Keeping Lily Kate

Sorry for the long break in posts. Every once in awhile we get caught up in life and just don't get around to blogging. There has been a lot of stuff that has gone on in our lives recently though. Last week we had the opportunity to keep our three year old niece Lily Kate while my sister, Dana, was away in Oklahoma cooking the meals for a mission trip team. Her husband Blake was busy working and moving the family into their new home in Ft. Worth. We are very excited they were able to purchase a new house in a great neighborhood and move closer to Blake's work. It has been a huge blessing for them.

(Lily reading the Bible to Jigs. Lily can't read yet, but the story was entertaining)

While both of her parents were busy we got to keep Lily for a few days here at the experiment station. We weren't sure how Lily was going to handle being away from her mom and dad for so long, but she took to it like a duck to water. We spent almost the entire time she was here outside running around doing something. Ronnie took Lily horse riding, they drove around on the ranger, they visited the goats, played in the sprinkler, watered all the plants, got to bottle-fed our neighbor's baby whitetail deer, and picked vegetables in the garden. She loved it! Lily ran around barefoot like a wild Indian making mud pies and "antler soup", she helped Jigs kill grasshoppers, and she even accidentally kicked a prickly pear. She's okay though.

(Lily riding JT around)

We even took her to a birthday for a friend of ours over on the Canyon Ranch and she got the opportunity to see literally hundreds of whitetail deer, axis deer, hogs, sika, oryx, fallow deer, red stag, and antelope (cantelope to Lily) as we drove through the ranch. On our way out we saw a newborn deer running beside the road. He laid down when he saw us, and I was able to pick him up and let Lily see the little guy. Her dad would definitely be envious of all the wildlife Lily witnessed on her stay with us.

(Playing in the sprinkler)

I think Lily had a fantastic time at Camp Roose and Ronnie. I know we certainly loved having her and are looking forward to the next time we get to have Lily stay with us for a few days.

Come back and see us Lily. Jigs says hi.

A girl and her horse

I guess you could say that I have had writer’s block for a while now, but then I guess you have to be a writer to get writer’s block and I don’t consider myself a writer of any sort! I just have felt like I haven’t had anything worth saying. All I have been doing for the past month is yard work, house work, halter breaking two mares, burning out a whole mess of brush piles, and now I am halter breaking a little yearling colt. Well maybe I have had stuff to write about, but nothing all that exciting to most people.
However, the mood struck me today while I was washing my face. (The “mood” doesn’t really care what you are doing when it sparks something in your head as I have found out!) I have been trying to come up with something to write about, but the only thing that I have really had any real thoughts on is my Beth Moore book that I have been reading and I don’t want to bore anyone while I work through my own insecurities. But today I was reminded of God’s never-ending love for me and for you.
A few years ago I took a trip to Whitesboro, TX with Girlstown and we visited a cutting horse farm for the weekend. To this day I remember ever single detail of that trip! It was truly incredible! We watched a cutting horse event then went back to the ranch and got to ride cutting horses that cost more money then I will ever see in my life. While I was there I met a man who told me a story that would forever change the way I view how I work with young horses. His name was Jim. He was the trainer and the coach for the riders at the ranch. He was a retired cop and it showed! I knew that if I were ever to ride under his teaching at some point I would end up in tears! He expected the best every time and was very hard on his riders. But in the ring, their riding stood out. They were amazing! The first night we were all there I got to spend some time talking to Jim about his life working with horse. Ya know questions like how long have you been riding, what is your favorite color horse, all the important things a horse women like myself needs to know! He told me that he had been riding as long as he could walk and always knew that he would end up working cutting horses. He also told me that he goes around to “Cowboy Churches” (very big in Texas) and does special programs for them. Jim then busted out his karaoke machine (and I am not kidding) and made me sing with him! Picture in your mind the worst American Idol audition that is what it was like with me singing to “Amazing Grace” the Elvis version! Poor poor kids that had to sit through that. But Ol’ Jim, now he could sing! He would take his little karaoke machine and travel to these Cowboy Churches, do his Elvis impersonation, then get down to brass tacks with the crowd.
Here is what Jim does. In a round pen he has a young or untouched horse. He stands in the middle and starts to work with the young colt or filly. He does this by putting pressure on the animal by just moving closer to him or her until the animal moves away. This is part of a long process of training and for some horses it can take hours before they submit and relax enough for you to even think of touching them. Some horses hate the fact that someone is trying to tell them what to do. I have seen some horses and worked some horses that will flip themselves over because they don’t want to do what I am asking. But for Jim he spends a few hours working the young horse until he can walk up to it, halter and lead it around and reward the animal for doing so well. After telling me how he sets this up he turns to me and stops cooking, and I will never forget what he said to me next “Isn’t that just like us and God?” WOW and yes! “Only thing is that horse figures it out way faster then most people ever will.” We spend so much time and energy running around and around trying to do it all ourselves, all the while God is just standing in the middle with His arms open just waiting for us to turn into him! Can you see it?? God is our safe place. He is not asking us to do anything that won’t draw us closer to Him. So why in heavens name do we fight him so much? I myself have been known to flip over backwards, much like the young horse, when confronted with something God is gently asking me to do.
When I work with these young horses, I am constantly reminded of Jim’s example he gave to me. Never would I ask the colt or filly to do something that I know they can’t do, neither does my God. Never would I put my horse in danger, neither would my God. Never would I hurt, neglect, or abuse the beautiful creature and never would my Lord and Savior do any of that to me.
Needless to say I am humbled every time I start a young horse. I am also reminded of how often I start over with my God. How frequently it dawns on me that I am running around in circles for no reason and all I have to do is turn and face Him, my safe place in the center. All I have to do is seek Him. Some day, if not on this earth then in Heaven, I hope to see Jim again and thank him for opening my eyes to this wonderful analogy.

