Hiking time!

We SO love to go hiking in our mountains!  It is amazing how a quiet hike can renew your soul!  It is such a wonderful way to admire all the Lord has made and feel like you are put in your place.  All seems right when I am reminded of how small I am compared to Him who made me!  Here are a few pics we took on our most recent hike in the Snowy Range Mountains.

"Horray for Holidays" -January 2011

"Horray for Holidays" -January 2011

Like a kid in a candy store

Man...I love the hardware store!  The coolest stuff can be found there...more stuff than you ever think you need or knew even existed.  Self control and a careful, constant evaluation of needs vs wants are a must!  Oh, why do I have such a tool fetish???  Then you pair that with a passion for gardening and it opens up a whole new world of tools and supplies!  Oooooo  I love it!

Don't tell the man I shared this story!

Today was very interesting and I hope that if the man finds this story he will forgive me for sharing it and join in the humor of the whole thing.  (love you, honey)

“In the early morning hours, I crawl out of bed to drag my butt in to swim, as I go out to start the car in -28 degrees. To my surprise, not, the car wouldn’t start. (Should have put Heet in it!) ‘Ok’ I said to myself…’lets try to jump it and see if that will work’. When I can’t find the jumper cables I have to wake up the man and he comes out to “help”. My car is parked behind his car so we have to get his turned to an angle for the jumper cables to work. After several minutes with the jumper cables on the car will still not start.


Now we are on the ‘how do we get his car out from behind my car so we can get to work???’ mode. So, we push my car back as far as we can, which isn’t very far because of the ice and snow on the road and gutters. Then the plan is to back his car onto the front lawn and drive over the curb to the street. I am thinking…’he will inch back and forth until he is around the tree and the large pile of frozen snow and drive through the low snow section’. He is thinking…’I will turn as far as I can and make it in one run…oh no I am going to get hung up on the snow pile…I have to gun it…woo hoo I love 4 wheel drive…crap, what was that…crap, I just hit Angie’s car…ok gun it the rest of the way and out to the street and park’. In the meantime, I am watching the events occur and saying to myself ‘are you kidding me???...what the hell was he thinking’. By the time he gets out of the car I have assessed only a couple of scratches on my car and he is missing the entire corner of his bumper. ‘Well, at least the man is the one who will have to live with the messed up car… :)’. Then I say not much else to him, my sensitive man, as it will only make things worse.

So much for swimming today…

Where am I?

That is a question I have been asking lately.  The me I thought I was seems to be a little lost these days.  I live in town, sit at a desk most of the day...indoors, struggling with worship leading at my church...  these are things that are not me!  What is going on?  I need to figure out how to find a piece of me again.  I cannot change the fact that it is too hard to live in the mountians right now with both of us working and the girls so young.  I cannot change my current job or the fact I must do it inside.  I cannot do anything about the worship situation at church...on my own.  All that I can do right now is PRAY!  So, that is where I am...praying.  The Lord knows my hopes and dreams.  He knows my heart and He loves me more than anything.  Today, i will stand on the knowledge that my God is my strong tower, my fortress, and my deliverer. 

Now I think I have to go read some of my own postings from last year.  Maybe the Lord can open my eyes and my heart...  Maybe the Lord will give me some good words to share soon!

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

My favorite part of the winter season...Christmas! Yes, it can get stressfull and crazy, but we are celebrating the birth of our Lord, who came to this earth to save us from our sins! What an amazing gift! I am not even sure what to say to do Jesus any justice...He is everything! I have found myself being tested a lot lately. It seems as soon as I have a couple wonderful days satan finds another way to try to break down my joy and take my focus off of the Lord. Sometimes I am able to triumph with a trumpet sound over the enemies efforts to derail me. Sometimes my focus is stolen from the Lord as I get distracted by worries and frustration. I am so thankful for good friends who listen and give sound advice as well as pray for me. Some friendships go back to grade school, some are just a few months old, but all are precious! Soon we will travel back to MN to visit family and old friends for Christmas. We are all very excited. Best of all, the man will be back from basic training for break. What a nice treat after 8 weeks without him. He will have to go back to finish up 4 more weeks in January, but then he is home for good. It will be nice to have him back, but this adventure has proven that we can do just fine when he is gone. We just need some extra routine and patience.

