~Truth

Our world is so mixed up. It tells you:
 "You can do whatever you put your mind to."
Jesus says:
 "Without me, you can do nothing."
The world says:
 "Live and learn."
Jesus says:
 "You will reap what you sow."
The world says:
 "Just stay positive and you'll come out on top."
Jesus says:
 "Call upon me in the day of trouble and I will deliver you."
The world says:
 "You got to look out for #1."
Jesus says:
"There is no greater love than this, that a man lay down his life for his friend."
Yeah the world is confused. We need to make sure that we don't get sucked into that confusion. We can't help anyone if we don't know the truth. We can't be free if we don't know the truth. Truth is vital. God is truth. That is why Satan is attacking it so hard, trying to get people to believe there are no absolutes. In a world with no truth, the Bible is just another book and God is just a religion.
 We must know the truth AND live in it.

~Truth was found

~~~~

There she stood condemned

She knew that she would die

They had caught her sinning

There was nothing to deny

But the one she stood before

Stooped down to the ground

And there He began to write

And that's where truth was found

He said "The one without sin

can cast the first stone."

But no one could answer

So they left her alone

And there He forgave her

And told her sin no more

To go on her way

But not like before

Because now she knew the truth

And how it could set free

She had a choice to make

But what would it be?

I'm sure that she left Him

In wonder and awe

Emotion engulfing her

From the love that she saw

But what of her choice?

That I can't say

I only hope

That she chose God's way

So what about you?

Are you choosing His way?

If you haven't yet

Why not start today? 

~~~~

~Your Heavenly Father

My dear daughter,
  You can trust me. I want to take care of you. I want to protect you, but you have to allow me to. There is no one out there who loves you more than I do, or who can fill your heart to overflowing. I can't promise that life will be easy, but I can promise to carry you when you feel you can't go on.
 When your eyes are completely focused on me you will not fall because my hand will be guiding your steps. You will not fail because my grace is sufficient. You will not be alone because I will never leave you or forsake you.
                                                     Trust me,
                                         Your Heavenly Father

I will trust in You, Jesus

For You are my King

I will trust in You Jesus

Ruler over everything

You are faithful to Your promises

You work all things for good

I will trust, I will choose to trust in You

song by Rachel Busenitz

~Riding Sheika movie

Hey everyone! Here is a movie of me working with Sheika. It's kinda a run down of all I do with her and how she acts. So if it gets too boring you can skip through. I'm so happy with how she's doing! Now you guys can see why. The only real problem I have so far is that she is a bit lazy. Which is kinda funny because I normally like higher energy horses. Ok Ok there really haven't been that many horses that I didn't like...so...yeah.

~Sheika's first ride

We did it! Yesterday I rode Sheika for the first time! It was awesome, she did great. No problems, no bucks. NOTHING! I felt like I could just pick up and go with her...but you can't it's only her first ride. Correct training and preparation for the horse is sooooo worth it! We walked in tight circles first making sure she's calm and thinking and gradually quit circling and just walked straight. After that we cantered! She's more on the lazy, laid back side so it was harder to keep her going. At the end I got her to canter two complete laps without stopping. So I was pumped!
Lesson learned - Don't rush, take your time and wait for your horse to tell you it's ready.
  I did it Clinton Anderson style with my dad directing from the middle. Down Under Horsemanship all the way!! I am so happy with the results. Crazy to think I actually trained her!

It was windy as you can probably see. Poor girl is very dirty. Light horse problems. :(  

Just got off and soooo happy

~Thankful

Ya know, I'm not a very thankful person. I just simply take everything for granted. Like each day. I simply wake up expecting time to continue on. But we aren't guaranteed a set amount of time, or even days. Life is so fragile...so fleeting. What am I doing to make a difference? What lasting value will there be from my existence? Am I glorifying God right now? Do people see Christ through me?
Makes me think of a song I really like (one of hundreds!) "Lord I need you all the time." My sisters and I sing it together a lot. You should learn it too! (The Wissmanns sing it)
So I did a project that I thought might help me remember to be more thankful, and to praise God more often.