(This is not me, just a picture I found to show you how this lady is moving the horse just by putting pressure on the horse's hind end.)

(This is Craig Cameron, horse trainer extraordinaire! Notice how the horse is dripping with sweat because they are afraid of Craig. Now notice that all Craig is trying to do is reward the horse for giving into the pressure that he is putting on him. He is not being forceful in any way towards the horse, yet the animal still keeps his guard up just in case.)


(Different horse just a few steps ahead of the white one in the last picture. There is much more slack in the lead and Craig is able to move closer and with much more ease. The horse has now figured out that to be with Craig in the middle is to be in a safe loving place.)

This is what happens when I start to think...

I mentioned a few blogs ago that I was reading a Beth Moore book. It is her latest and the only one I have ever read, titled “So Long Insecurity: You’ve been a bad friend to us”. So far, I have really enjoyed this book. I have read others that are similar to Beth’s, but where those books just brush over the topic of being insecure, this one tears it apart!
I truly believe that being insecure is one of my biggest areas of weakness. I also think that this is an area where most women struggle. Show me any women and I will show you someone who battles with persistent insecurities. It is almost like it is in our DNA to have some form of insecurities.

In Beth’s book she has uncovered some things that I have never thought of before, or she has hit the nail right on the head. I began reading her book and thinking to myself, “Holy cats! I am not the only one who thinks that!!??? So I am not just making a huge deal out of nothing??!!” Or, “Thank you Jesus! I am not crazy!” After reading just a few short chapters of her book it became very clear that she was writing about feelings and situations that I myself felt or could have experienced just last week or even yesterday!
I sat down with Colin the other night and told him that I was going to write about what I had been reading and I told him the details. Not sure if he really wanted to hear all about them, but he got a magnum load of it anyway. He’s a good listener.

Early on in this book Beth wrote this sentence “We naturally despise people whose company we are forced to share if we feel largely threatened by them.” This is the part in the book where a light went on, not that it has never gone on before, but now right there in front of me in black and off white is a description of how I act sometimes. Hang with me here while I try and dig myself out of this mess and explain my conclusion.
Back to talking with Colin. I read him that same sentence and then told him what I thought it meant in my own life. Say we go to party, birthday get together, BBQ with some friends, or any place where there is a group of people. Naturally for me I am already feeling uneasy about going. It has ALWAYS been this way for me because I am already nervous about what situations might arise. That feeling of uneasiness I think stems back to some really bad relationships where I was “left out” or just ignored in the company of other people, women especially! Never in all the time that I have known Colin has he ever made me feel this way. Just wanted to point that out. He is a great man! Ok, back on track. So we make it to the event. My first reaction is to scan the room to find out what I am up against. At this point I feel like I am 12 again and way out of my league. I try and stay glued to Colin because if “she” is there then I want to be with him if she comes over and talks to him. Do you think I am crazy yet? No? Well it gets worse. So I find “her”. If you haven’t figured it out I feel the most insecure when around other women. There is no one specific thing that makes me feel threatened by this person. It could be that she is super cute, or dresses better then I do, or is way too beautiful to be around, or she could be just a very loud, or has to be the first one to hug every guy in the room, or dresses a little bit too sleazy for my liking. But whatever it is that triggers my craziness, the moment it happens and I see her, the claws come out but stay safely tucked away in my pockets. I try and remain calm. Well I give it an honest effort. I try and play nice. I try and not let ridiculous thoughts run through my brain. Thoughts like, “Crap! Colin is going to see her and think that she looks better than I do.” Or “DANG IT!! If Colin starts to talk to her, he is going to leave me and spend the whole night enjoying her company.” Again, this is stuff that Colin has never done to me nor will he ever, but stuff that has been done to me in my past. Once Satan gets into my head like that, I pretty much need to go home. My smile then becomes forced and my attitude stinks! This all can happen even with out any interaction between the person I feel threatened by. But if she does make her way to us and then hones in on Colin and doesn’t even see me…I see red! My blood boils. Instead of just saying Hi or saying anything, I become 16 and all sorts of bent out of shape. I would really like to think that I am way past all that nonsense, but nope! Then I feel like everyone knows what I am thinking, because it is written all over my face and in my actions, and I just assume that everyone hates me. At this point I myself think I am crazy. You can agree with me if you like.

