Long Night, Long Day

Last night I slept with the window cracked because it was so nice outside.  Cooler out than in.  But at 1 o'clock in the morning, all I could hear was dogs barking.  I get up and go outside to hear two big dogs barking out at the barn.  Great.  Okay, one of mine is here so who's out at the barn?  Back in I go to grab a flashlight and my gun.  My Cowboy moves ever so slowly and asks "do you want me to go?"  Well. Of course, I do but I say "no, I'm going".   So I hear "don't forget your gun".  I'm already there.  I throw on some jeans and out I go.  Well, here comes my other dog running up to me and I see off in the distance another dog running off.  I can't really make out the dog, but I don't recall anyone's dog vaguely looking like that.  The horses are all calm (I've got one put up in the round pen to work with tomorrow - or is that today), the cows are fine and the chickens are sleeping undisturbed.  And I don't smell a skunk.  Thank God for that! I have no idea what was going on but it's over.  So back I go to try and get some sleep.  Yeah, right. 
I don't really think I've got time in my schedule today for a nap.  And, if I did, I know I wouldn't sleep tonight.  So, it's going to be a long day.
Back to the horse in the round pen.  There are some that come to our cowboy church that want so much to be able to ride and have a horse of their own but just can't for various reasons.  So I've been looking for one or two good family horses that we can haul up there with ours.  I know there is someone out there that needs to find a home for their beloved horse and I'm praying for God to direct our paths to meet.  But, in my search, I've come across ads that claim their horses can do "tricks".  I even saw one that could get down in the front and "pray".  Now wouldn't that be cool?  I've seen a praying dog on youtube but not a horse. Well, except for Trigger and Gene Autry's Champion.  I do remember when I was kid, I always wished I could make my horses do tricks.  Ha!  The only trick they knew was how fast they could get me off their back!  So, yesterday, I had this big idea that I would try and teach one of my horses to do tricks.  So, she's in the round pen waiting to tolerate her owner's foolish antics.  My Cowboy came in last night and asked about the horse being in the round pen.  After I told him I was going to "work with her", he just gave me that look and said "don't you think you need to let her out?"  Yeah, probably so.  But we'll see what today brings.
Vio con Dios,
The Preacher's Wife

Whoa! Bad Hair Day

How did this happen is such a short amount of time? And who's been chewing on her mane?  Can you tell behind this massive tangle that her mane is chewed down to the nub?  And she had such pretty mane. 

What can you do?

A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. 

Vio con Dios,

The Preacher's Wife

The Ultimate Giveaway

A Giveaway?  Something for free?  How quickly we jump to find out if we can possibly get in on a chance to win something by simply throwing our names in a hat.  Free.  Don't get me wrong.  I'm one of the first ones "pick me, pick me".   When I saw a quilted table runner to be given away on a blog it made me start thinking.  First of all, how nice it would look on my table and then about giveaways.
What do we do when someone gives us something for free?  First of all, we think there must be a catch or simply accept the gift with a huge gratitude and then feel like we "owe" the giver something.  Do you feel like if someone gives you something that you, in turn, need to reciprocate and give them something?  How often have you been in a situation that someone gives you a Christmas present but you didn't get them anything and you feel about an inch tall?  Or you keep a tin of cookies or popcorn in the back seat for those situations. 
What do we do with the free gift that God has given all of us?  For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Romans 6:23.   Here is God allowing His Son to be tortured and put to death for our sins to give us eternal life in Heaven.  One thing we can all be assured of - we are all going to die.  Believe it or not, we will be going to one of two places - Heaven or hell.   And all we have to do is simply accept His free gift of grace and follow Him.  We do not have to do anything extraordinary but simply accept it.  I can tell you that once you have accepted His free gift of grace, then you will want to do good things.  It's not all going to be a bed of roses but I know that God is right there with me along the way.  When I fall, He's going to be right there to pick me up, dust me off and love me.  I wish everyone could know the peace in my heart that knowing, when I die, I will without a doubt spend eternity with God in Heaven.  All you have to do is accept His free gift - the ultimate giveaway.
Vio con Dios,
The Preacher's Wife

