Thankful for a Life in Union with Christ Jesus

 "Be joyful always, pray at all times, be thankful in all circumstances. This is what God wants from you in your life in union with Christ Jesus."1Thess 16-18

The Holy Spirit is a powerfilled counselor and a gift from God to remind us of all the things Jesus taught us. As you give thanks today and this week for all the wonderful blessings in your life, think on these words. "Be Thankful in all circumstances". Thank God for some of the circumstances that might not have made the cut in your Thanksgiving day citation of thanks.

Dances With Horses

Leading by Example

     You may think that having horses is a luxury. Maybe you think spending hard earned money on a child's riding lessons is an excessive expenditure. Money perhaps better donated to your church or given to a worthy cause. As God called me into this adventure, I never once pondered the religious legalities of indulging such a passion that would drain purses, pay checks, and bank accounts at such an alarming rate. Never thought about it. God gave me a vision of a heart, my sister showed me the heart on the right side of a horse, and I confirmed that was the heart God showed me and bought that horse.
    The first thing I learned about that horse was that God put me on the other end of her lead rope for a reason.

Worth The Wait

It is November and Floors: Phase One is just now complete. I purposely limited my major project list this year so that I could spend my time horsing around and writing. That didn't work out as I planned. Today, all I can say is I am so grateful to be back in our family room even if we are five months behind on phase two.
I walk through the house ignoring the other floors; a mix of bare subfloors and half removed tile or ancient linoleum we found when we ripped up the carpet. I make a b-line for the family room, my now favorite room in the house. I have floors! And it was worth the wait.
We started this project at the begining of the summer. What took so long? Ever have a goal and it seems like all you do is hit obstacles?

The Third Place Ribbon

     I wasn't first but I wasn't last which is a great place to be when you are first starting out. If your first time out you get first place you have a good chance of coming away thinking you are better than you are. However, after you have walked out of the show ring a couple times without a ribbon at all it can be very discouraging.

     I never had the desire to enter the show ring. I was always content watching my daughter, my neice, and my sister and our students. However,  lately I have been considering taking new horses into dressage schooling shows. I felt the show experience would be good before I started doing schooling tests where I was in the ring all by myself in front of a judge.

Stuck in the House

  "The sun did not shine.  It was too wet to play.  So we sat in the house all that cold, cold, wet day...Too wet to go out and too cold to play ball.  So we sat in the house.  We did nothing at all." excerpted from The Cat In The Hat by Dr. Suess.

   Well this is obviously a little outdated since kids enjoy sitting in the house these days and they don't need a Cat in the Hat to find things to do. They have Thing 1, the Playstation, and Thing 2, the Xbox, and they have the internet and the DVD player. Raining or not, some kids prefer to be stuck in the house. Some adults are also known to cancel social outtings in preference of trending toward hermit.
   In our house,

Pick Up

      I have a single-mom home. It looks pretty much the same way as any other family home. We have the garage disaster that my son inherited from his father and carries on the messy garage tradition. We have dinner times and home cooked meals along with evidence of such on nights when we are too tired to clean up. We have messy kid bathrooms and piles of laundry. Of course, living in the country you can add the occasional messes of several animals of varying species. What I love about my home though is that it is perfectly comfortable for us and can clean up quite nice when I want to entertain.

My House Rules, Your Room Drools

     Ever let your child know, "This is my house. I make the rules." If that is true, then the kids don't really have a house. Does that make them homeless? The balance between making kids feel at home and retaining authority over your home is a slippery slope. But parents, this may come as a shock, you are in charge of your household.
     That being said, I expect my children to help out and help out cheerfully.