As a church we have been reading a book called Radical by David Platt. Over the course of a couple of months we have read this book and for the first time things were revealed to us that we were previously blind to. One of those blind spots in our lives was our wastefulness. Another area was the Great Commission and how we are all called to go and share The Gospel with those who have not heard. I have heard The Great Commission numerous times in sermons and through my own reading, but it has never applied to me though. Radical is a book that once you read it and God reveals things to you, you are unable to un-read it or forget what you’ve learned. So be careful. It became glaringly obvious to Ronnie and me that WE have been called to go and share with others. Now that we know WE are called, we can’t not go! Through the reading of this book I am starting to understand what a fear of the Lord is. I’ve never feared God before, but I am beginning to understand what that means, and having been told by God that I am to go and tell others about Him, how can I now not go? I fear what my life might become or what I might miss if I am disobedient, or what other peoples’ lives might become if I do not go, and I fear the repercussions of someone going to hell because they needed me to tell them about God and I kept Him to myself. Also, I fear the blessings that I might miss out on because I didn’t do what I was asked to do. So this is what reading Radical is doing in our lives, and I told you about all of that to let you know what else is going on in our lives because we have started to be obedient in the small things. Because we are taking the first step in our obedience there are several new developments in our lives.
For awhile now water well drilling has been something I was interested in. I felt drawn to the idea of providing clean water to people who did not have access to clean water, and being from arid West Texas I appreciate water and am aware of the consequences of not having water. I have a background in agriculture and I’ve wondered at times why I went to school for so long and spent so much money to earn degrees in agriculture when anyone can tell you there is no money in production agriculture. I’ve wondered how I might use my education to give back. My dream is to ranch, but that’s hard to do without land or money. From time to time Ronnie and I would discuss ways to utilize my agricultural background to assist those that depend on agriculture to survive. Water is always at the top of the list of needs to be met when we discuss our ideas. We have developed an interest in drilling wells and Ronnie and I had even gone so far as to discuss how we might purchase an old drilling rig so we could start drilling wells. We had this idea of getting an old drilling rig, getting it to Africa, drilling wells, teaching the local peoples about irrigation, starting an orphanage, having a farm that provides food for the orphans and crops for income, livestock for food and income, initiate proper grazing practices by livestock, and eventually have an orphanage/farm/ranch where the orphans help in the raising of the livestock and cultivation of the crops and rather than being a burden to the village, the orphans could actually provide for the village. The orphans would feed the village! We didn’t have any of the details worked out, but we were just imagining at this point anyway. We talked about ways to make this a reality. We discussed our heart for orphans and how adoption might be something we look into one day. We began to think about spending some time in New York with Ronnie’s Uncle Kenny who drills water wells for a living. We are excited at the possibilities that exist and how our thinking is beginning to become more “radical.” And we see now that we are tremendously blessed and we have been blessed not so that our lives would be easy and comfortable but so that we can use the blessings we have received to bless others and to make much of Him who has blessed us. All of my education and life experiences have happened so that I might use my knowledge and abilities to be a blessing to someone else and in all things glorify God.
We continued to discuss and pray about all the ideas we were having regarding our future. Then one afternoon we ran into our friends, Todd and Bonnie Huckabee, and they told us about a young couple, Bud and Kimberly Huffman, who were operating an orphanage in Kenya and also about a ministry out of San Angelo that drills low-cost water wells. We felt that this conversation with the Huckabees was of a divine nature and not a mere coincidence, so we followed up on our two new leads and contacted both parties to see what would come of it. The water well drilling ministry is called Water for All International (WFA), and it is a ministry that offers low cost water wells to the rural poor and assists with meeting their physical needs of food, water, and shelter. WFA also develops relationships and meets their spiritual needs by sharing the Good News of Jesus in a culturally appropriate and sensitive way. After contacting WFA and corresponding with their staff I have been invited to attend their mini-course in March where I will get the opportunity to meet the WFA folks, learn about WFA and their drilling method, and see if this is where God is calling Ronnie and me to serve. Ronnie and I have felt for some time, and feel it more and more all the time, that we need to go and spread the Good News of Christ to those that have not heard, and we feel that for us it has to be through developing relationships and building credibility though our daily lives rather than just words. I see that we have been given this opportunity to be obedient and I feel anxiety when I think about what will be missed if we do not obey. We also feel very humbled that God wants to use the two of us to be a part of furthering His kingdom.
