Ask and you shall receive. Well Colin and I have asked, and God has given to us. As a little recap, Colin only works here at the station 3/4 time and 1/4 time we have our own business. Dryhalla Rangeland Services LLC was started before I came into the picture and I have jumped into prescribed fire with both feet. Last year we started to pray together that God would pour out all his blessings on us. We wanted all that He was willing to give us! And oh how great that has been! Dryhalla doubled in size last year and on top of that we managed to achieve one of our goals, paying off most of the debt that we had. Lucky for us we really didn't have a whole lot to start with, but because I do not work we were relying on Colin's monthly income to take care of the bills. But much like the fish and loaves of bread our money kept growing. In the first three months we were able to pay off my credit card (cut in half after...recommended to everyone that has one!) my personal loan, Colin's personal loan and our burn insurance. We sat down together one night and I wrote down, and still have the paper, what we wanted to have paid off and by when. Without really knowing it, God made the way for us to do so. I remember going through some papers a month or so after we had written down that list, and when I came across that sheet I looked at the date and then it hit me that we in fact had paid everything off and we did so before the set date! Now if I could put down all the numbers in front of you, you would be able to see that this was a job that only God could have done. We paid off way more than we made, and yet we always had money in our checking and savings (although they did get really low at times) and we never ever went with out! We also, during the summer months, were able to pay off the work truck.

Now this year we are still praying that God will continue to bless us and give to us what he wants us to have, and we are already seeing our prayers answered. We have almost tripled this year what we had made by this time last year, and business just keeps on coming! God is so good!

(This is a picture of a brush pile burning at night.)

We have a bunch of summer burns already lined up and burns lined up for the next few years. Our goal is not to make a million, but rather, to live a life that is pleasing to the Lord, to give thanks to Him for what he has given to us, and to be a light to the world. Well I don't know of any better way of being a light to the world, than by starting a fire for all to see!

The Big Snow Storm of 2010!

Much to both of our surprise, Colin and I woke up to snow on the ground for the second time this winter. It will be short and sweet because it will soon warm up and all be gone. But it is so fun to enjoy what it looks like and the feeling that comes along with a snow day. They are so seldom here in Sonora.

Even the dog boy gets some enjoyment out of playing in our light dusting of snow. He tucks his tails, pins his ears and runs as fast as he can all across our backyard. Fun to watch!

I don't think that the horses got as much fun out of the snow as Jigs and I did, but they will enjoy the mud that comes after much more then I will.

Secret Church

For the first time in over a month Colin and I were able to stay in San Angelo long enough to go to church. Over the past year and a half, my relationship with God has grown into something that I only heard people talk about. I never thought that I would get to a place in my own life where I would be able to feel what I witnessed in other Christian's lives. So going to the great church that we go to gets me excited! It is not about going to go, but about going and learning. Wanting to grow in God's word and gaining more and more knowledge about what it means to live like Christ. Something that I am trying daily to be better at.

William and Gwyn have taught a small groups class for the last year and we have been through two of their classes. "Uprising" and "iChurch", both were amazing! But we have missed out on this current study. It is through the Secret Church and it is on "How to Study the Bible". Might sound kind of lame to some, but oh my gosh! We were only in just one class and it has already changed the way that I am reading my Bible. I think that it has been easy for me to get into the habit of just reading the daily portion of the yearly Bible, praying and then marking it off. Some days things jump out at me, certain verses or things I never knew, but now I want to make the effort to change the way I read through each section. I need to get over reading all for that certain day and calling it good, and really read it. Find out who it was written for, why, when, ect. If I only read two or three verses that needs to be good enough. I just want to fully understand what God is trying to say.

One topic that was hit in Sunday's class was how people will change the true meaning of a passage or a verse to justify what they are doing or their actions, or say that what they are reading was written so long ago how could it mean the same thing today. Well, I would like to believe that my God is a great a everlasting God, and he is all knowing. So when He lead whoever to write whatever he knew that I would be reading it some day. Therefore, what was written way back when was in fact written for me here in the now and it pertains to our current lifestyle. Twisting and turning verses and passages into what you think they should mean is a risky tactic.

Just one last thing. If you are finding that reading the Bible is like taking an old English class in college, you are not alone! I have and NIV Bible that was given to me as a graduation gift, and that is pretty easy to read. But then I picked up the New Living Translation and once I did, I couldn't put it down. There is also the Message Bible and that just could be the easiest version I have ever ever ever read! I find it neat to compare the differences of each one and see how one verse is translated from one to the other.

Colin and I get to go back to San Angelo again this weekend and I really can't wait to sit down with my Bible, study guide and pen and see what the Lord shows me!