As I sign off for now, I wish all of you a fantastic Christmas! God is good!

Another reason to be thankful...

Hannah, Grandpa, Tony, Me, Essie at the county fair this summer, good memories...

From our most recent visit to the in laws in Cody. This was a great hike! Hard, wet and completely fantastic!

Here is a pic on the man when he got his uniform. He is a cutie!

Here we go...

Well, here I sit, with my man at basic training, being a single mom, but only for a bit. I will tell you...the first week the girls struggled with emotions (tears, attitude-not the good kind) and I struggled with frustration over their emotions and the pressure of doing everything myself. Since then we have found ourselves in a better routine. Doing chores and the never ending walmart runs on the weekend, not during the week. Each girl gets to sleep in my bed with me one night a week; non-school nights of course. I have also stopped trying to do a lot of extra stuff. I just can't get it done. The commitments at church are still hard at times when I end up there 4 days a week for services and such, but that is not the norm. Therefore I shall survive. I think what I really miss is getting out of town. (here is where I change topics...as my title says, "A Cowgirl's Ramblings") In town there is little to no connection with the nature God has created and that is a tough one for me. Although living in the mountains was stressful, with the commuting with children in the car and all, I sure do miss the peace God granted me as I sat by the creek, listening to the water come down the mountain, smelling the pine trees and fireplace all in the same breath and hearing "nothing" all night long. Man...I was not created for a love of town, that is for sure. God placed something in me that just longs to be in nature. I feel such a connection to Him there. I have just not felt wholly like myself since we have moved to town. I really noticed it when we went back to our little mountain town for trick or treating this year. It was like there was something of myself that I left there and just couldn't seem to pull back in. Someday, Lord, will I be able to find that again? As I write this it sounds like such a silly thing, but there is just something about nature. For those of you who understand what I am talking about...great. For those of you who don't, I just don't know how to explain it any better.
Well, thank you for letting me ramble tonight. I am getting ready to take my 9 year old (almost 10 if you ask her) to the J 12 conference at church. Gregg Johnson is a fantastic speaker that has a heart to reach kids for the Lord by the age of 12, before they need to be rescued! We will have a great time.

Lord, help me!

I am struggling with frustration... I am so tired of being micro managed and told what to do by people who should not be doing it. One or two situations are reasonable and I can usually blow them off. Recently I am finding myself at my limit. Usually I have great patience to let it go, but not this week. It is coming from different directions, all at once. I find it so hard to be a representative of the Lord when I am feeling this way. "Lord, help me to remain patient and to not let this affect my attitude. Give me peace and joy despite my situation." Thank you, dear friends, for praying for me.

Mommy time...

Well, it has been a while since I have written... I good sign that I am too busy. Tomorrow we are having a birthday party for my "baby". She is now 5! How did that happen??!!
We have taken up a new activity. Essie and I like to color together. What precious moments to sit on her bed or lay on the floor and color in the same book, sometimes the same page. I am trying to focus on the little things that touch my babies hearts. It is too easy to let the days fly by. I truly enjoy my job in the office. Which makes it easy to let the days fly by without good Mommy time with the girls. I have started to ask the Lord to help me to focus on having that time with them doing what they want to do. So often they are hauled around on my schedule and set of priorities. Of course, they need to know that the world does not revolve around them but, they also need to know that they are loved. If it takes dropping "my thing" to show them how important they are, which translates to how much they are loved, then it is worth having to stay up late to get "my thing" done or just not do it. We have also set up a "chore list" for each girl. They love it! They find great accomplishment in checking off their chores as they finish them. I have had fun "helping" them and working together to learn new things.
Thank you, Lord, for blessing me with such wonderful girls! How grateful am I for all the gifts You have given me. Help me to focus on what I have and find peace!

More on the Rock...