So for now we are planning to continue pursuing the opportunities that may exist with the Huffmans in Kenya, planning on taking the WFA mini-course in March, will continue to look at and pursue the possibility of working with WFA, and are heading to Guatemala in March to be a part of what God is doing through Toni Steere in the Casa Bernabe orphanage. We will continue to keep you posted on the wonderful developments in our lives.
Water for All International website
http://waterforallinternational.org/hometest.aspx
The Huffman’s blog
http://huffmansinkenya.blogspot.com/
A blog by a couple who as part of Water for All’s ministry are moving to Uganda to live out what God has called them to do.
http://rickgregory.blogspot.com/
Toni Steere’s blog
http://www.discoveringpearls.blogspot.com/
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Thursday, November 11, 2010
So what did we learn??
These last 30 something days have been a great journey for Colin and myself. To bring you up to speed, we have been conducting a 30 social experiment to get a perspective on what it is like to live on less than $2.00 a day. We did this because a huge percentage of the world's population are forced to live on this amount or less everyday. We got the opportunity to try this out, where much of the world has no other option. We decided to attempt this and see if we couldn't gain some perspective and allow our eyes to be opened to what others who are less fortunate deal with everyday. We have just opened to door and allowed God to move however He sees fit in our lives and He is doing so in a big HUGE way. But that is another whole story in itself. For now I just want to finish out our $2.00 a day living.
So what did we learn? Well the first thing is we learned that we can live on much less. We have a lot of luxuries! We may not always refer to stuff as luxuries, but if we were forced to choose between going hungry or make-up or have to do without food all-together - many things that were "necessities" would soon become luxuries we could do without. We saw through this 30 days of living on less that we could in fact live on much less than we do currently. But there are many different things that factor into this. Only because we live in this country and because we are so blessed was this even an option for us. Many people don't have the choice to do this kind of social experiment, they just have to live it. Also we were at an advantage due to the type of storage we have here in this part of the world. We can put things in air tight containers to keep things fresh, we can freeze meats and veggies, and keep other products in the fridge. We can run down to the store anytime we run out of something. We can buy products in any size container. Only because of those things were even able to attempt to walk in others' shoes. Just another reason why we feel so blessed to live where we do!
Another thing we learned is that it is really hard to actually gain a perspective on what it is like to live like much of the world when we are surrounded by such abundance and excess. It was hard to actually feel what it would be like to live on $2.oo a day or less because we didn't factor in other living expenses like fuel, transportation, clean drinking water, health care needs, our home, showers, electricity, clean clothes, heating/cooling, etc. Out $2.00 a day was just food, but for a huge percentage of the world's population $2.00 a day is probably for everything.
Another area that our eyes were opened to was just how wasteful Colin and I were. I heard while driving about a study conducted by an Arizona university on household waste. During this study they discovered that the average household in America throws away 15% of the food that is brought in. Colin and I were in that 15% range or even higher. Through the last 30 days we have been made aware of our wastefullness and are doing much better about eating leftovers and using all that we have in order to stretch it as far as we can.
This might not be a big thing, but we also found that we were eating healthier foods. No junk foods, no processed food, just homemade good-for-you stuff! We had already cut out soda or cokes (whatever you want to call it) and we also cut juice out of our diet. If you want to feel better...just try that! Cut out the sugar and chemicals that are in a 12oz can of soda for a few weeks and see just how much better you feel! And if you are wondering what on earth you are going to drink, try water. Shocker, I know! We drink a lot of water, and I can't stress the A LOT enough. We realized very soon into this experiment that when living on less than $2.00 a day a lot of extras such as snack foods, bottled water, and juices have to go. In this country we have abundant clean drinking water, but in many countries clean water isn't available. Another reason to be thankful!
