Precious Moment 5-20-2017

I'll tell you right now this will be a little bit different post than I usually share. It is a record of my encounter with God and His presence while enjoying His creation.

I am part of a private "Beta" group of a friend of mine. I can't go into many details right now as she is still in the process of developing this ministry. But I can say her name is Rose. There are only 10 members in all including Rose and her husband. We have a private Facebook page. She communicates with us through live videos once a week. She has also given us some different ideas on spending time with God and journaling.

She had been giving us different prompts for the length of 10 days. Different ways to "spend our time with God".

This day she had just done a video earlier that morning. The challenge for the day was to "Get Out and Smell the Roses". Get outside and connect with God through His creation....right up my alley! This is my most favorite way to connect with him. I thought "this will be easy. I do this all the time". I wasn't however prepared for what was about to happen.

My dear friend Teresa and I had made plans to craft this day. We hadn't finalized plans until I was on my way back from feeding horses.

While at the horses I to a walk through the wooded land next to the horses while they were eating.

I just enjoyed seeing things he created and marveling.

Loves this mix of colors.

I just love cactus blooms. So elegant.

Then I found this heart shaped cactus.

This is a road in the neighboring pasture. It is owned by a brick plant but it is not actively used. There's just something about roads like this that draw me.
















After feeding and hearing from Teresa I go home to pack a few craft items and head to her house.

I have my camera with me as I hope to watch the sunset that evening. As I leave the city limits I begin to see wildflowers lining both sides of the road. I tell myself to keep going but as I pass by one batch of flowers that looked like a huge bouquet, I stop and make a u-turn then make another u-turn to be on the right side of the road and get out. If you are interested. The video tells the story 😉



I did take lots of "still" photos before the video.

The proper name for these is Liatris Spicata. I believe the layman's term is "horsemint".

Indian Blankets. I think I called them "Firewheels" in the video. They are called both.

These are Cones . I said I couldn't remember if they were cone or Mexican hats.

I just love these blooms!

Primrose

I called these "snow on the mountain" but I was wrong 😲

They are Boreal Yarrow. In the "Aster" family.

I don't know what the other one is.

This is the beauty that I videoed.

I headed on to Teresa's and we had a wonderful day. Talking, catching up, crafting and sharing supplies. We vowed to do this very soon! The plan is to get together next Sat as part of my birthday celebrating 😊.






As I see the sun lowering in the sky. I grab my camera and head to the back of their pasture to watch it set.

It was so nice to get to watch the sunset without houses and power lines!

I love reflection pictures!

Awe....peaceful.

If you watched the video then you heard me talk about praying against any chigger bites. Well, that didn't work. I...was...eat...up! I must say...it was worth it 😤

I hope I inspired you to "Get out and smell the roses"!

Have a good one!

A Gift From Papa

I've been sitting on this news for about 2 weeks! I've been afraid of saying anything for fear of jinxing it and I'm not superstitious! I will be officially getting this gift on Monday and will blog about this day but first I must share the story behind it.

May 2007 my beloved horse Blue died. He was 18yo. I had owned him for 12yrs. We had been through alot together. I can't begin to tell you how deep my bond was with him but the day he died a little bit of me died with him.

Christmas that year Pastor Kirk gave me a gift as he usually did but this gift was extremely special. Here is an excerpt from a blog (January 1, 2008) I had on a previous blog site.




On Friday before Christmas Pastor Kirk came in with a rather large wrapped gift for me. He usually gives me something every year. I decided to wait to open it until Christmas. When I opened it I felt bad for not allowing Kirk the blessing of seeing my expression upon the revelation of the gift. As you can see it is a sculpture. The name of the sculpture is "The Gift". I began to cry as I looked at the intricate details of this awesome piece of work. God began to show me through this artwork that I was the little girl and He was the cowboy. I believe it was God's way of reassuring my heart that I will have another horse one day. I know I have a horse now but I do not have the connection with Clyde that I had with Blue. I believe one day God will give me another horse that I will bond with like I did Blue. And I'm just foolish enough to believe that someone will give it to me. I don't know when or how but I believe I will have another horse other than Clyde. I couldn't quit crying for several minutes. I finally did regain my composure. I have found when I tell people about this sculpture and what I believe it stands for, it makes me cry again! I will have to say this is a very special gift and such a tangible reminder of God's love and promise to me. Geez, there are tears in my eyes now even as I write this! I did call Kirk later and thank him. Even as I was thanking him and sharing with him what God had showed me I began to cry on the phone....so he didn't miss out entirely on the affect the gift had on me!

Fast forward to 2013...six years later. Doyle and I have been discussing getting a couple more horses. Clyde is 23 will be 24 in February. He is a "senior citizen" in horse world. Every day I have him is a blessing. Not only does he need company as horses are herd animals but no one else can ride with me because I only have one horse and I want to teach my grandchildren to ride. 

