Dreaming of Blue Bonnets and Warm Spring Days

The Blue bonnets are out.

 So much has been going on these last couple of weeks! It is hard to believe that it has been a couple of weeks since I have last posted.  I guess it is a true saying, “Time flies when you’re having fun.”

 Two Wednesdays ago, Tyler’s mom and dad, Karen and Dennis, treated Tyler and I to the Houston Rodeo. Sadly, Tyler was away on business, so I decided in his place to invite my friend, Hannah. Karen, Hannah and I went early and shopped and got to look at all the cool things that they had at the rodeo. Than when Dennis came, we went and watched the Rodeo. It was so much fun! I just can’t help but appreciate the riding for the roping teams, bull riders, and bronco riders. They got spunk, I’ll say. After the rodeo, the main event came on…..The Band Perry! So goodJ

The fun doesn’t end with the rodeo though. The next day Karen and I headed to the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit at Texas Children’s Hospital and painted plates with some of the children there. I got the privilege of working along a little girl. Despite not speaking English very well, we had a grand time. I believe she pulled the inner child out of me! I discovered that finger painting is an awesome thing!!! I am in love with this child like painting style. Thinking of her toothless smile just warms my hear. After the kids had put their hand prints on the plates, Karen, Val(another volunteer) and I had to go back and finish the dishes. All the dishes we painted are going toward a golf tournament that His Grace Foundation is hosting in April.

Could my last two weeks get any more fun? Wait, the adventures are not over.

Monday of this week I got to go shopping with Karen for art supplies for the next couple of months supplies for the art program I am starting on the Unit. I can’t tell you how much fun it was to go through Hobby Lobby and pick the things that I wanted off of my prewritten list. I am so excited to do starting these art projects. I started putting together kits as soon as I was finished shopping and home. Then of course, I had to try some of the projects. I am in love with paper Mache. Flour and water! That is all you need, plus paper. How cool is that? Why did I never try this before?

Thursday of this week was one of my greatest highlights. This is a monumental day. This was the first day I got to go on the unit and do art all by myself! The event coordinator told me that there was 4-5 kids who wanted to do art. I was so thankful for Karen! We split up to conquer. God had a funny way of it all. I wound up working with the same little girl that I had the week before. This time she and I worked on molding with clay. We made beads and a beautiful multicolored horse. I had no objections so the horse;) She even taught me a few words in her language. You can have some much fun and not speak a single word. I love art!

Friday…oh Friday….I finally got to go to Tyler’s work! I got to see his office space and get a tour of the building and see Dennis’s office as well. Than we all went out to eat for lunch. I enjoyed ever moment of it. I got all dressed up like a little cowgirl for my hubby. I love looking pretty for my man;)

And so the last two weeks ends with today. Saterday….

Dad

I wrangled up a crew to come with me to Sandy Creek Bible Camp. YAY! Dani, Karen, Dennis, Tyler, Zed and I all went. Five horses ridden! Yay! It was a lot of work getting everyone situated and all, but it was totally worth it. I feel like everyone had a good time. I had the pleasure of riding a new horse that they actually got in a couple of weeks ago. His name is Henna. He has the stocky body of a quarter horse and is a chestnut color with a funny looking stripe/star on his face. I would like to highlight him.

Henna, from what I know is a very well trained horse from a ranch near camp called Miracle Ranch. The ranch does roping and team penning and the like. Sadly a year ago or so, Henna injured his shoulder and could no longer be used for the high activity of the ranch. So at 6 years of age, the ranch donated Henna to Sandy Creek. I was a little unsure of what I was going to be dealing with, specially since this horse hadn’t been worked a lot since the injury.

Mom on Rocky

Dani on Montana

When we went to go get the horses in the pasture, he was the one horse that kept walking/trotting away from me. I managed to get all the other horses we needed accept Henna. By God’s favor, I managed to get him into the arena. With gates closed, I was hoping the smaller space would encourage him to let me catch him. He would have none of it.

Not a very attractive picture but there's Henna

When Henna had first arrived, one of the staffers at Sandy Creek was working with him the round pen. I had noticed that Henna seemed to know the round pen game very well. So today as he was running around the arena, I decided to use that to my advantage. If he turned away from me, I made him run. If he turned away from me, I made him run. If he pinned his ears at me, “    “….The list goes on. Basically the idea with this game is if he wants to pay attention to anything but me, he gets pressure in his life. When he turned to face me, I let him rest. It was not easy, he knew the game. He wanted to anticipate, call the shots. The one thing he didn’t want was a halter on his head. I could see the wheels turning in this well trained horse. He knew the game, and this was different. He had to play by my rules. When he finally let me rub him down and put the halter on, we were both tired.

When I was first chasing Henna around in the pasture, I kept thinking, come on buddy let me catch you so we can go ride. Then, when I got him into the arena and realized what I had gotten myself into, I realized this was bigger than a quick in and out job. That is what this horse needed at that moment. I then went from grumpy to content running after this horse.

Some how in the midst of all that running and sweat, a teachable moment managed to wiggle itself into my time at Sandy Creek once again. I knew what Henna needed. He needed to be pushed to think beyond where he had been training. He needed to get stretched and it affected every ounce of the rest of the time I worked with him. He knew that he should stand still to be caught by a human and he chose to ignore that training. God has a standard by which we as Christians should live by. Many of us have been trained up in those ways since we were little. Now as adults, Christianity becomes every day habit. We pray before meals, we got to church on Sunday, we read God’s word, etc. We expect God to pat us on the head and say good Christian. God has so much more for us than for us to be “routine Christians”. He wants us to be extraordinary. He knows that we are never done in our training. God knows that if we stayed where we were, we would never grow into He wants us to be, which is like Himself for His glory. So what does He do? He puts pressures in our lives. He gives us opportunities to run to Him and learn from him. Matthew 11:28- says “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

God does not plan to bring pressures into our lives with out not planning to walk with us every step of the way. The most perfect, on earth example of this peace vs. pressure is found in the round pen. The pressure that is placed through a rope or a trainer’s body, is not to cause harm to the horse, but rather to simply get the horse’s attention. The peace comes when the horse chooses to face and come to the trainer. That is where the horse finds rest, in the presence of the trainer. Let us seek our Lord with fervor in trial and in good times. Let us seek His word as deer pants for water. Let us continue to learn how to become more like Christ.

He's so lazy he drinks water lying down

 One last final note, Zed has captured our hearts! He is so cute. Every day is a new adventure with him. I find myself laughing at the things he does. Like for instance, the other day I was giving him a bath. The last couple of times have been filled with drama and whimpering, but that day, it was like a switch went on his is brain and he realized it was water and that retrievers play in water. Next thing I know he’s dunking his head under the water and swooshing it back and forth, water going every where. What else could I do but laugh.  We took him to a pond near Tyler’s parents house for his first water experience. It sure was an experience! He at first couldn’t figure out how to get down the cement ledge to get into the water. With my help, he got in. At first he just stood there, than all of a sudden it dawned on him that this was water. He first drank it, than ran in it, fell in it, and swam in it. I could seriously not stop laughing.  He is definitely a water dog. We think he will make a great bird dog. The other day out of the blue I through his favorite toy he went and got it and brought it back. That’s what I call cool. He’s already been programmed to fetch too…We really truly got an awesome dog! He’s a little lazy some times, but in general, a ton of fun.

Well I could keep talking about our lives till the cows come home, but it is time for bed. So I hope all of you are well.

We took Zed to Sandy Creek and he sort of rolled in the mud.

God bless

Jules