn't say {HE'd} be perfect. Just perfect for you in God's eyes. God knows the exact partner you need to help you grow spiritually and who will be your best battle partner. Together you will be committed to furthering God's kingdom and bringing glory and honor to Him. It's not something to take lightly.
Are you committed to waiting for that one man? It's not just that though, are you committed to waiting for God's best in your life?
Are you a Christian? So do you really have a choice in the matter? Good isn't good enough for God. Neither is better. God's best is really the only option when it comes right down to it.

Can you trust God enough to wait on His perfect will?

~A Christian life

“The Christian life can be explained only in terms of Jesus Christ,

and if your life as a Christian can still be explained in terms of

you-your personality, your willpower, your gift, your talent, your

money, your courage, your scholarship, your dedication, your

sacrifice, your anything-then although you may have the

Christian life, you are not yet living it.”

~Ian Thomas

Can you be a Christian without living out a Christ filled life?
I don’t believe you can. In James 2, it is clearly spelled out. Starting in verse 14 and going through 17:

“What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them ‘Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?’

Even so faith, if it hath not works is dead, being alone.”

Are you walking/living in the spirit? Does your life look any different the those around you? Do people know when they pass you on the street that you are a follower of Jesus Christ? Or do you just blend in with everyone else and simply go with the flow?
God calls us to be different! He calls us to stand out! He calls us to shine His light and make a difference. We can’t help anyone if there really isn’t a difference from our lives to theirs. Do you have a life that shows hope and radiates God’s love and peace?
Can people see a difference in You?
Do your words and your actions line up or do you just talk the talk and forget about the walk? If you really have something people will be able to see it. Do you live the same way throughout the week as you do on Sundays?
OK. All that is pretty much the outward stuff. Appearances. But what about your heart? Do you follow God’s commands so that you wont get His punishments or so you will get His blessing? Or do you do it because God asks you to and you love Him so much you want to obey Him? Where is you heart in all this? Is you heart really in it or do you just kinda put on the act? Oh, by the way, do you know what the Greek word for actor is? Hypocrite. We all know what God thinks of them. Could that describe you at all? I’m sure in some ways it could describe me, I’m included in all this. I’m asking you these things not to judge or condemn, but to get you to look inside yourself. Do you live what you believe and do you believe what you live? I would encourage you to go ask God right now to show the areas in you life that don’t line up or that aren’t pleasing to Him. Be open and broken before Him and He will show you. There may even be things you don’t want to hear or see about yourself, so how concerned are you with being where God wants you to be?

 “I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord. Blessed is that man that maketh the Lord his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.” Psalm 40:1-4

~Lost Eyes

Sorry about the winter picture ya'll but I didn't feel like going and taking one right now!

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I see through your eyes. There's an emptiness inside.

A longing for something, and you don't know what for.

I've been there before. Your heart is a door.

Many people have come through, they've hurt and used you.

Now you're left in pieces, your heart is cold as stone.

You search for a reason, to why you're all alone.

Lost eyes! Searching for something.

Trying to break free from the pain.

Lost eyes! Search no longer, Jesus is the answer!

Look to Him and He'll remove the shame.

Lost eyes!

Now you've turned to Jesus and He's removed the pain.

He's filled you with His love, and your life He has changed.

Your eyes are full of life and as you go each day.

You see their lost eyes as they pass by your way. 

But now you hold the answer deep within your heart.

Bring them to Jesus, the darkness soon will part.

Lost eyes! Searching for something.

Trying to break free from the pain.

Lost eyes! Search no longer, Jesus is the answer!

Look to Him and be saved today!

Lost eyes!

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Is there someone you know, who treats you very unkindly? They always seem upset and like they delight in hurting you? I want to share something with you: Hurt people, hurt people. Can you grasp that? Read it again: Hurt people, hurt people. A lot of times we see the outward things-how they behave. What we fail to see is what is going on, on the inside. Deep down inside that "bully" is a person who is hurting. When they are hurting, one way they try get rid of it, is by taking it out on someone else. If you look close enough, you will see a person who is screaming out "I don't feel loved." or "I don't feel accepted." It seems that when we come in contact with with a "nasty" person we have the tendency to write them off or think "Boy, they have problems!" Do we love God enough to take the time to pity them and show them Christ's love? Can we overlook their outward appearance and stop to care out their heart? Sometimes all people need is someone to listen to them. We need to be able to look on that person with complete love and tell them "I don't have the answers and I can't take away your pain, but I can take you to someone who can!" 