It seems that God is driving in the point to me... He is the Rock. This doesn't just mean that He is my shelter, He is the shelter for the person behind me in line, my coworkers, my friends, the gal behind the coffee counter. It is too easy to go about the day just worrying about what I am doing next and not about what God is doing next. How is He going to use me today? Whose life will He touch through me? We need to walk everyday in the thought of "What treasure to You have for me today? How do You want to help someone today? How can I "love on" someone in Your name?" Lord, use me today to touch those around me. Let me be a testimony to Your greatness. Let others see the Rock on which I stand and be encouraged by that today!

"My soul, wait silently for God alone,

for my expectation is from Him.

He only is my rock and my salvation;

He is my defense; I shall not be moved.

In God is my salvation and my glory;

the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.

Trust in Him at all times, you people;

pour out your heart before Him;

God is a refuge for us!" (exclamation point mine)

Psalm 62:5-8

Living for Jesus today!

Angie

The Rock

I am so very thankful that the Lord is a ROCK! He is a safe place to fall, rest and find comfort. Life on this earth can really stink sometimes and sometimes it is downright awful. But, I find solace in the fact that my God is a solid rock on which I can stand (hold on to, cling to). Thank you, Lord, for loving me so much that you sent your Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross in order that my sins can be forgiven! You have saved me, dear Lord.

"Hear my cry, O God; attend to my prayer.

From the end of the earth I will cry to You,

when my heart is overwhelmed;

lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

For You have been a shelter for me,

a strong tower from the enemy.

I will abide in Your tabernacle forever;

I will trust in the shelter of Your wings."

Psalm 61:1-4

Standing on the Rock!

Angie

Living a lively life

Some girlfriends are I were having a little discussion last night during our deep water aerobics class. (Which is a fantastic workout, by the way.) The topic was around how we act our age, or don't act our age. Whatever that means. I am often mistaken for being younger than I am, but so is my mother. That is more of an appearance thing. A friend and I have concluded that we should be mistaken for being younger based on our actions as well. I am not talking immaturity. I am talking about living a lively life. One with energy and joy. Now, we all know that there are places where you have to be subdued and controlled, but there are plenty of times you can let your hair down and have fun with life. I do not mean being crazy. Well, maybe I do. But, I am talking about having fun, wisely! I hope you are getting my meaning. This is also a reference to one of the topics that Beth Moore covered at the conference. We are to live livelier! We do not need to get boring as we get older!!!! We can still be fantastically interesting people, full of life and fun! So, my challenge for you is to let yourself be loud, laugh often and be a little crazy. It feels great to break out of the box of expectations that our society has put on us based on our age. Live livelier today!

Too funny!

I have got to tell you all about this one... Yesterday, Hannah and Essie were arguing, again. We sent them to their rooms for some quiet time and to think about how they can get along better. After a while Essie came down on her own and we sent her back to her room to finish her time. When I went up, about 10 minutes later, I heard her crying and yelling, "I want to go to Hawaii!" I am starting to chuckle, wondering what in the world she saying that for?! So, I went into her room and asked her why she wanted to go to Hawaii. She said, still crying, "Because I have never been there!" After a few more questions, trying so hard not to laugh, I explained that it is expensive to go there since it is across an ocean and you have to take a long plane ride. This brought more tears and the statement "I want to go swimming more... where it is warm!" Then she stated that she wants to move to Hawaii. I then explained that we are not planning to move to Hawaii but, when she grows up she can move there if she wants. This seemed to satisfy her and she moved on. The ideas inside the head of an "almost 5 year old".

Living in laughter,
Angie

Wisdom & Discipline

Discipline... I find myself uncomfortable with the thought. Discipline to me means that I screwed up and someone is disappointed with me, an awful thought. I hate letting others down. But, the Lord says we need to experience discipline.

Proverbs 4:10-13 says,

"Hear, my son, and receive my sayings,

and the years of your life will be many.

I have taught you in the way of wisdom;

I have led you in right paths.

When you walk, your steps will not be hindered,

and when you run, you will not stumble.

Take firm hold of instruction (discipline), do not let go;

keep her, for she is your life."

We are to be comfortable with discipline or instruction, even embrace it. It is by the Lord's correction that we grow to be more mature. "Lord, teach me, show me, correct my wrong ways. I want to be more like You, Lord. I have so much to learn. Thank You for being patient with me. I can be so selfish. Help me, Lord."