Sunday afternoon September 8th, I was on Facebook. I saw a picture from a friend of mine, Melanie,  I meet through scrapbooking, of her two little girls on horses. The caption was "Giddy-up...of course now they want their own!" I don't always look at comments but because horses were involved I did. Someone posted "We have three horses we're trying to find homes for, if interested. LOL". I posted "I might be interested. Can you give me some more information? I currently own an older horse and want to add." Then Melanie posted "That would be awesome but absolutely nowhere to put them. Valerie would be a definite 1st choice for me! I know she would take wonderful care of them!"

This lady messaged me through Facebook and we chatted back and forth. In the end she gave me her phone number and I called to make arrangements to see the horses on Tuesday September 10th. I was in love the moment I saw them! It was all I could do to restrain myself but I knew that I had to have Doyle's approval to go through with this. I knew I had it when he said to the people "Valerie always said she liked seeing color in the pasture. I guess now I need to go work on the barn to get ready for them." 

Let me introduce you to Patches. A 13yo registered Paint Mare. Stands about 15H.

Meet Diamond. A 12 yo registered Paint Gelding and half brother to Patches. He's about 15.1H. He's the same height as my Blue was and built about the same.

This is Dixie. A 7yo half Paint half Mustang Mare. She's probably about 14.2H. Not any relation to the other two. She was taken in by this family from a friend when she was a filly (less than a year old). She has never been ridden. I am hoping to change that.

All three are very docile and of gentle temperament. Doyle picked up their feet without any of them having a halter on. I was impressed! The other two have been trained but haven't been ridden in 5 years. 
 
The two registered Paints are horses left from the father of the woman who owns them. He used to raise Paint horses. He has since died. She and her husband are retired and want to move at some point. They didn't want to sell them for fear they wouldn't go to a good home.  
 
Can you tell that Diamond and Dixie are buddies!

I did ride Diamond Wednesday. I chose him because where they live now is VERY rocky and he is the only one with shoes. He did just fine.  I was very pleased.

These guys are the reason I've been so quiet of late! I've been busy helping Doyle prepare our place for 3 more! We now have everything ready and have scheduled to bring them home with us on Monday. I am so excited I took off work so I can spend time with them and watch to make sure they don't beat up on the old guy!

That's a pretty good gift huh?! I believed Papa for "a horse" to be given to me and He gave me three! That's so like Him. It drives home the truth from Ephesians 3:20 "Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us"

My heart is full!
Have a good one!

Tokens of Love

Today's blog will be much different that I've written here before. Something I saw today reminded me of something I journaled over a year ago.

February 2012
Over the last several days Holy Spirit has been teaching me to be aware of my Papa's love for me. Whether it be sunsets,

weather systems

  or wildlife, 

I take great joy in Papa's creations. I often try to capture the moment through photography. One morning on my way to feed horses, a doe gracefully loped across the road. I smiled and said "thank you, Papa". He knows how much I enjoy seeing deer.

Walking from my truck to the barn, I heard a familiar "knocking" sound coming from above me. I looked up to see a large woodpecker with a brilliant red head! He was stunning! I was greatly annoyed that I didn't have my camera with me! Later in the afternoon driving down the road I spot a hawk. Upon closer observation I noticed there were two! I cannot recall ever having seen two at the same time! Once again, I didn't have my camera! Although annoyed I couldn't take a picture, I was truly thankful for the opportunity to see Papa's handy-work. It was then that Papa spoke (not in an audible voice but to my spirit) "Just enjoy the moment. This is my 'token of love' for you". I began to thank Him and express my love back to Him! It was a precious moment. I also began to ponder that phrase "token of love". I decided to look up the word. This is what I found.

The definition of "token" 1) something serving to represent or indicate some fact,event, feeling, etc. 2) a characteristic indication or mark of something; evidence or proof. 3) Memento, souvenir or keepsake.

I knew what the word "token" meant but reading these definitions brought a whole new understanding to what Papa spoke to me. As much as I enjoy the "works of Father's hands" I must admit that there are times I take it for granted and when I do I find that I begin to question His nearness and/or love for me. Especially when things get difficult. He reminded me that my opportunity to see the beauty of His creation is His "tokens of love" for me.

I was reminded today of Papa's "token of  love" when I saw this.

 I had taken Kaidence for a walk to the cemetery. There used to be ducks at this pond but they disappeared several months ago. As we got to the pond I saw something on the water. I was thrilled to see it was not one but two Canadian geese! Not sure why they are here. They have usually headed north by now. Wouldn't you know....I didn't have my camera with the zoom lens. I watch the geese and notice something in the water with them. Oh my goodness! It's babies! I was ecstatic! I walk Kaidence back home and grab my SLR camera to go back to the cemetery for some pics! Hoping beyond hope that I didn't disturb them too bad the first time. I make it back to find they are still there! What a treat to watch these beautiful creatures!

It was so neat to see Mom and Dad watching over their young.

Aren't these little guys so cute?!

Even with my zoom lens they were not comfortable with me being there. They kept moving away from me.

 What are Father's "tokens of love" for you? What things bring you joy and pleasure? Is it a "hug from a friend", "'I love you' from your child", a "lick from from your canine companion?" I encourage you to begin to recognize Father's "tokens of love" to you then give Him thanks and praise for "He cares for you" (1 Peter 5:7).

Have a good one!