  We are in a world of hurting people, lets show them the Great Physician!  

~Looking to Him

Do you know what one of the hardest things in life today is? Being still! Everything is fast-paced; you're going somewhere, or doing something, and you know what? Its so easy to forget about God.
How are we supposed to hear His still small voice when our schedules are full and we go from one thing to the next? We are so focused on the here and now that we miss His promptings.
  Col. 3:2 says "Set your affections on things above not on things on the earth." We are going to have to concisely and continually take our minds off of us and on to God. I know, I struggle here. So how can we do that? Later on in Col. 3 verses 16-17 it kind of explains. "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord
And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of our Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him"
  So from that I get that we need to be in the word, believing it and applying it, so that it becomes our life. Then our minds will be drawn to Him. It won't be a struggle when our heart is already there.
  So here are some suggestions (I intend to use them too!)

• When you see a beautiful creation-praise God for it!
• When something special happen-thank God for it!
• When something unpleasant happens-thanks God for it! ;)

Unpleasant things should turn our thought to God just as well as pleasant one!
One way I love to praise God is by going outside and finding a secluded place, then I sing my heart out to Him. (I love to sing!)

These are just some things I'm thinking about and I hope they make you think too!

~I love knowing...

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I started doing something a little different recently. It's pretty much identifying lies that I believe or have believed and then stating the truth. I'm a writing girl. I love making things that I can write down: lists, charts, poems, stories. Things like that. So anyway this is one of my more recent projects.

 I'm working for 100 things to write down and I think I'm somewhere around 75. The problem is I feel like I ran out, but I couldn't have there has got to be more! I think I'll try going through the Psalms to find some more. It's kind of like a game to me now. I'll sit in church and try to pick out more truths to write down that I hear from the sermon! Ok so the list...
I started it out by addressing it to God.

Dear God,

I love knowing-

• that you will take care of me
• that you love me
• that you hold me in the palm of your hand
• that you want me set free and set apart
• that you always want what's best for me
• that you desire my whole heart more than anything else
• that you are faithful (my favorite!)
• that you are good all the time
• that you make shattered pieces into complete vessels
• that you know everything about me
• that I'm special to you
• that I'm treasured by you

I would encourage ya'll to start a list of your own. Write down anything you can think of that is a promise of God. Then when Satan tries to put you down and get you to believe his lies, you can pull out your list and show him the truth while claiming it for yourself! Literally tell Satan. For example - No one really loves you - Satan that is a lie God loves me, even if everyone else leaves me He will not!

A good thing to do too, is to put down a scripture verse that backs it up. Sound fun? Any ideas to add to my list? 

~I must tell Jesus!

I must tell Jesus all of my trials; 

I can not bear these burdens alone;

In my distress He kindly will help me; 

He ever loves and cares for His own!

I must tell Jesus! I must tell Jesus!

I cannot bear my burdens alone;

I must tell Jesus! I must tell Jesus!

Jesus can help me, Jesus alone!

I was humming this song today and it got me on this train of thought: When you have a problem or a dilemma, who do you go to, to talk it through?

For me it's normally my dad. I feel safe in sharing my heart with him because he wants what's best for me and trys to do what he can to solve my problem or question, or at least point me in the right direction! 

 And that is the kind of relationship we need to have with God too. Intimate, trusting, and...bold?! Ok that last one might not sound quite right, but what I mean is, God wants us to trust Him so completely that we come running to Him all the time. Yes we have to be reverent and respectful, but He is our heavenly Father and He loves it when you come willingly to spend time with Him or to just pour your heart out to Him.