See? I decorated a jar and wrote on it "God is so good." So now I write things down that God has done or blessed me with. After I use up all my paper pieces I'll open up my jar and read what all God did. If I don't write them down I'll just forget about them. Also when ever Satan tries to come around with lies like ''God doesn't care about you" or "He isn't even listening" I can just dump out my jar and prove Satan wrong!

~Hurting

People aren't really all that strange when ya think about it. People are hurting. And because they are hurting, they react. We look at them and think "They are really messed up." And they are! But what can we expect from people who are in Satan's control? They aren't being led by the Spirit of God, but the exact opposite. As followers of Christ we shouldn't be the ones looking down on them or turning away in disgust. They need Christ. They need love but they also need truth. Sometimes they will just need someone to listen and show them love. Sometimes they will need to understand that their lifestyle is sinful and separating them from God. But ultimately they need to know that there is a better way, a higher way. And that God does love them, but that He has so much more for them if only they will allow Him to do the molding.

Will you tell them?
Will you help them?
Will you show them?

~Follow Christ

I'd just like to address a saying I've been seeing a lot lately. I'm surprised by how many Christians even live by it. 

  "Follow your heart"

It's a very popular phrase and belief. It sounds good. To just do what you feel is right. Yes it sounds good, but it's terribly wrong. 

Jeremiah 17:9 says "The HEART is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?"

Did you get that? The heart isn't something you can trust. Sometimes it will be swayed by feelings. Sometimes it will be dominated by the will. I would just like to emphasize to you DON'T FOLLOW YOUR HEART. If not given wholly to God it will lead you astray and away from God. Follow Christ. He will never lead you astray. 

~Who is Lord?

 My family sometimes listens to sermons together in the evenings. To help consentrate on the point, I started drawing pictures of what I think is the main idea. So I started doing these castles. I like to think that the castle is standing for my life or my heart.
  This one is to help me think about "Who is Lord?." But unlike the picture we can't give half our lives to Jesus and then keep the other half for ourselves.

Who is Lord?

~Riding Dunny movie

This is my first attempt at putting a riding movie on so hopefully it works!

~Your Heavenly Father

My Dear Child,
  I love you. Do you know that? Sometimes I have to wonder. Like when you look at yourself in the mirror and frown at the reflection. Or when you mess up on something and call yourself names. Do you realize I made you? I created you? I love you? And I glory in you even with your failures! I gave you your strengths to bless others with. But I also gave you weaknesses so that they will reveal your need for me and point you to me. I want to be your strong tower, your refuge! I love how I have made you! I never make mistakes. So can you trust that I have made you just right? Can you thank me for it?
  Love,
Your Heavenly Father

~God loves you

Does God really love me?

I'd surely like to know

Because in this world of fear and pain

I don't know where to go.

Does He care?

When my heart is broke in two

When all around dessert me

And I don't know what to do.

Does He see?

When I'm beaten and abused

When I have no one to trust 

And I'm totally confused.

Does He hear?

When I'm crying out in pain

When I'm living in rejection

And I try to hide the shame.

To be honest, I can't relate to this poem. As far back as I can remember I've never questioned God's existence or His goodness. I don't know what it is to be rejected and alone. I don't know what it feels like to be broken hearted and have no idea what to do about it.
So I Really don't know why God prompted me to write this poem, and I really didn't know what to do with it. I can't reach out to you girls that are hurting like this and put my arms around you and say "I know what you're going through."
But here is what I can tell you; God knows how you are feeling. He knows what you are going through. And He loves you. He cares about you. He sees your tears. He hears your cries. He wants to hear your voice. He wants to see your face turned up to Him. He wants to put His arms around you, and comfort you. But it's really up to you.
God has plans for you. Plans to give you hope and a future; if only you resign all that you are over to His will and care. He is the only one to supply your need. He is the only one who can fill the empty place inside you. Without Him...there is no hope.
God loves you.
He gave His Son to die for you.

