HEART'S CRY

 Life without passion gets nothing done.     Passion is fueled by the desires and cries of our hearts and provides the energy to break away from the ho hum.   Passion is an intense desire for something and helps get stuff done. Passion is that fight that rises up in us.  The button that is pushed to cause a change in direction.  Passion, in my opinion is as important to life as air and water. However, passion without boundaries or that is undefined is chaos.     Reaching, scattered and fragmented passion is diluted and ineffective.  Wasted passion.  Inefficient use of valuable energy leaving us deflated and in the same position. Focus.  Passion intentionally consciously and systematically fusing together to get stuff done.    Today is the day to fan the passion in our hearts.  To prime the pump and bring up the fight to break away from the status quo.     Passion...

Last night I woke up with dreams of  baby chubby fingers wrapped in my hair.    I realized my worry about my oldest followed me to bed and into my dreams.  When he was a baby he would fall asleep nursing with his fingers wrapped in my hair.  David would pick him up to put him in his crib when he came to bed, but... would have to be careful not to pull out my hair along with! He will be 21 soon and yet I can still feel those fingers and see his sleeping baby face as clear as if it was just yesterday.   So as I think about and pray for my son who is out in field training in the special forces-I can't help but hold him close to my heart and wrap him in my prayers.

Crowded and pressed?  Worry and stress compacting and deleting energy?  Me too!   I need space to grow!  I need open skies and wide open places.   Big air and quiet meadows.  Wind in my hair and sand in my toes.  Wild grasses and wild flowers. As I ready for the garden and growing season, I'm taking a new class.  Last night's lesson was Plant Pathology and Tree Diseases and Diseases of Fruits and Vegetables and Diseases of Flowers and Turf.  After three hours of lecture and learning what a pathogen is and how it destroys plants...I realized that minimizing disease in the first place by changing the environment is always the answer.   Using the common sense of my parents and grandparents...minimize stress, wounds, overcrowding, soil compaction and over-watering. "Let plants and animals do what they do."  I smiled to myself as we covered turf and I heard my Dad's voice in my head...don't drive on the field...

Jingles was his name.  He was my first "real" horse.  Of course "Cheta" had taught me to ride and was now teaching others.  But Jingles was mine.  He was as stubborn as a mule and incredibly persistent.  If he did not want to move then...he would not move.  With lead-rope in hand I would strain and pull on his head until I was absolutely furious.  Knowing as I looked in his eyes that  he was laughing hysterically at this 10 year old little girl.  "How's that working?" Dad asked simply as he looked on.  "Seriously??" I wanted to yell.  "Do you think that you are going to out muscle him?" he inquired.  The only thought going through my head can't be put on this blog.  He continued, "So if you can't pull him then try something else.  Pull him sideways to get him off balance and he will have to follow you." Jingles looked confused when I let up on the rope and stared him down.   Moving to his si...

Remembering what to focus on while I'm juggling all the parts of my life If I focus on just one aspect I drop the others If I focus on just one thing Straight in front of me... I keep the others in the air. I understand the Power of One Thing Why focusing on one thing brings powerful results Why we can't multitask or put our lives into neat little solos But Parts of our life can't be shelved. Pulling out one piece of our life like a book from the shelf. I'm not part wife and part Mom I'm not a piece of a believer or a part of a Pastor. I'm not a quarter daughter, sister, friend and co-worker. But if I focus on God and He is my All In All Then in Him I'm integrated and whole. I'm His while I love my husband and children. In Him I love. With Him I reach and teach. Today I'm just going to focus on the one thing. Him.

When we don't make plans we become like a twig on a fast moving river...bouncing hither and thither at the whim and the direction of the current.  Tossed to and fro! We tend to swing from self absorption to pull down your pants and skate on the ice (My husband's quote) and wing it.  So can we find the healthy middle?  How can we intentionally effect change in our lives? I believe that by identifying our vision and our goals-it keeps us moving in a planned step by step way toward our dreams. First Step:   Vision.  Identify values and the desires within your heart.  Check them.  Do they align with where you thought they were?  Do your values and desires reflect your beliefs?  What is the direction we want to go?  Where do we want to end up?   Mission Statement:   Do you have one?  Does your family have one?   Think about it.  If we are in charge of managing us and our lives then shou...