One of the most important things that God did for us through this was He showed us where we could cut back in our spending and opened up an area in our finances where we will have more money to give! That in itself was worth the whole thing. We we know that we are blessed so that we can bless others. God has blessed us with all of the above so that we can free up money to help those who are not as fortunate and are needing a little help. Now how cool is that! Just a few months ago you would have heard Colin or I saying that we just can't seem to find anywhere in our budget to cut back in order to free up funds, but low and behold! We let God take control and look at what He has been able to do! It may not be millions or even thousands, but "The Lord was devoted to you and chose you, not because you were more numerous than all peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples." Deuteronomy 7:7 God wants to show how great He is through us! He wants to do awesome things with us to show just how wonderful and great he is!
Hopefully we were able to gain some perspective on what it is like to have to live on less than $2.00 a day. I do want to feel compassion for those less fortunate and not just sympathize but actually do something. I think God will use this experience to free up some of our finainces to allow us to give more, to open our eyes to the tremendous blessings we have received, to make us less wasteful and appreciate what we have, and maybe even prepare us for a situation where we get the opportunity to live with those who survive daily on less than what many of us spend on a cup of coffee. So in closing I am giving all the glory to God, it is only because of the blessings that He has given us that we are even able to write about our great journey with Him! What some may call radical, God calls obedience.
So what did we learn? Well the first thing is we learned that we can live on much less. We have a lot of luxuries! We may not always refer to stuff as luxuries, but if we were forced to choose between going hungry or make-up or have to do without food all-together - many things that were "necessities" would soon become luxuries we could do without. We saw through this 30 days of living on less that we could in fact live on much less than we do currently. But there are many different things that factor into this. Only because we live in this country and because we are so blessed was this even an option for us. Many people don't have the choice to do this kind of social experiment, they just have to live it. Also we were at an advantage due to the type of storage we have here in this part of the world. We can put things in air tight containers to keep things fresh, we can freeze meats and veggies, and keep other products in the fridge. We can run down to the store anytime we run out of something. We can buy products in any size container. Only because of those things were even able to attempt to walk in others' shoes. Just another reason why we feel so blessed to live where we do!
Another thing we learned is that it is really hard to actually gain a perspective on what it is like to live like much of the world when we are surrounded by such abundance and excess. It was hard to actually feel what it would be like to live on $2.oo a day or less because we didn't factor in other living expenses like fuel, transportation, clean drinking water, health care needs, our home, showers, electricity, clean clothes, heating/cooling, etc. Out $2.00 a day was just food, but for a huge percentage of the world's population $2.00 a day is probably for everything.
Another area that our eyes were opened to was just how wasteful Colin and I were. I heard while driving about a study conducted by an Arizona university on household waste. During this study they discovered that the average household in America throws away 15% of the food that is brought in. Colin and I were in that 15% range or even higher. Through the last 30 days we have been made aware of our wastefullness and are doing much better about eating leftovers and using all that we have in order to stretch it as far as we can.
This might not be a big thing, but we also found that we were eating healthier foods. No junk foods, no processed food, just homemade good-for-you stuff! We had already cut out soda or cokes (whatever you want to call it) and we also cut juice out of our diet. If you want to feel better...just try that! Cut out the sugar and chemicals that are in a 12oz can of soda for a few weeks and see just how much better you feel! And if you are wondering what on earth you are going to drink, try water. Shocker, I know! We drink a lot of water, and I can't stress the A LOT enough. We realized very soon into this experiment that when living on less than $2.00 a day a lot of extras such as snack foods, bottled water, and juices have to go. In this country we have abundant clean drinking water, but in many countries clean water isn't available. Another reason to be thankful!
