Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,  whenever you face trials of many kinds,  
because you  know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.
Let  perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
James 1:2-4

What a month!  It all started when Steve's foot broke out in a rash.  Then the refrldgerator (which has never
worked right) decided to go on sabbatical.  Steve got it working again, but it was time to replace.  Then Ember cut her leg and her hock swelled up.  Of course, the vet was out of town, so we had to find a substitute.  Then the battery died in the Suburban.  Then Mystery colicked and almost died (our vet was still out of town).  Then she had heat stroke (our vet was back).  Then the air conditioner quit,  and we had to replace that.  All this while we were trying to prepare for a trip to the ranch.  Gee, I wonder who doesn't want us there.   

But, most importantly, God came through with everything.  Steve's foot is better, although not completely healed.  We got a new refidgerator that works properly.  Ember's leg is fine and she's doing great.  Mystery survived a trip to a hospital and IV fluids cleared the impaction and we were able to get her cooled down and hydrated and she's doing fine.  We got a new battery for the car and had just enough left for a new air conditioner with enough left over for our trip.

PRAISE GOD! 

I really can rejoice in all that we've been through this month, because I know that my Father has it under control and He's using it to teach us perserverance and to bring us to maturity in Christ.  My God is faithful!

I borrowed this saying with a picture of a horse looking straight at the camera on my facebook page the other day.  It reminded me of the times when I go down to the barn and all three of our horses come running.  They want to be with me.  Maybe they have different reasons or needs they are hoping I will meet, but they want to be near me.  This is the goal of natural horsemanship.  Not to make the horse do what I want, but rather to find a way to make the horse WANT to be with me. 

Isn't that what Jesus did?  He came to our territory, spoke our language, and tried to show us that God doesn't just want us to follow a list of rules.  He wants to be WITH us!  He wants to spend time with us, to comfort us, to meet our needs.  In response, His desire is not that we do all the right things and go through the motions.  No, He wants us to WANT to BE WITH Him.  He wants us to run to Him whenever we see HIm.  Wherever we see Him; in the laughter of a child,  the kindness of a stranger, the dreams of a friend, and yes, even in the eyes of a horse.   

Our horses don't always run to me.  Sometimes I have to wait awhile.  Sometimes I have to go get them.  Sometimes I pretend I'm not there to get them, in order to be more interesting to them.  But I always get a thrill of delight when they run to me.  Imagine how the Father feels when we see Him and immediately come running!

12 The next day as they were leaving Bethany,
Jesus was hungry. 13 Seeing
in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit.
When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season
for figs. 14 Then he said to
the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his
disciples heard him say it.

I am 48 years old.  I didn't own a horse until three years ago.  Until then, my horsemanship skills consisted of keeping the horse between me and the ground.  It is not the season for me to be starting a horse ministry.  Sometimes I think I'm nuts, thinking I can do this.  And I am.  I can't do this.  It's not my season.  But God can.  Jesus went looking for fruit from a tree that did not bear fruit in that particular season.  Didn't the Creator know when figs were in season?  Of course He did.  He also knew He could bring fruit from a tree out of season. 

If I were younger, or more experienced, or just had a natural talent, I could say that I could do this ministry.  I would be able to attribute my success (or failure) to my abilities.  But it's not about what I can do.  It's about what He can do. 

"But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong."  I Cor. 1:27. 

I am blessed to be the foolish, weak thing that my King can use.  This way He gets all the Glory, and I  don't have to fear failure.  Jesus is hungry to complete His kingdom, and He's looking for fruit from trees out of season.  I can only step out in obedience, and He will produce the fruit.

The controversy regarding the proper relationship between God and government raised it's head again recently.  Something someone in politics quoted from the Bible.  I don't remember the details, only that it was out of context.  Then I read about the pharisees trying to trap Jesus, asking if they should pay taxes.  Jesus's responded, "Bring me a coin.  Whose image is on it, and whose inscription?  Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's." 

Usually, the lesson is to pay your taxes and be respectful to those in authority over you.  But a couple of years ago it dawned on me,   If I am to give the government it's due, what is due God?  We have images of important people on our money.  Some presidents, others who have been involved in the foundation of our nation.  The government guarantees that the money is worth something.  There are inscriptions on our bills and coins.  In God We Trust tells what we as a nation value.  That money is not what makes us prosperous.  E pluribus unem describes the kind of nation we are.  One nation formed out of many people.  These are important values in our nations character. 

So what is God's?  Well, what bears His image?  We do.  Created in His image, we are what is due God.  Everything I am belongs to Him, and Him alone.  He alone has the right to command not only my allegiance, but my complete obedience.  And whose inscription is on my heart?  God's law.  The law handed down to Moses is not merely a list of do's and don't's, it's a description of God's character, and how He wants us to reflect His image. 

