Mephibosheth comes to mind.

Fence work. My husband and I stretched wire this weekend for our new area for the horses. It's long, tiresome, back breaking, on-your-feet kind of work. There isn't much talking happening, and probably for good reason, the more tired we get!

The brain will think of the strangest things when you are exhausted, or maybe your mind is just empty enough that the Spirit of God is able to visit and whisper.

At some point over the weekend, the word Mephibosheth came into my mind. I smiled. It's a funny sort of word. Oh, I knew he was a character out of the bible, didn't know if I was even pronouncing it right, but it wouldn't go away. I'm clipping wire to fence and the word Mephibosheth keeps coming to mind.

I asked my husband if he knew who Mephibosheth was and explained that the name was playing over and over in my head. I suggested that perhaps I should find out who he is.

Mephibosheth: Son of Jonathan (friend of David's), Grandson of Saul (NOT a friend of David's), dropped by his nurse while fleeing in fear from David after the death of Saul and Jonathan, and crippled. I thought about why this was important. Being crippled made him "less than perfect", maybe even "useless" to some. As son of Jonathan, grandson of Saul, he would have been the rightful heir to the throne, but he feared that David would kill him to protect the position.

What did David do instead? He looked for an heir. "And David said, Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake?" (2 Sam 9:1) "Is there not yet any of the house of Saul, that I may show the kindness of God unto him?" (ver 3)

Wow. Is that not a picture of God? He seeks us, as rightful heirs to the kindom, to show us the kindness of God for Jesus' sake.

Oh, it gets better. Mephibosheth was a cripple. What could he give to David? What did he have that David needed? What could he do for David? Not much. Yet it wasn't about what he could DO, but who he KNEW. It was because of what Jonathan had ALREADY done.

I love this!

Then when David had Mephibosheth brought to him, all Mephibosheth could do was fall at his feet. He was in no shape to defend himself, fight, or run. So he only surrendered to what he thought was a vengeful king.

David, however told him to fear not and then restored him to him his position as "son" and heir, and offered him food at the table continually.

How beautiful a picture of grace.

I continue to be blessed and humbled by the revelation of God's love and grace and mercy, hidden in the most unlikely places, in a little story in the Old Testament, about a man with a funny little name.

Mephibosheth comes to mind.

Spring Has Sprung!

....  even though the temps are supposed to be in the 30's tonight.  Record breaking lows!  But the cooler temps and the frequent rains have made for a beautiful spring.

Flowers are blooming, baby animals everywhere, warm days, slicked off horses.  Life is good.

Keep Manhattan, just gimme that country life...

You know springtime is right around the corner when the days are getting longer, the chickens are laying, horses are shedding, flowers are bloomin', days are warm and nights are cool -- okay, well that can be kinda dicey in Texas..  Oh that Texas weather!

The fence is coming along sloooooowly, however we have one horse at the house while we are treating ocular fungal keratitis.  I think we've turned the corner with it and he's coming along ..  hallelujah!  In the meantime he's getting just a bit sassy being penned up and having all this personal attention.

We sure enjoy him ..  and can't wait to have to other two home.   Sooooooooon.

Happy End of the World Day!

There has been much discussion about the Mayans, the end of the world, zombies, etc.

Did anyone really believe that today would be the end of the world .. well, I'm sure there were some.

The fact is, nobody really knows if this is THEIR last day on earth.  Would it change the way we lived today if we knew it was our last?

A Day at the Races

Nothing moves me more than a moving horse.  Gracefully performing "dance" moves in dressage, figure eights and sliding stops in reining, or blasting out of the gate and barreling toward the finish line on a dirt track!  A perfectly designed horse, performing what it was perfectly designed to do .. a thing of beauty.

A spur-of-the-moment decision landed Steve and I at the Sam Houston Race Park , and to my great pleasure they were running the 2-year-old Quarter Horse time trials.  Many of these colts and fillies had never started, so it was alot of fun to guess who the better horses were.  We soooo stank at it!

I loved them all, of course, and left there filled with awe at the power of these babies .. all beautiful and fabulously fit! Running their hearts out on the track, then calmly standing for photos in the winner's circle

Good fun, Good eats, Good time!

What a lovely day!



Family and Friends

Shannon, Pat, Aimee, Julie

A photo snapped on 3/22/12.

Uncle Pat.  There are few other two word phrases that can make instant smiles appear on the faces of my beautiful daughters.... well, maybe "ICE CREAM" or "NEW PUPPY" .. but you get the point.

We were so blessed last week with a visit from Uncle Pat.  He had flown to AZ to drive back to Florida with his girlfriend and made a brief stop in the Piney Woods of Texas, and our little piece of heaven on earth.

As usual, it was a time full of laughter and fun ..

Thank you, Pat and Aimee, for taking time on your trip to enjoy a day with us.

We love you both!

Food for Thought Friday

"Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run
than outright exposure.
Life is either a daring adventure or nothing." 

~ Helen Keller

You've got to go out on a limb sometimes because that's where the fruit is.

~Will Rogers

I didn't want to hurt them.  I only wanted to kill them.

~David Berkowitz