I’ll be honest – I thought my trail ridin’ days were over. My sister Joie got all the horse-crazy genes, whereas I’ve always had a healthy respect for those beautiful (giant) beasts and over the years found that horseback riding generally left me achy and sore. Yet when the opportunity for a bit of a trail ride was presented to our little group of fellow SOWERs, everyone thought it sounded fun, so it was ‘Saddle Up’ for all of us! (Well, except Gary who wanted to do some work on that window project,
and Tammy who was hanging out with her grandkids up in OKC!)
We took a couple of trips around the arena (novices that we were)
and when our trail guides (Kami & Dessie) thought we had mastered the “giddy-up” and “whoa” commands, we headed to the great outdoors.
Now, it wasn’t a long trail ride, given our amateur status, but it was still lots of fun!
I must confess that it’s a little tricky taking pictures while on horseback.
I’m not sure if this is just bad timing on the photo, or if Bruce was heading off into the wilderness!
I’m happy to report that we all made it back safely!
Thank you, Kami (and the rest of the crew!) for giving us such a fun morning!
And today, a couple of extra ibuprofen took care of any post-ride aches! Totally worth it!
Tag Archives: Ransom Wind Ranch
The Week Between
The Founding Fathers of the SOWER Ministry built a week ‘off’ between each SOWER month’s projects. And we continue to relish the genius of that plan. The other beautiful part of that plan is that we are allowed to remain on the project if we choose during that week off. Our fellow SOWERs pulled out early in the week, but since we are only moving about 14 miles down the road, we’ve been hanging out at the Ranch. And it’s been a good week!
We got to greet some new young horses that had just been picked up in New Mexico,
Hello, Delta and Mesa!
We got to meet some very shy kittens –
This is my attempt to reach through the gate to try and get a picture of the litter.
E for effort?
My time was spent mostly in front of my sewing machine (yippee!), and Gary decided to tackle a job down at the arena. A new hospitality center is being built in the front of the arena, with two wings and a central gathering area where the front of the arena is.
(The two white buildings coming out from the arena are part of the new construction. Contractors are working on that – we’ve just enjoyed watching the progress!)
(They are filling the looks-like-Styrofoam-because- it-is walls with concrete!)
The plan is to put big viewing windows at the front of the arena so folks in the gathering area can view the arena. Gary’s job was to frame out those window areas.
I believe there will be four sections, each with five tall (35X85) windows. Now, the actual wall hasn’t been cut away except in certain areas, so you’ll have to use your imagination on this picture Gary took of the five windows he installed today.
Lest you think I was only working at my sewing machine while Gary was hard at work, he did need me to help when he was cutting and routing out the boards for the windows.
(And quite the fashion statement I was, right?)
Gary was having a good week figuring out the best way to get those windows installed, I was happily sewing away on some UFOs (unfinished projects), and to make the week especially lovely, we joined our host family for Thanksgiving Dinner.
It was the first time for us to be at a Golden Corral for Thanksgiving, and I have to say the food was great, the fellowship sweet, and there were no dishes to wash (or stress in preparing things!). It was nice to be doing something totally different since we couldn’t be with any of our kids and grands.
Tomorrow we pack up and head down the road. As I said earlier, it’s just about 14 miles down the road, so it will be a ‘light packing’. Things still need to be battened down as usual, but more stuff can just be put on the bed instead of being put ‘all the way’ away. I spent today doing laundry and getting my sewing stuff put away, so tomorrow morning should go smoothly. And there’s no rush to get out.
Another No Alarm day. And that’s a good thing!
Devotions outside the box
Out of the box – and into the Arena!
Twice this week, instead of heading into our group leaders’ motorhome for devotions, we gathered at the arena and were blessed to hear devotions given on horseback!
Dr. Lew (Lew Sterrett) shared on Tuesday, and then Cami, his assistant, shared her story this morning.
As they worked with their beautiful horses, they spoke of boundaries and freedoms, of trust and faith. They both did a beautiful job of sharing the Gospel in a unique way, using the ‘language of the horse’.
We’ve had many different styles of devotions over these 18 years, but I do believe that these two mornings have been among the most memorable.
How blessed we are to see how God is working through this ministry – Lessons of Leadership from the Language of the Horse.
Sweet November
I know I’ve said this before – but I love November! It’s a month filled with family birthdays, flannel shirts, and thankfulness! This month we’re working at a new-to-SOWERs project – Sermon on the Mount at their headquarters, Ransom Wind Ranch, in Anadarko, OK.
We’re looking forward to a great month with new SOWER friends – and have already been blessed by a beautiful sky painting on one of our first nights here.
I think I’ll be finding lots to be thankful for this month! How about you?