One of the most important things that God did for us through this was He showed us where we could cut back in our spending and opened up an area in our finances where we will have more money to give! That in itself was worth the whole thing. We we know that we are blessed so that we can bless others. God has blessed us with all of the above so that we can free up money to help those who are not as fortunate and are needing a little help. Now how cool is that! Just a few months ago you would have heard Colin or I saying that we just can't seem to find anywhere in our budget to cut back in order to free up funds, but low and behold! We let God take control and look at what He has been able to do! It may not be millions or even thousands, but "The Lord was devoted to you and chose you, not because you were more numerous than all peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples." Deuteronomy 7:7 God wants to show how great He is through us! He wants to do awesome things with us to show just how wonderful and great he is!
Hopefully we were able to gain some perspective on what it is like to have to live on less than $2.00 a day. I do want to feel compassion for those less fortunate and not just sympathize but actually do something. I think God will use this experience to free up some of our finainces to allow us to give more, to open our eyes to the tremendous blessings we have received, to make us less wasteful and appreciate what we have, and maybe even prepare us for a situation where we get the opportunity to live with those who survive daily on less than what many of us spend on a cup of coffee. So in closing I am giving all the glory to God, it is only because of the blessings that He has given us that we are even able to write about our great journey with Him! What some may call radical, God calls obedience.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Can We Stretch It Part 2
Colin and I are now three full weeks into our $2.00 a day and we do not have a need to go buy any groceries! I thought that I would tell you how we have been able to keep everything under our daily budget. At first we were going to set the limit to $2.00 per person with a total of $4.00 per day, but I soon found out that I could do it for $1.00 per person with a total of just $2.00 per day. So that in itself has left us with more than enough to make it through the 30 days.
In cooking all our meals, I used the exact serving sizes that are on the back of every item you buy. I was able to keep track of how many servings went into the meal, found out how much each serving cost (divided the total price by the number of servings and came out with the cost of each serving) and then added all the cost of the servings for a total price of the meal. For example, for breakfast Colin might have one egg that cost $0.05, one serving of grits which cost $0.10 per serving, and a slice of homemade bread which only cost me about $0.10 to make the whole thing. So his entire breakfast only cost maybe $0.16! That's a far cry from any drive-thru, and it is way better for you too!
For our first big meal that I made I used the following:
In cooking all our meals, I used the exact serving sizes that are on the back of every item you buy. I was able to keep track of how many servings went into the meal, found out how much each serving cost (divided the total price by the number of servings and came out with the cost of each serving) and then added all the cost of the servings for a total price of the meal. For example, for breakfast Colin might have one egg that cost $0.05, one serving of grits which cost $0.10 per serving, and a slice of homemade bread which only cost me about $0.10 to make the whole thing. So his entire breakfast only cost maybe $0.16! That's a far cry from any drive-thru, and it is way better for you too!
For our first big meal that I made I used the following:
- 1 Cup (4 servings) of white rice
- 1/2 of a carrot
- 1 small potato
- 1 skinless boneless chicken breast cut up into small bit size pieces
- 1/4 onion
(I use all the spices and seasoning that I already have, but I don't add that into the total cost.)
I mixed it all together once everything was cooked and seasoned the way I wanted, and we had dinner that night, lunch the next day and then dinner again. 3 meals for just under $2.00. I also made bread as well and that still fell under the $2.00 a day. We also eat a lot more bread than we used to but we are not hungry a few hours after we eat either!
Colin made the next meal and it was a soup. He used the following:
1/2 Cup white rice
1 carrot
1 small potato
1 onion
1 cup of frozen corn
- 1/4 lbs of ground meat
He seasoned it with what we had on our shelves and what was growing in our herd garden and the whole thing only cost about $2.54. We went over but we had three full days of lunch and dinner out of what he had made.
I made spaghetti with the leftover ground meat ($1.04 for 1/4 lbs) and one can of tomato sauce ($0.59 per can). The spaghetti comes out to be just $0.10 per serving and Colin and I had two meals out of it with leftover sauce. Then I used the leftover sauce (I added water to it to make it last longer but not mess with the taste) when my mom came in and we all had one bowl and there were still noddles and sauce leftover for one more person to have it! So for all of that plus bread it cost us about $3.00!