Now what are you going to do about it?

~Sheika

Let me introduce our newest member to our horse collection- "Sheika aka Sissy"

 She's 3 and has absolutely no training. When we went to pick her up I had to teach her to lead.
Her coloring is cremello and she has really neat light blue eyes but she has the pink around them and the nose, which I'm not real crazy about.

 She does have pretty blue eyes though.

 She's really quiet and she loves to follow me around. I keep forgetting how green she is when I'm around her. I pretty much treat her like all the rest when I should be watching her more. How quiet she is, is really why I got her, because we figured she would be a good first trainer.

So as I said she is my first horse to start and train on my own. In some ways it's intimidating but in other ways simply challenging. I did four sessions in the round pen with her so far. She is doing great and I plan to finish her up in there soon. She is a very fast learner and just wants to please you.

 I love how calm and laid back she is except when she doesn't feel like moving much. Then you have to work to get her motivated. When we first led her over to the fence to meet our other horses she marched right up and stuck her nose in their faces. Obviously she isn't intimidated by other horses! She squealed at them a little but hasn't been silly like some mares are.

As you can probably tell, I'm really happy with her. She is pretty photogenic too. Except she likes to come right up to see what you're doing. Silly girl! I've never had a horse this color to take pictures of before. But it's really fun because she stands out so much.
 My dad recently got me Clinton Anderson's "the Fundamentals" kit and I am planning to use that completely on her. Let me just say "the kit is amazing!" Totally worth the money. Clinton does an extremely thorough job at explaining and making sure he doesn't miss anything.

  

I wanted to get a picture of her next to the boys to show how little she is but it didn't happen. Anyway I'm so glad she's finally here!

~Hey I'm back!

Hey Y'all!

  I know it's been a long time! (Yes I'm still alive!) Life has been rolling along and God is good! (Just have to add that, because He is!) 

  My family and I just recently got back from a trip to visit my dad's uncle in Arkansas and then we stopped in Illinois to pick up {another} horse. 

  All in all we had a very good trip and God blessed us with safety the whole time.

While visiting at my uncle's {I call him my uncle even though he's my great uncle...in more ways than one ;)} I got to practice working with a neighbor's horses. (Her name was Katy) It was very good experience for me and he appreciated the time I spent with them. I really enjoyed riding her and would love to go back and do it again. Maybe next year? Oh that sounds so far away!

We got to meet lots of new families and put faces to the names we had heard. One of the highlights was getting to meet two sets of twins (from different families) and spend two days with them. We went ice skating, in which I caught my pick once and fell ker-splat on the ice. Neither graceful nor ladylike! I got a pretty good bruise on my knee and the wind knocked out of me but nothing that a little rest couldn't fix. I was up and skating again pretty soon but more careful of my pick this time! 

While out there we played a lot of volleyball. And it was hot! But for some reason we played anyway! ;) My cousin played his guitar with me playing my violin several times, and we all enjoyed just singing together too. 

Also Tash and I got to meet a blogger friend of ours while we were out! That was so neat! 

It was hard leaving, knowing that you wouldn't see everybody again for a long time. I can't wait to go back out again!

Stopping at our friend's place in Illinois is always such a treat for me! Randy trains amazing horses. I mean AMAZING! I never rode one of his horses that did't have an awesome stop. Pretty much all of them can spin. And I mean SPIN! They do rollbacks that are fast enough to throw you if you're not watching, jogs and lopes that make you feel like you're not even getting anywhere. He always has a bunch he wants me to try out. One 3 year old I just rode had the disposition of a 20 year old. I love that horse! Another 15 year old gelding I rode probably had been around the block twice and was downright amazing. He is probably the best horse I have ever ridden. I think I rode him the longest out of them all. Every time I go there I learn so many new aspects of training and riding that I wonder how I will remember them all. {Video cameras are awesome for that!} 

So we got a new mare there too. My family has started calling her Sheika, but I call her little girl or Sissy most times. To see more about her click here.

