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!

TRUST

A five letter word although small packs a very powerful punch in its meaning. If you’re honest everyone has “trust” issues and that is because we have hoped or believed in people who are not perfect and make mistakes. Then we compare God to people and mistrust Him who has never given any of us any reason to not trust Him and more times than not proved His trustworthiness even when He didn’t have to.

Over the last couple of years God has been relentless in revealing my lack of trust in Him and lovingly pursuing and encouraging me to “let go”. 2007 was a very difficult year for me: emotionally, physically, and spiritually. Those of you who have been with me that long will remember I had two horses die within 2 months of each other. One of which was my personal mount and friend. (He is the horse I am on in the profile pic.) I developed a blood clot in my leg that year. We almost lost our oldest dog Zorro. We learned that Doyle’s oldest brother was in need of a liver transplant. My daughter was going through very difficult times as well and I felt like God was very far away from me.

Things improved in 2008. The future was looking bright once again and then came 2009 when our daughter who has a good head on her shoulders showed us her humanness. In March she totaled her truck and was arrested for a DWI. I was so thankful that she didn’t get hurt or hurt anyone else! Doyle & I had been praying that Vanessa would return to following after the Lord instead of living life her own way. I sure didn’t expect this! I asked the Lord if it was possible to let this pass but if not than I wanted His will to be done not mine. That sounds like it was easy but it wasn’t. I so wanted to rescue her but I couldn’t from this.

God showed His grace, mercy and favor to Vanessa. The County Attorney along with his investigative team decided that they would not take her case to court! I couldn’t believe it! Ya God! She isn’t out of the woods yet as DPS still has her license. For now she has a pink slip that allows her to drive until she gets a hearing with the State of Texas. She just received a letter last week setting her court date for July 8th. God’s favor continued with the insurance company who paid more than we were expecting!

Things were looking up again when Vanessa dropped another bombshell. May 13th, three days after Mother’s Day Vanessa told us we’re going to be grandparents. This one pretty much took the wind out of my sails. I love my daughter and I do want to be a grandmother but I didn’t want it to happen this way. I spent a few weeks crying out to God and very close friends. Dealing with anger and despair. I’ve worked through most of that now and have found myself beginning to think about scrapbook stuff and how different my life will be. I told several of my friends that now I’ll have more baby pics than dog pics! Vanessa is do January 6th. She and I are kind of hoping that the baby will be born before the new year but we’ll see.

A friend of mine suggested a CD called Those Who Dream by Kristine Mueller. I couldn’t get past the very first song called “Trust”. I have finally listened and continue to listen to the entire CD but the first song has become “my song” for this season in my life and has been a great comfort to me.

It’s the sweetest thing to trust You
Just to know, You got everything under control
It’s the sweetest thing to trust You
Just to know you got everything

You are making me a mountain
Making me a mountain
That can not be shaken
You are making me a mountain
Making me a mountain
That can not be moved

High up on a rock looking out at the horizon
Watching as the storm rolls in
Wondering if my heart will survive it
As the waves crash all around me
And I can’t remember what it feels like to be free

You are making me a mountain
Making me a mountain
That can not be shaken
You are making me a mountain
Making me a mountain
That can not be moved

You say “I’ve got you My baby, Oh I’ve got you
Its quite the mess you’re in
but it’s nothing love can’t fix
So sit here upon my shoulders
And watch as it all unwinds”

You are making me a mountain
Making me a mountain
That can not be shaken
You are making me a mountain
Making me a mountain
That can not be moved

God is making me a mountain that nothing will shake or move. I am learning that trusting Him is the sweetest thing. Just knowing He really does have everything under control.

Have a good one!