This whole experiment has really opened our eyes to just how much we really use, and how much we waste. Also, it has opened up some money so that we can give more! We had already talked about the money that we would be saving would not go into a savings account, but given away, and God has already given us places and people that need it more than we do. Through Him blessing us, we are able to be a blessing to others. Very exciting for both Colin and myself.
We are radically changing our lives and we are both excited about where this will lead us and who we will meet in the process.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Can we stretch it???
Fall is here!! I LOVE this time of year. I am not big on cold weather, but the cool mornings and warm afternoons are just about perfect to me. I do very much enjoy the summer months too, but there is just something about fall that make me feel so much like a kid again.
Along with the start of the fall, we started a new book as a whole church, "Radical" by David Platt. It has been a very exciting journey for Colin and me to read through this book. It has stirred up things in our hearts that will forever change the way we think and view the world. I won't go into too much about the book because that is not was I wanted to write about today, but I will touch on one of the chapters he wrote and how we are letting it change our life.
Before I start though, I want to state that I am very proud to live in America. Very. I know that I am so blessed to have been born in this great country and I am also very aware of all the sacrifices that were made in order for me to have such freedom. Also, keep in mind that these things I will write about are just personal convictions that both Colin and I feel effect our lives. You may not agree and you have every right. But if there is one thing I have learned its that God will convict each person as he sees fit.
Now, in order to get the full effect of the book you just need to read it! But I am going to jump to chapter 6. It is titled "How Much is Enough". I feel like I am living in a world of excess. We can jumbo size, biggie size, king size and super size any meal that we can get our hands on! And I am guilty of always getting more than I need on a regular basis. Chapter 6 deals with how "wealthy" Colin and I are as we live in a world that is stricken with poverty. One of the staggering numbers that Platt puts down on paper is that in the time that it takes for me to sit through a church service, close to 1000 children die from starvation. 1000!! Ok, now I know that it is just a number, so think of it this way - I went to a school were there were 450 +/- in grades k through 12 --- in thirty minutes all those children would be gone.
Hunger and starvation are two things that I have never known. Again I thank the Lord for allowing me to be born in such a great country where I live among the wealthiest. But I had to wonder, "What would it be like?" In most third world countries people can feed their families for $2.00 a day. Colin looked up a TIME article where it showed one American family of 4 that spent close to $350.00 a week on just food! Now it would take that same family that was living on $2.00 a day three years to spend that much money on food.
As Colin read through the chapter he turned to me and said, "I wonder if I could live on just $2.00 a day worth of food for 30 days?" To which I replied, "I wonder if we both could live on $2.00 a day?" We want to do this so we can have some understanding as to what it is like to live on less. To "walk a mile in someone elses shoes" type thing. We might have to go hungry for a meal or two...we might figure out a way to make it the full 30 days. Keep in mind that as we attempt to get by on less, it is only because we have been blessed with so much that we are in a place where we can conduct this social experiment. The point is to experience, if even a tiny bit, what it is like to have to go without or to have to live on less than a dollar a day per person. We are not trying to see how frugal we can get or to see how low our food bill can get and then pat ourselves on the back because we saved so much money. Although, saving money and eating less are things that everyone in America should probably practice anyway. We get to do this voluntarily, but over 3 billion of the world's population are forced to survive on a dollar a day - and that dollar probably includes a lot more than just food. We might experience slight discomfort because we have to cut a few things out of our diet or cut back on portions whereas in many parts of the world it is survival, maintenance, and just trying to reduce the hunger pangs that never seem to go away.
Our current grocery bill runs anywhere between $200.00 and month to $250.00. We cut out most junk foods and started buying the house brands and found that we were saving a bunch of money and we weren't giving up quality. So now we are faced with another challenge. How do we cut back to even less when we have already cut out so much? Well, you get creative!