  So yeah, that's what I'm up to. Cooler weather would be greatly appreciated right now! I have a lot of work to do with the horses and I'm not feeling very motivated in this heat!

Me riding Katy

Our new girl Sheika!

~Love

 What is it to truly love? Is loving someone simply putting up with them, overlooking their faults maybe?

   I say I love people. I love my family. But do I show it. I once heard someone say that 

“Saying I love you is like saying: 

I will never intentionally hurt you. 

I will always do what is best for you. 

I want you to be everything God wants you to be.”

  I don’t believe you truly love someone when you feel you have to put up with them. Love isn’t a burden. It’s a gift from God that we are privileged to share. God gave His absolute best for each and every one of us. That should be our model.

  But then people aren’t perfect so sometimes they will do things that annoy us. Right then we need to stop and ask ourselves: who are we focusing on? Love doesn’t focus on itself, it focuses on the needs of others.

  Love also doesn’t overlook sin. How could it? Could love truly look at a person’s life and say “I know what you are doing is a violation to God. I know that it is separating you from God, and I know that it could send you to hell, but I won‘t say anything because I don‘t want to offend you.”  No.

   So how much do you love those around you?    

  Is your love real or just a convenient replacement?

~Finding that someone

No one can help everyone,

But everyone can help someone.

So stop focusing on the everyone,

And start looking for the someone!

I’m sure we’ve all felt that way at one point or another. God is just so great and you feel that you HAVE to share it, take it to the people and have it make a big impact!
  Don’t get me wrong. By all means share it! And I do believe that some people are called to share the gospel and God’s love in a “big” way, but for most of us that isn’t His plan. I’m not telling you to downgrade your focus but to place it where God intends it to be. To bloom where you are planted!
  Step back and look at your life. Think about those you come into contact with ever day. Friends…siblings (just for starters) they are your ministry right now! Especially for us single girls, they are the people we are to share God’s love with. There is not a person you come into contact with who you couldn’t encourage in some way. Maybe a word of encouragement, an act of love, or something as simple as a sincere smile or greeting.
  Just remember, Godly encouragement will always point back to God. That is ultimately what it is for. To bring glory and honor to Him. And in that way (Yeah to us it may feel small and insignificant, but we never know what lasting impact it may make on someone’s life.) we are doing exactly what God has called us to do: be bearers of His light!

You can only make a difference in others’ lives if you have allowed God to work in yours. Have you?

~The War for Mansoul-book review

“A John Bunyan classic as told by Ethel Barrett”

“It’s not just a story to read-it’s an experience. And when you’ve read it, you will be filled with wonder-at how little you love God-and how much He loves you…” 
                                                                                            -Ethel Barrett
The Main Characters

• King Shaddai, who is God
• Prince Emmanuel, who is Christ
• The Lord High Secretary, who is the Holy Spirit
• Diabolus, who is Satan
• Mansoul, who is YOU  

 I think I mentioned it before but I’ll say it again “I love allegories!” I love how Characters in a story can represent spiritual aspects from our lives. (I also love stories with castles and kings and dragons!)
  “The War for Mansoul” is kind of a simple looking book published by Christian Light Publications.
  Come with me now as I show you a glimpse of the town of Mansoul.
  It’s a beautiful place. So very cheery and…peaceful. The streets are full of happy people who have no fear. For Mansoul is the very delight of King Shaddai, who created it simply for His pleasure and glory.
  To lead the town, King Shaddai has established five leaders: Lord Mayor Understanding, Lord Willbewill (Will), Mr. Conscience, Captain Resistance, and Lord Innocency.