So, this tax season, as we render to Uncle Sam what is due him, I'll remember what is due to our Lord.  That His image is in me and I belong to Him.  That His law is written on my heart, a reflection of His character to the world.  May He enable me to be an effective channel of His grace in this worl

It's amazing what a little faith can do.  By faith I mean the assurance of things hoped for, the certainty of things unseen.  Hebrews 11 faith.  The Isrealites had witnessed first hand God's miracles.  They had seen Him defeat the gods of the Egyptians, part the Red Sea, lead them by a pillar of fire and a cloud, bring water out of a rock.  Yet they could not bring themselves to believe that He would actually give them the land He had promised them.  It cost them forty years, and the lives of a whole generation. 

I'm a little like them. I was raised by a Christian mom.  Went to church every Sunday.  Learned all about the Bible and God and Jesus and the Gospel.  I even "believed" it.  Until it came time to put it into action.  Then I followed the world and it's lies. 

When I graduated from high school, a friend of mine had been accepted into the horse program at Laramie County Community College.  Since they had no dorms, she was looking for a roommate.  I was looking for a way out of Fort Collins, so I agreed to room with her.  We found an apartment on the north end of Cheyenne and I got a job at McDonald's.  After about six months, I decided to move over to Laramie and go to the University of Wyoming.  I majored in Animal Science with a view to transferring to Colorado State University's vet program.  Chemistry was my giant.  I could not even pass the first test.  So I dropped out.  I moved back home and went back to working jobs that got me no where. 

But three years later, I came to know Jesus.  Not just an intellectual assent to the teachings of the Bible, But I was actually in a relationship with the King of the Universe!   That changed everything.  When I felt Him call me to Washington, I went.  No job, no place to live.  Just His call.  I met my husband there.  I was discipled there by wonderful people who are my forever family.  Then He called us to Louisville.  For the first 18 months, I couldn't seem to find my feet.  Then we found Grace Evangelical Free Church, and a home.  And I rediscovered my love for horses and have learned natural horsemanship principles, or "the gospel for horses".  I also rediscovered my love for Wyoming and it's people through short term mission trips to Wind River.  God has also given me a heart to reach kids with horses, and I'm getting to practice with Stormhaven.  Most of all, the fear of failing is gone.  I no longer have to fear the giants, because I know Whose I am.  And He has a plan.  And His plans never fail.  I look at our land and our hopes and dreams and I know that God's plans will not fail.  It looks so impossible on so many levels, but now I have faith in a mighty God who has called me to know Him.  This time, I face my "promised land" knowing who it is who leads me there. 

Well, the new year has come rushing in like a blizzard.  We all went out to Colorado to my Mom's for Christmas this year, since we needed to get Bridget (my oldest daughter, who has been "Grammy sitting").  It was an interesting drive across Kansas.  I will never again pray for an interesting and "bonding" drive.  (yes, I did pray that the trip would be a bonding experience for us)  Steve had to work up until the Friday before Christmas, so I climbed in the car with two teenagers who weren't particulary thrilled at the prospect of hanging with "the family"  and a nine year old with a brand new DSi that he got for St. Nicholas Day.  The drive from Louisville, to Lawrence was gruelling.  Noone was happy, except the nine year old.  So when we started out across the frozen prairie, I prayed for safety (it was snowing across Kansas and east bound I-70 was closed for a ways)  and for a bonding experience.  I began to rain somewhere in Topeka, then the rain began to freeze.  Somewhere around Junction City, the road was slush.  About 100 feet before the Saline River, we watched a tractor-trailer go off the road in front of us and we called 911.  There was a car off the road every 1/2 mile or so.  I was a little nervous.  The road was very slick, and I was going about 30 when the back end of the Suburban got away from me, I overcorrected, then overcorrected again, then we did a 360, ran off into the ditch.  We could have made it back on the road, but there were cars coming (by God's grace, there was noone around when we spun), so I stopped in the ditch.  We were stuck.  The kids thought it was great!  apparently, when we began to spin, I just said, "Well, here we go."  We called AAA and a kind state patrolman stopped to make sure we were OK.  We all had a good stress relieving laugh and the kids took pictures on their phones and posted them on Facebook.  The tow truck operator only took 1/2 hour to arrive, and was in a pretty good mood.  (I'll bet his kids had a good Christmas!)  We were all safe, and by the time we got to Cody, it was dry pavement the rest of the way.  This will be a memorable trip, and I'm glad.

This episode once again makes me ponder why we're so afraid to step out into whatever it is that God calls us to.  If He calls us, we know that the only thing we risk is seeing His glory, knowing Him more, trusting Him more,  becoming His more.  Some of the things He asks me to do seem so far beyond my abilities, yet, if He calls me to it, won't He surely equip me for it?  And the amazing thing is, even when I blow it and land in a ditch,  He pulls me out and gives me the strength to keep going,  even some smooth sailing from time to time.  And when we share the times of stepping out in faith, following God where He leads, we grow together, bonded in the knowledge that our King will bring us home