Colin took our shopping list and came back with what we hope is 30 days worth of food, and he spent about $110.00 total. We are only eating three meals a day, which means no snacks! Also we are only having one serving of whatever our meal is. No seconds or thirds. I make homemade bread that cost only pennies to make and we eat that with every meal as well.
Our first week we ate three meals a day for 7 days and only used $12.00 worth of food. I have yet to sit down and figure out how much this last 7 days has cost us, but I am going to guess that we are sitting around the same amount. Once I was able to figure out how much each item cost and about how much each meal cost to make, it is pretty easy to stay under the set goal.
This whole experience has really started to open our eyes and our minds.
(To be continued.....)
Along with the start of the fall, we started a new book as a whole church, "Radical" by David Platt. It has been a very exciting journey for Colin and me to read through this book. It has stirred up things in our hearts that will forever change the way we think and view the world. I won't go into too much about the book because that is not was I wanted to write about today, but I will touch on one of the chapters he wrote and how we are letting it change our life.
Before I start though, I want to state that I am very proud to live in America. Very. I know that I am so blessed to have been born in this great country and I am also very aware of all the sacrifices that were made in order for me to have such freedom. Also, keep in mind that these things I will write about are just personal convictions that both Colin and I feel effect our lives. You may not agree and you have every right. But if there is one thing I have learned its that God will convict each person as he sees fit.
Now, in order to get the full effect of the book you just need to read it! But I am going to jump to chapter 6. It is titled "How Much is Enough". I feel like I am living in a world of excess. We can jumbo size, biggie size, king size and super size any meal that we can get our hands on! And I am guilty of always getting more than I need on a regular basis. Chapter 6 deals with how "wealthy" Colin and I are as we live in a world that is stricken with poverty. One of the staggering numbers that Platt puts down on paper is that in the time that it takes for me to sit through a church service, close to 1000 children die from starvation. 1000!! Ok, now I know that it is just a number, so think of it this way - I went to a school were there were 450 +/- in grades k through 12 --- in thirty minutes all those children would be gone.
Hunger and starvation are two things that I have never known. Again I thank the Lord for allowing me to be born in such a great country where I live among the wealthiest. But I had to wonder, "What would it be like?" In most third world countries people can feed their families for $2.00 a day. Colin looked up a TIME article where it showed one American family of 4 that spent close to $350.00 a week on just food! Now it would take that same family that was living on $2.00 a day three years to spend that much money on food.
As Colin read through the chapter he turned to me and said, "I wonder if I could live on just $2.00 a day worth of food for 30 days?" To which I replied, "I wonder if we both could live on $2.00 a day?" We want to do this so we can have some understanding as to what it is like to live on less. To "walk a mile in someone elses shoes" type thing. We might have to go hungry for a meal or two...we might figure out a way to make it the full 30 days. Keep in mind that as we attempt to get by on less, it is only because we have been blessed with so much that we are in a place where we can conduct this social experiment. The point is to experience, if even a tiny bit, what it is like to have to go without or to have to live on less than a dollar a day per person. We are not trying to see how frugal we can get or to see how low our food bill can get and then pat ourselves on the back because we saved so much money. Although, saving money and eating less are things that everyone in America should probably practice anyway. We get to do this voluntarily, but over 3 billion of the world's population are forced to survive on a dollar a day - and that dollar probably includes a lot more than just food. We might experience slight discomfort because we have to cut a few things out of our diet or cut back on portions whereas in many parts of the world it is survival, maintenance, and just trying to reduce the hunger pangs that never seem to go away.
Our current grocery bill runs anywhere between $200.00 and month to $250.00. We cut out most junk foods and started buying the house brands and found that we were saving a bunch of money and we weren't giving up quality. So now we are faced with another challenge. How do we cut back to even less when we have already cut out so much? Well, you get creative!
Colin took our shopping list and came back with what we hope is 30 days worth of food, and he spent about $110.00 total. We are only eating three meals a day, which means no snacks! Also we are only having one serving of whatever our meal is. No seconds or thirds. I make homemade bread that cost only pennies to make and we eat that with every meal as well.