Back to my conversation with Colin- He asked, “Well what if she is a long time friend of mine and I want to talk to her?” My first thought “AHHHH!!!! Nope! Not cool. Did you not just hear a word of what I said??!! I need to be the center of your attention at all times!!” I have such a great way of making it all about me. But what I said was different. I needed to understand that for guys it is soooo much different. They do not, DO NOT think like we do. I could be raging war with the chick across the room, but he’s completely oblivious to my internal conflict and he’s just excited because a new thing of chips and salsa was just brought out and “Lonesome Dove” is on TV. But I want to be able to answer Colin’s question I wanted to be honestly and not lie when I tell him it’s perfectly okay for him to chat with some old girl friend. I need to be ok with him talking to other women, even if it is “one” that makes me want to pour the cheese dip all over her perfect hair. My biggest concern is that when he is talking to her I don’t end up feeling like I am invisible. Now I understand and I get it that he can’t have a conversation with whomever and be looking at me the whole time. I get that. This is something that I need to work on. I also realize that my sudden dislike for the pretty girl over there stems from nothing she has done at all but rather from my own insecurities. She’s probably a wonderful person and we might actually be friends if we could get past our insecurities and be able to get to know one another. This is the battle I am fighting, but I know that I am not fighting it alone. When Satan starts to whisper in my ear that so-and-so over there is thinner than me, or her hair is better, or what if Colin finds her to be more attractive, I need to fight back. The battle has already been won over me. I have already been saved from the enemy’s grip. God has fought for me and will continue to do so if I will seek Him and ask for the help that only He can give me. I need to do this so that I can break the chain and be freed from these feelings.

I look back at all the times that I was on the defense and gosh, that is such an awful feeling. I want to apologize to anyone who might have been around me at those moments. I am so sorry. I have made a fool out of myself more than once and possibly never got to know some really great women because of my stinky attitude and insecurities that would not allow it. I am a work in progress (that sounds so corny!) and this is an area in my life that I am going to be truly working on.

I would encourage any of you women who struggle with insecurities to pick up Beth’s book. I was reading it last night when I came across this little slice of thought provoking goodness “…instead of looking for ourselves in God, we look once more for God in man, and just when we think we’ve found someone who can hold us high enough and long enough to assuage our fear of forgottenness, we get dropped.” As long as we put our faith and trust in man, we will continue to be let down. However if we put our faith and trust in our Lord and Savior we will always be lifted up.

I’ve tried my best to be as honest as I can and make sense of everything in my head. I hope that I didn’t loose any of you along the way! I don’t know if this will be the only blog entry dealing with Beth’s book, but I do know that if I can relate to the topic she is writing about then I know others can as well.

Our Ski Trip to New Mexico

I grew up in a small town in upstate New York. I also lived about 15 minutes away from Gore Mountain. Even with living so close, I never learned how to downhill ski until a few years ago. A few co-workers and myself took a handful of kids to New Mexico to go skiing and for the first time I took a ski lesson. Now it came pretty easy to me only because I spent years cross country skiing. So it only took me moving to Texas and going to New Mexico to learn how to ski.

