THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

I am reading this book that was given to me for Valentine's Day from a wonderful Christian woman. It has defintely been a blessing to me and my marriage. Thanks so much for thinking about me and purchasing this book for me. It is called "Love & Respect" (The Love She Most Desires, The Respect he Desperately Needs) by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs. Let me just say this book is wonderful. It has opened my eyes to alot of things in my marriage. I know I have a husband who loves me more than anything and would die for me. That is not the problem, it was the way I was treating him and what I was getting in return. This book has opened my eyes to what a husband really wants and why. Dr. Emerson goes into detail about why men are the way they are and why women are the way they are. The women wants love and the man wants respect. I always thought you should love someone and that was enough. He goes into detail and into the best book of all, the Bible and shows many times over what each of us needs in the marriage. For example, "Each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband." (Ephesians 5:33.) I have heard this scripture tons of times, but until I started reading this book and exploring other verses in the bible I never knew the true meaning of it. God made women to love naturally, but respect is what he tells us we should do in the bible. God made men to respect naturally, but love is what he tells them they should do. Oddly I had never looked at it that way. I would highly recommend this book to any married couple. It has definitely made changes in my marriage and I am going to continue applying it on a daily basis. One thing he encourages us wives to do in the book is to list and tell our husbands why we respect them. I have been working on my list in my bible and here are just a few reasons I respect my husband: He is a provider, protector, loving, father, Christian, caring. I guess why I made this post was to encourage each of us wives to raise up and praise our husbands. The devil is always ready and willing to take a shot at our marriages and try to drive a wedge in between us and our spouses. We need to arm ourselves with prayer and gave thanks and blessings to God for what our husbands mean to us.

Finally a name for the horse!!!!!!!!!!!!

You may ask why I posted this picture of him, but my daughter took it and she wanted it on the post. So here it is the up close and personal picture of "Rooster!!!"

Yeah we finally have a name for Dickie's new horse! I finally told him he better name him or I was! I was getting tired of calling him "Roanie!" So the much awaited name is "Rooster" - nickname "Roo!" I think it fits him. My husband likes to take his time naming them, he says the name will come to him. He said he has been throwing the name around for a week or so and he likes it. He is turning out to be a great horse for him. God has truly blessed us with great horses and we are grateful.

Well "Rooster" to many more years of sharing our lives together!! We love you!!!

A few of our favorites!

Me and my husband have been looking back through old pics and found one of each of the kids that is one of our favorites! The first one is of Dickie and Savannah riding "Pesky" at Carter Creek Ranch and the other is of Jake riding "Angel" at a youth ranch rodeo at the same ranch. The pictures are from a few years ago, and the children look so little! With the tragedy this past weekend I have been going back and looking through old pictures. It has brought back some great memories. They are growing up so fast. And this next year Savannah will be starting kindergarten! And Jake is in high school this year!! It does not seem possible that they are that old yet. I know from this past week that I have been thanking the Lord for my family-husband, children, health, friends, church, etc. I know I get so involved in the world today and forget the most important things and blessings that we have right now. That is what the devil wants us to do and tries so hard to do to us. That is one of the things that I struggle with sometimes, especially when I do not stay in the Word. But I know in my heart those things I sometimes want are just that "things". If I had to choose between wants and my family and a loving God, I will choose God and family for sure. I know I am truly blessed with a great Christian husband, 2 healthy kids, a home, horses, great Christian friends, church, etc. The list could go on and on. The world today wants us to think about the things we do not have and want, not to be thankful for what we do have. I came across a verse in the bible today and wanted to share it with you- "And may the Lord make your love for one another and for all people grow and overflow, just as our love for you overflows." 1 Thessalonians 3:12 (NLT)

Thought for the Day

As I write this post it is with a heavy heart. And it has made me ask Why? I know we are not supposed to ask Why and question God, but sometimes in a situation like this it makes you wonder? I do know God has a plan, even though we may not understand what it is. We have to keep our faith in God and rely on Him to get us through. Earlier this week a child from our church family was killed in a tragic accident. He was only 4 1/2 years old (2 months younger than Savannah) and a former child of my Sunday School class. His parents are expecting there second child in about 5 weeks. I ask that you would remember this family in your prayers as the next days, weeks, months, years will be hard on them. The reason for this post is to honor and remember "J.T." Emmons, born June 7, 2002 ~ March 5, 2007 to Billy and Kelly Emmons. And also to remember to cherish every waking minute we have with our little blessings. He was laid to rest on Thursday of this past week and that was a hard funeral to attend. This family has amazing faith and strength. Thursday afternoon we came home and had to feed the horses. Savannah was in a new outfit and her job was to fill the water trough, the next time I looked up from feeding she was covered in mud. It hit me then and I started crying for J.T.'s parents that they would never experience this again. I guess for me that is when it hit me, the little things we take for granted. And then when they are gone, you wish for them. As my husband said "I get upset with Savannah for always talking, but if I never heard her voice again, it would crush me." I am blessed to be able to stay home with our children. But in the same breath I take for granted so many little things. In this day and age, everything is go, go, go and it is easier to get upset or irritated at times than enjoy it. On Thursday I chose to enjoy this time and get muddy with her! And in the future I plan to enjoy every minute as we never know when we or they will be called home. This past week has been a emotional one and I have had many feelings. I would like to share something Savannah said after we found out about J.T. I was crying and praying before we headed to the hospital and she asked me what I was crying about, I told her I was upset about J.T. and she looked up and smiled at me and said "Mom, do not be upset, he is in heaven now with Jesus, I see him there." Talk about losing it, what a wonderful thing for her to share, children have such a sweetness to them. And yes, that is the one thing that will help this family and the friends now is knowing that yes, he is in heaven with Jesus now. As I have posted before about another family and there son Noah, who is now with the Lord. If you are looking for a awesome testimony to there faith and a wonderful lady you should visit the site for Noah. I have a link to the site under the blogs I like to visit or you can read the earlier post about it. It has been a blessing to me. I am sorry (no, I am not going to apologize, I spoke what was on my heart) to have written a book about this, but it has been on my heart to post something about it. I hope the one thing you take away from this is: Love your children with all your heart, soul and mind. Enjoy every minute with them, even when it does not fit into your schedule. Make time for the ones you love and tell them how much they mean to you. As Adrienne said get your cameras out and take lots of pictures, you can never have too many. I love you all and wish many blessings to you and yours. God Bless!

"Preacher" and Savannah

I came across this picture this morning and I love it. It is of Savannah and "Preacher." We got "Preacher" for my son and from the start him and Savannah had a bond. "Preacher" is definitely a lover, he loves the attention! I just missed him reaching down and giving her a kiss on the face! But you can see the emotion in the picture. Savannah has been around horses since she was born and she loves them dearly. She definitely has a bond with each of our horses and I was blessed to capture this moment between them. Horses are such a blessing from God and we are blessed to have 4 of these precious gifts at our ranch. I am glad to be raising my daughter in the country and letting her experience all these great gifts.