Friday Night Lights

My Cowboy's old high school compadre coaches high school football at a fairly large school a couple hours from us.  He invited us to the game last night and set aside tickets for us to sit in the reserved coaches' section.  We haven't been to a high school football game in years nor had we seen his friend in a long time, so we went.  Our "date night".  So we get there and find our seats.  Up where the birds fly.  After catching our breath from walking up so many steps, I had to get out my glasses so I could see what was going on below me.  My Cowboy and I both agreed that we'd never seen so many bars on our cell phones!  As the players are warming up, we meet several of the coaches' families around us, including the girlfriend of my Cowboy's friend who is sitting next to us.  What a sweet person!  Okay, so it's time to start. The players have on all their gear and are running out on the field.  The band is playing and it floods back memories of my high school days.  I'm lovin' it.  The announcer is great.  He's welcoming everyone and then I'm in shock.  Remember I haven't been to a high school football game in years.  The announcer starts in on explaining how everyone needs to be considerate and respectful of the opposite team, no tobacco products allowed in the stadium or any firearms or weapons (I guess of minor or major destruction).  I mean, this wasn't a quick rendition of Johnny's "Leave Your Guns at Home, Bill" but a long drawn out spill about how to act!  Then....we had a moment of silence.  What?  What happened to prayer?  That was it.  Just silence.  This was heartbreaking for me.  I can only imagine how God must feel when He can't even be acknowledged in our public school system.   When I asked the sweet person next to me why the coaches' families sat so high up, she replied that she used to sit down lower but she was sickened by all the negative comments about the coaches that she decided she would move up to the top away from it all.  Isn't it sad that some folks still love to sit around and speak so badly of others?  I guarantee that if someone is speaking ill of someone, they will be speaking ill of you.  A sharp tongue can cause a lot of damage.
Despite this, the night was awesome.  The parental support of this team was admiring.  The lights, the band, the glitter, the winning team and the camaraderie of friends.  I will have to add this.  My Cowboy's friend, the coach, was always carrying a white towel with him.  I asked his sweet girlfriend sitting next to me.  "I've got to ask, what's the deal with the white towel?"  She replied "just watch".  Throughout the game, when his players came off the field, he would wipe the sweat off their faces.  What a show of compassion!  This guy lives for those boys.  It was quite evident to see that the care and love was reciprocated throughout the game.  That was nice to see!
Vio con Dios,
The Preacher's Wife

Real Men Pray

As I was sitting at the bank drive thru this morning, a truck pulled up next to me that had a decal in the back window.  It had a cross and below it said Real Men Pray.  Of course I couldn't hang out of my window and yell "Hey, can I take a picture of your truck?"

but found a picture similar to give an idea of what I saw.  It actually made me start thinking about just how many men really pray with their wives.  The early years of marriage with my Cowboy was spent solely in individual prayer.  After we took the course His Needs Her Needs, it opened up a whole new prayer life for us.  By the way, after that course we felt like we would be pros at leading a class on His Kids Her Kids because of our blended family but that's another story.  Anyway, now every morning and every night we have prayer together aside from our own prayers.  Our day is empty if, for some reason, we don't have our prayer together.  I got to thinking about how many lives would be changed if real men stepped up and initiated praying with their spouse or significant other.  Yes, it's intimidating at first but once you start, you can't imagine not doing it.  If God united your marriage, then praying together truly bonds the two as one.  You truly go before the Lord as one.  Just out of curiosity, I thought there might be blogs about Real Men Pray.  So, I looked up realmenpray.blogspot.com.  Sure 'nough, there was Paul's blog.  To my surprise, that was it.  Total darkness.  Just a blog.  No comments. No profile.  Nothing since January 2005.  So where are you Paul?  Okay.  Then I found a site about real men praying naked and intimacy between a man and his wife.  Yes, I agree about the initimacy but nothing I would really want to blog about.  I'm just saying that praying together is pretty powerful.  I will continue to look for real men praying out there and encourage anyone that might come across this to consider taking the first step in praying together as a couple. 

Vio con Dios,

The Preacher's Wife



My Journal Begins

I'm starting this blog mainly to journal my thoughts.  Second only to God, my Cowboy is my best friend.  I talk to God constantly through the day and could possibly go on rambling to my Cowboy too but feel like I need to put my ramblings in writing.  I hope others feel the same as me- that sometimes we just need to vent and let go of some things.  When I read other's blogs, I guess it is all a form of venting or just letting folks know who we are.  And then folks comment and vent back.  I've decided to keep this mildly anonymous.  This is not all about me but God's world.  I'm just one of God's many creatures going about my journey trying to be His servant.  If you happen to run across my blog, you can take it for what it is - ramblings about the days in my life of being a cowboy preacher's wife.
I met and fell in love with my Cowboy years ago.  I did not marry a preacher man nor did he ask to be a preacher.  The journey has been where God has led us.  I wonder why He has me along on this ride.  My Cowboy has always been the one over the years to be asked to give the message on Sunday morning trail rides, small gatherings or even speak at funerals.  He doesn't necessarily like getting up in front of folks and speaking but, in our circle of friends, he's the one that's not afraid of making his faith known.  So he speaks.  We're always asking God to give us direction but then when He points us in the direction He wants us, we sit back and ask "why?".  The key is submitting to His plan.  But do we know when we're taking the right path?  No, but I do know that God is going to be with me until I do.  How God is going to use me, I have no idea.  To look at me, I'm not your typical preacher's wife.  I'm poop encrusted boots, dirt on my jeans and stained tshirts.  My hair is not what I called "coiffed" -it's clean, pulled back in a ponytail and I'm out the door.   I can't stand a nasty mouth but I'm human.  There might be an occasional slip of the tongue when I've got a dog killin' a chicken or a horse acting like an idiot.  I'm the one learning how to keep my mouth shut.  I'm way too outspoken and it gets me in trouble.  I'm working on it.  Is there a book out there on how to be a preacher's wife?  Well, if there is, I doubt seriously if anyone is going to find me in a bookstore looking for it.  I'm me.  I am everything the Lord has made me.  I know that I need to work on being a better steward for Christ though.  There is a book for that.  It's called The Bible.  Sad but true, even I struggle with reading my Bible every day.  Isn't that awful?  I can't find time in the day for studying God's Word, but He gave His life for me.  I am God's work in progress.  A cowboy preacher's wife.
Vio con Dios,
The Preacher's Wife