Friends of ours, Jake and Crecsendia, invited us to go to Angel Fire, New Mexico for a ski trip the first week in March. We left San Angelo at 5:00 am and got to the "cabin" at 3:00ish New Mexico time. After we got a running start and made it up the "horrifically steep" driveway, we settled in and went to get our equipment for the next few days. We played in the waist deep snow, almost lost Crecsendia in it, and only made it 100 feet from the house!

(The "cabin")

(The view looking off the mountain)(Me and my trusty skis that only left me once when I fell)

(My snow bunny, Colin.)

(I love this man!!!)

(I only got one picture of any of us skiing. We, for the record, all did ski but I only got one picture of it.)

We had a blast! Despite the sore knees, bused hips, aching shines, and countless falls we all had a great time. The weather was perfect and so was the company. I am already looking forward to next years trip!!!

"Mi dulce mariposa"

For as long as Colin has known my best friend Marissa, he called her "Sweet Mariposa". Whenever I call her or vis versa, I know that at some point I will hear him say, "Ah...is that the sweet Mariposa?". It wasn't until a few months ago that I even let her know that he called her that, only because we were not sure what it translated to. So with a little help from some friends, we found out that it mean butterfly in Spanish.

My sweet Mariposa came to visit me over her spring break from school. I felt so blessed that she wanted to spend her time off with ME!!! We had a blast too!

She got here on Saturday. On Sunday I got to take her to church and then we went to the Shannon Hospital to visit the radiology center, because (and I am praying really hard about this and keeping my fingers crossed) when she finishes up with her school she is thinking of moving here and maybe going to work for the Shannon Hospital system as a radiologist.

We then headed for Sonora where it rained on us for the first day. But that was ok by us! We just slept in, hung out, talked about all that is going on in our lives, watched as many chick flick movies as we could, "bedazzled" things! Ya know...girl stuff! Also, keep in mind that the last time I even saw my bestie was at my wedding! We have talked on the phone, but face to face conversations are so much better.

Then on Tuesday...we had enough of being stuck inside, so we saddled up the ponies and away we went! To me, there is nothing better to do with your best friend then spend it on the back of a horse. We ran through the woods and along the station trails. I think that if our seat bones and knees would have allowed it, we would have ridden all day!

On our last day together, we went back to San Angelo and only went into three of the downtown shops. It was a blast but before we knew it our time together had come to an end. But I know that it will not be as long between our visits this time around. There is a Beth Moore one day simulcast over her new book "So Long Insecurity" on the 24th of April. Marissa is hoping to make it back down here for that, as am I!!!

Speaking of the Beth Moore book...Thank you Gwyn for letting me read one of your copies....AND it is GREAT!!! I believe that it is a book that every lady should at least pick up and try to read. Even if you don't have the same views as her, she is hitting hard on issues that have plagued me most of my life. So far in reading this book, I already feel better knowing that I am not the only one that thinks crazy things! I thought that maybe I was too sensitive, but now I am seeing that I just have a few insecurities of my own that I hope to work on and through while reading this book. I think that there will be another blog about this book at a later date, but for now I just hope that everyone is having or has had a great spring break!

Thank you

I try and tell her often, but I know don't say it nearly enough, so I wanted to take the time this morning to say thank you to my beautiful wife for all she does to keep our home, lives, romance, and business working smoothly. Ronnie is a stay-at-home wife. That does not for a second mean she doesn't work, because she works incredibly hard all day at tasks that many times go unnoticed. I am positive that she never intended to get into prescribed burning because its a job very very few people do, almost entirely a male dominated occupation, she had never heard of it till she met me, and it's hot and dirty and you always smell like diesel fuel and smoke. Burning is dirty work. It's very fun and rewarding and always exciting, but very dirty. Ronnie has long beautiful hair that gets singed every once in awhile, she can't help but get black soot under her nails and on her clothes and face, her clothes are always covered in black stuff, and there is never a bathroom nearby. For a woman I can see how it would not be a very comfortable career choice. However, Ronnie does it because that is our business and she would not think of letting me go off burning and have her stay home worrying about me. We always want to be together regardless of what we are doing. Even though our lifestyle does not aford her the cleanliness and comfort she deserves, I don't think she would trade it for the world, because she would rather spend time with me in a hot smoky pasture around a bunch of smelly men than spend time away from me. Even when she is covered in soot and her hair is a little singed and she's drenched in sweat, she is still the most beautiful woman in the world to me. My wife is my dream woman and I am incredibly blessed to be able to spend everyday with her. So, thank you for all you do. I couldn't and wouldn't do it without you.

Your husband,

Colin

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!