For years...21 to be exact-my entire world has revolved around my family.  Whatever else that might have been in life has taken second place.  From the moment I found out I was carrying my oldest until this moment where I have one soundly out of the nest; one jumping off and one getting close..they have been my whole world.  So this morning my husband preaches on Philipians 3:7-11 on "Counting it all Loss" in order to really KNOW God.  He made a comment about giving up everything that has any value to us in this life...our identity and giving that up.  He made the comment that it is not what is in our pocket that God wants but who we are.   What???  Being a Mom is who I am!  How does this relate to giving it up.  "What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord for whose sake I have lost all things.  I consider them rubbish-that I may gain Christ and be foun...

The funniest thing happened tonight while waiting in the vehicle for our son to get out of the locker rooms so we could head home.   My husband, from the driver's seat pushed the automatic seat button which moves the seat to its default setting.  The default setting happened to be as far up and forward as it could possible go.   I was laughing hysterically while my big husband was squashed helplessly into the steering wheel.  He couldn't reach his arm down to move the seat back so he was stuck.  Then he says, "It's not funny.  It's about to kill me!"  Which made me laugh so hard that I couldn't do anything to help him.   Meanwhile he found a way to push the other button and was released from the press he was in. Every few miles along the 45 minute trip home...I pictured him up pressed helplessly against the steering wheel and I couldn't help but laugh out-loud. If laughter is good for the soul...then I'm so mu...

  I enjoy my garden and am planning it out now!  Gardening is an excuse for me to be outside and a way to relax while still doing something!     It is also a way to be more healthy, exercise, provide produce for the winter and cut expenses for our household budget.   This year I am doing something for me and taking the Master Gardener classes and am so jazzed! And I hope to blog more in my Footstep Garden blog...to keep me accountable for my progress!    Expanding simply is my goal.  http://footstepgardener.blogspot.com/2011_11_01_archive.html To add a few new varieties of tomatoes, potatoes, beans and peppers to my seed order was one way of doing this.  To learn more about the differences in varieties and thinking about how they will best work for me and within my schedule, my life and my environment. I used to work against myself.  I started 50 tomato plants one year and couldn't figure out why I coul...

Living in South Dakota on the ranch during the worst winter in one hundred years gave my boys some of their fondest memories.  Since having electricity became a privilege savored (when the wind let up) new traditions were started. The snow was so deep.  The snow plows worked tirelessly to try to keep the main gravel road open but each pass with the plow meant more snow piling up along the power poles.  Soon the snow was packed tight against the poles and one swipe with the plow could snap one off.   Or the wind...  Even a little wind caused big headaches with feet of snow on the ground.  When a blizzard wind came then we knew for sure we would be without electricity.  Electricity ran the water pump up a few hundred yards  as well as the fan on the propane stove that heated our entire 1900 era house.  The propane man and the road grater were the heroes! What an adventure for little boys to have blankets nailed to the doors s...

A sense of helplessness has gripped my heart as I have watched a loved one coming to the end of their rope.  It is heartbreaking.  Hitting the wall while holding on to what got them to that point is exasperating. And yet, what about my choices?  Choices that I put off for a time when life levels off.  For when I have more time, money...   Choices to see the truth.  Choices to hear.  Choices that will effect change. Choosing now to make different choices and begin taking small steps that will lead to a big difference in my physical, mental and spiritual health.  Present choices to effect future change.   "Transformation is not five minutes from now; it's a present activity. In this moment you can make a different choice, and it's these small choices and successes that build up over time to help cultivate a healthy self-image and self esteem." - Jillian Michael Reminds me of verse..." Do not conform any longer to the...

Happy New Year!!!  I wish each of you a grace and wisdom filled year!!!!   As we jumped into 2012, I began teaching my youth about healthy relationships using Proverbs 13:20 "Walk with the wise and you will be wise but a companion of fools suffers harm." Mostly they hear about what not to do.  And...we all know how well that works!   In an attempt to get them to dig below what is right in front of them...I delved into the "Walk" part and what that means.  Does it mean just surrounding ourselves with wise people?  Can I get wise sitting at the table and being near the wise folks in the coffee shop?  If I go to church or take another college class-will I be wise?  Walk and Accountability go hand in hand which helps me understand why walking or putting myself into accountability or giving an account of myself will make me wise.  To give an account of myself to myself and God is difficult enough!  In order to grow and become wise we...