Also right off in the beginning you enter the lair, the pit of doom, the residency and headquarters of the evil Diabolus who is once again plotting the overthrow of Shaddai. But I’ll stop there so as not to give away anything. 

  I find it so fascinating the play on words they use for all the names (You always know the villains because their names give them away!) such as: Captain Conviction, Mr. Justice, Mr. False Peace, Mr. Carnal Security, and the list goes on! It put a whole new light on things for me.

  One person stood out in particular: Lord Willbewill. He could be one Mansoul’s greatest leaders or worst enemy. Will had the choice to please his flesh or his King. And that is so true! I want to please God. I want to love and serve Him with all my heart, but then I also want what I want. You can’t have both and that is very evident as the story goes on. Oh yes, Will thinks he is serving Shaddai, but he is really only serving his flesh. He loved to think “I am the master of my own fate!” And speak it too. Diabolus just loved it. Mansoul only needed to believe one lie and they had given Diabolus the key to overthrowing their entire town.

  As I’m sure we all know, the story doesn’t end there, for Prince Emmanuel pays the price to redeem the town and restore it to His Father. 

  And no, it’s still not over because Satan never gives up, he just waits for a time when they let their guard down. So the story continues as the town officials learn to rely on the Lord High Secretary and guard against Diabolus and his evil henchmen.

  Yes, it’s suspenseful and dramatic, but also very eye opening. I pray that as you read it, you would allow God to show you areas of your life where you have let in Diabolonians without knowing and root them out with all diligence!   

~Friends with a purpose

Today I wanted to challenge you with the thought of “What kind of friend are you and what kind of friend does God want you to be?”
  To the world a good friend is someone who is there for you, who’ll listen to you, who’ll agree with you, and maybe even encourage you.
  You, you, you. As Christians we need to be focusing on THEM. Denying our own flesh and work at pointing them to Christ. We need to be able to listen and encourage and draw them to Christ. To care about their hearts.
  We need to be friends that see the pain in their eyes when others see the smile on their face. But remember, we can give them nothing (of lasting importance) apart from God. Everything else is worthless in the end.

(Can you tell I'm having fun with our Willow Tree dolls?)

~I am here for you

(Photo credit: Tashia)

My Dearest Daughter,
  I am here for you. When you have no one to talk to, I am here. When you have no one to spend time with, I am here. When you feel alone, I am here. I will not turn my back on you for I have promised to always do you good. (Jeremiah 32:40-41)
  My daughter, I only want what is best for you. Please keep seeking me and I will reveal my will to you – in my time.
  Love your Heavenly Father

~To overcome

(To start off with, you should have your Bible on hand.)

 (My lil' sister Jess letting Dunny lick her hand.)

He is victorious

He is all-powerful

He is almighty

He is supreme

  He is so much more but there are not enough words to describe Him! His being exceeds our understanding. But do you know that as followers of Christ we have access to all that He is?

He will give strength and peace-Psalm 29:11

He will give grace-James 4:6 (But there is a condition with that one. We need to be humble to receive it.)

He will give wisdom-Proverbs 2:6

 

  These are just a few that I picked out so you go and find more!

Do you believe God? Do you believe His word? If you do, accept it! Cling to it! Believe it! And live it!

   Here’s something for you to do. If you can, do it right now. You can say it in your head but it would be better to say it to God out loud.

 

  Dear Father,

I accept your word as truth and believe that you can show your power through me. That your grace is sufficient and that through you, I can overcome anything! Thank you God, for giving me the ability to be victorious.

Love,,

Your child who wants to know you  

If you have time here are a few more verses to look up. If you don’t have time, write them down so that you remember to check them out later.

~2 Corinthians 2:14

~2 Corinthians 12:9-10

~Romans 8:37

Now the last thing is that God has given you all this for a reason.

“For God, who commanded His light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

He is now saying “You have found me, it is your turn to show me to others.”

“That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man;

  That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,

  May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;

  Now unto Him that is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,

  Unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

  ~Ephesians 3:16-21