Our first week we ate three meals a day for 7 days and only used $12.00 worth of food. I have yet to sit down and figure out how much this last 7 days has cost us, but I am going to guess that we are sitting around the same amount. Once I was able to figure out how much each item cost and about how much each meal cost to make, it is pretty easy to stay under the set goal.
This whole experience has really started to open our eyes and our minds.
(To be continued.....)
Friday, September 10, 2010
Some more of our Summer!
Just some other pictures from our fast summer!!!
This is what our sidewalk looked like after the two lady bugs got done with it!! Too bad it got wet! 
Just one of the MANY springs at the 700 Springs Ranch north of Rocksprings. (In order to see the springs really well in this picture just click on it and make it bigger!)
These are two slides at Camp Eagle. I saw my life flash before my eyes as I went down it, but I now know I can exit a building this way, or a Southwest Airlines plain! Although, I didn't have a cold drink in my hand...I may have to practice that one. :-)
Colin and my running partner's husband, Cam, watching Erika swim for the XTERRA race.
I went through a few pairs of shoes this summer, and these are my newest pair. I like them the best so far.
Me and Marcy getting in a good ride early on in the summer. I had 10 seconds to set the timer, run up the hill, keep Ranger still, get on, and smile. It took us a few times to get a good picture. But it was fun!!
Erika and I took a trip to Camp Eagle to see what it was going to be like. 15 minutes into our ride we all ready needed to cool off! Lucky for us at the top of one of the hills there was a stock tank swimming pool!! In we went then off we went to finish the day!
Our garden was great this year, until it got so hot that all the plants burned up! But we did get to make pickles for the first time ever! I remember my mom making them as a kid, but it has been years. So this was a whole new deal for Colin and me.
William and I at our first team race!! William did great for his first ever tri! We did another one in August, but he ran over a nail and had to stop. The kicker was he was on his way back and had the hardest part over with!!!!!!! But I am still so very proud of him and all his hard work!
Some people have guard dogs...We have this little guy! When the girls were here Colin and the two of them found him. He just hangs out under our little Post Oak tree. My cat found him the other day so I had to move him to a safer place. I wasn't too worried that she would play with him too much, I was just worried that she was going to lay on him and squish him! She is the fattest cat ya know.Well these are just a few moment from our summer fun!
Enjoy!
Ronnie
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Summer came...Summer went
Summer started with out us knowing, so why was it such a big surprise that it ended without us knowing. I sat down and started to look through all of the pictures that we took this summer and have tried to sum up what we did.
We burned things up! Our business was only affected slightly by all the great summer rains. In fact we were able to get most all of our jobs in and save some for next year! This burning season was great! I just love it. I love the hard work that goes hand in hand with this job. I love the people that we burn with most often. I love seeing the before and afters of the land and hearing the land owners' overwhelming awe over what the pastures looks like when it is all done. In the above picture, the landowner was unable to even ride his horse in much of this pasture due to the thickness of the brush. Now, there is no place he cannot go! He was so tickled that he was now able to even drive a truck on the south line of this area, something that he has never seen done in his whole life time!
These two lady bugs, Jaylynn and Ally, were with us for 16 days while thier parents were in Africa on a mission trip. We took many trips to the library and the town pool. Covered our sidewalk with more chalk then I thought possible, and fed a baby deer.
This was my little vacation. Colin and I got to meet with the owner of the 700 Springs Ranch just north of Rocksprings, and for me it was two days off while Colin drove around the huge place. This picture is of the South Llano. It is at a place that not too many people know about. I was able to see it only because I put in the river in a kayak a few miles up in a private little spot. I spent the day before on the same river where the headwater springs are. Yes, springs. They just castcade right out of the rocks and flow into the river. 20 million gallons a day per spring! Just the art work of the Lord.