 Sometimes (more often than it should) when I'm feeling burdened by something, I feel like I need to get it out. So...I go find someone who will listen to me. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with talking things over, but could there be a reason why I'm feeling like this? Maybe because I'm thinking about it from my perspective and not from God's. Maybe God allowed me to have these feelings so that I would see that I need to trust Him more. I want to goa little further than that. I believe God wants every area in our lives, every problem, every discouragement, to show us our weakness and then for us to turn to His strength and power. 

 I've heard Sarah Mally talk a bit about springboards and so I wanted to challenge ya'll to do that, except in a little different way than she did. This week whenever you start feeling  down or discouraged, stop right there, and use those feelings to remind you that God is there for you all the time. Tell Him what you are dealing with and don't walk away from Him until He gives you a peace about it. 

We serve an all powerful God! He has conquered! He is victorious! He wants you to be too! And you can. By getting to know Him and through obeying His commands.  

~Meet Kat!

WARNING-horse topic ahead! 

Hey I FINALLY got some good pictures of Kat! I rode today and thought it might be fun to tell ya'll about it seeing as I haven't written anything real horsie lately.

For you who don't know much about Kat, we just got her this past fall, and soon after, she got sick for a while. So I couldn't ride her much, but now I'm trying to get to her. When we got her she was 8. As far as training went she had 30 days put on her as a 2 year old and hadn't been ridden since! But I right away felt very comfortable with her. She's pretty green but because she doesn't get worked up about much I tend to think of her as more of an older experienced horse. (Which she isn't!)

She's more of a light built horse which I'm really liking. I'm used to the more short and stocky quarter horses. I love wrapping my arms around her neck and it feels like your holding on to a foal because she's so delicate like. I don't know how tall she is exactly, somewhere around 14.2 probably. Maybe a little taller than that but not by much. 

She kinda has mule-ish coloring but I think she's gorgeous! For the pictures I had to have Jess hold her because she wouldn't just stay there! That is one thing I really need to work on: she was never taught to just stand and do nothing. Tacking up is a bit of a chore. OK she's not bad but I'm used to my horses just standing there. I guess I'm spoiled!

Anyway today Jess and I rode and it was beautiful out! As you can see I used my barrel saddle. I've had a hard time finding a saddle to use on her. My cutting saddle is way too big, so I've tried one of our trail saddles and I had a hard time staying sitting in that one. (Kat work so much off of your sitting postition, which is goo and bad. When I get out of place she comes to a screeching halt whether I'm ready or not!) Finally I just went to a barrel saddle. I rarely use them any more because they are so impractical for more of the working horse style. Rollbacks and sliding stops just don't go well with the high rise fronts! (Although barrel saddles do hold you in better than others, which is why I started using one on Kat.) The problem is with them is that they sit you in a forward position and our horses are trained with body language where you need to be sitting down and back more, not up and forward. 

I started out just walking mainly in circles working at bending and keeping her attention on me. She's been getting feed and weight builder lately and when I swung up on her I knew I was in for something. Just not sure what! She had more energy than I've ever seen her with, but she still behaved very well. After warming up a bit I rode her into the roundpen and started trotting around. She was more than willing to comply. Then I decided to get down to business and ask for a canter. I haven't done a lot of cantering with her yet so trying to keep her at a canter is sometimes a bit hard. I get as much of a workout as she does! Anyway I squeezed with my outside leg, kissed, and picked up the inside rein just a bit, and she took off! Crow-hops came immediately after and then a mid air lunge! Nothing real big or crazy like and I was expecting it so it wasn't a big deal. I pulled her in a tight circle and banged her with my outside leg a bit. (I don't use spurs with her right now so it was just my heel.) I wasn't rough but I wanted to make it plain and clear that behaving like that is not acceptable. I know she is green and inexperienced with a lot of energy at the moment, but she needs to still be shown what is right and what is wrong. There was a little bit more of that then next time I asked her to canter but not as bad. After a while she started evening out and didn't just bust forward as much! I'm happy with how she did and can't wait to ride her again. I just keep imagining the day when I'll be able to let anyone ride her. Which actually... probably... isn't that far off! Yay!