I spent all summer getting ready for this race with Erika (in the sunglasses) and it was a BLAST! We took a trip to Camp Eagle earlier on in the summer and from that trip we both thought it would be a better idea to compete in the XTERRA as a team rather than as individuals. The race was a 1000 meter swim in the river, and 10 mile mountain bike ride, and a 4+ mile trail run. Erika was the swimmer, and she was awesome!! Chelsey Lou (pink hat) was our runner, whose time was only four minutes behind a national trail running champ. And I was the mountain biker. I guess I did ok...I did make it out alive! We were hoping to finish the whole thing in 3 hours, and when Chelsey Lou crossed the finish line, we were done in 2 hours and 30 minutes!! That time was good enough to put us in first place for the 3 person relay! This was one of three triathalons that I did this summer. I also did one 10k race and I am working on a half marathon in October. My goal is to do a full marathon next year.
AND...I rode! As much as I could, when it wasn't 100+ degrees outside. My faithful mount and I have a great relationship. At the start of the summer I took him to a dressage clinic and we both came back different! Now there is nothing dressage about both horse or rider, but the trainer we worked with was great! I am so loooking forward to another clinic that should be happening some time this fall. I also made some really great friends at said clinic! It is just amazing how God can put such great people in your life when you least expect it!
We burned things up! Our business was only affected slightly by all the great summer rains. In fact we were able to get most all of our jobs in and save some for next year! This burning season was great! I just love it. I love the hard work that goes hand in hand with this job. I love the people that we burn with most often. I love seeing the before and afters of the land and hearing the land owners' overwhelming awe over what the pastures looks like when it is all done. In the above picture, the landowner was unable to even ride his horse in much of this pasture due to the thickness of the brush. Now, there is no place he cannot go! He was so tickled that he was now able to even drive a truck on the south line of this area, something that he has never seen done in his whole life time! 
These two lady bugs, Jaylynn and Ally, were with us for 16 days while thier parents were in Africa on a mission trip. We took many trips to the library and the town pool. Covered our sidewalk with more chalk then I thought possible, and fed a baby deer. 
This was my little vacation. Colin and I got to meet with the owner of the 700 Springs Ranch just north of Rocksprings, and for me it was two days off while Colin drove around the huge place. This picture is of the South Llano. It is at a place that not too many people know about. I was able to see it only because I put in the river in a kayak a few miles up in a private little spot. I spent the day before on the same river where the headwater springs are. Yes, springs. They just castcade right out of the rocks and flow into the river. 20 million gallons a day per spring! Just the art work of the Lord. 
I spent all summer getting ready for this race with Erika (in the sunglasses) and it was a BLAST! We took a trip to Camp Eagle earlier on in the summer and from that trip we both thought it would be a better idea to compete in the XTERRA as a team rather than as individuals. The race was a 1000 meter swim in the river, and 10 mile mountain bike ride, and a 4+ mile trail run. Erika was the swimmer, and she was awesome!! Chelsey Lou (pink hat) was our runner, whose time was only four minutes behind a national trail running champ. And I was the mountain biker. I guess I did ok...I did make it out alive! We were hoping to finish the whole thing in 3 hours, and when Chelsey Lou crossed the finish line, we were done in 2 hours and 30 minutes!! That time was good enough to put us in first place for the 3 person relay! This was one of three triathalons that I did this summer. I also did one 10k race and I am working on a half marathon in October. My goal is to do a full marathon next year. 
AND...I rode! As much as I could, when it wasn't 100+ degrees outside. My faithful mount and I have a great relationship. At the start of the summer I took him to a dressage clinic and we both came back different! Now there is nothing dressage about both horse or rider, but the trainer we worked with was great! I am so loooking forward to another clinic that should be happening some time this fall. I also made some really great friends at said clinic! It is just amazing how God can put such great people in your life when you least expect it! So thats pretty much it. Our summer in one short blog. It was a great one for sure and I give it all back to God. Without Him in our lives, none of this would have been possible!
I am now looking forward to this fall and seeing whats in store for us!
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