Complete joy--more benefits

Down in My Heart Kind of Joy
Lesson 15
Complete Joy…More Benefits of Obedience

I tend to be one who has to see a principle over and over for it to sink into my being and become part of the way I live life. If the Ten Commandment connection, Jesus’ example, and using our spiritual gifts are not convincing enough that obeying God results in joy, here is some more! Write the benefits of obedience in the margin as you go.

Psalm 119:1-8 Joyful are people of integrity, who follow the instructions of the Lord. Joyful are those who obey His laws and search for Him with all their hearts. They do not compromise with evil, and they walk only in His paths, You have charged us to keep Your commandments carefully. Oh, that my actions would consistently reflect Your decrees! Then I will not be ashamed when I compare my life with Your commands. As I learn Your righteous regulations, I will thank You by living as I should! I will obey Your decrees. Please don’t give up on me! (NLT)

A theme I’m beginning to study is what I set my heart on. If I am searching for Him with all my heart (vs.2), you can be sure that is what I have my heart set on! And verse 5 is what I pray for myself, as a mom especially: that my actions would consistently reflect Your decrees! How about this benefit of obedience: no shame, a life of no regret. Write that benefit in the margin. Wow! Then, I just love David’s honesty. God knows and I know I’m going to mess up. Verse 8 pleads my case, “Please don’t give up on me!” I already know that if I seek Him, He will not abandon me!

Psalm 112:1-2 Praise the Lord! How joyful are those who fear the Lord and delight in obeying His commands. Their children will be successful everywhere; an entire generation of godly people will be blessed. They themselves will be wealthy, and their good deeds will last forever. (NLT)

I wonder what legacy I will leave my children. I want it to be godly. This verse shows obedience with a promise that a whole generation will be blessed. So what is that benefit? Children will be successful, and an entire generation will be blessed.

Proverbs 29:18 When people do not accept divine guidance, they run wild. But whoever obeys the law is joyful. (NLT)

What is the benefit of obedience here? Joy!

This goes hand in hand. We obey and the result is joy. As I am obeying, I should serve with joy. In the next verses, God was laying out the curses that would happen if the Israelites didn’t obey Him. This is one of the curses. Notice that they were either going to serve God or their enemies. I would rather serve God!

Deuteronomy 28:47-48 If you do not serve the Lord your God with joy and enthusiasm for the abundant benefits you have received, you will serve your enemies whom the Lord will send against you. You will be hungry, thirsty, naked, and lacking in everything. (NLT)

SweetHeart and I were sponsors at youth camp one year. One night was “Friend Night” where traditionally boys asked a girl friend to dinner. And traditionally the boy brought the girl a flower. The pastor took that opportunity to teach about serving. He said, “What if the boy comes to the door and says this:

‘Here is your flower. I felt like I had to get you one.’ Or maybe,
‘Here is your flower. Everyone else was doing it, so I got you one.’ Or,
‘Here is your flower. I was afraid to show up without one.’”

I don’t know about you, but those just don’t really do it for me! Then he said, “But what if he said, ‘Here is your flower. It is my pleasure to honor you in this way.” Aaaw! That would just melt my heart!

It is the same with God. When I serve out of duty, peer pressure, or fear, it just doesn’t cut it. But when I serve to please Him, that is honoring. So I will choose joy and enthusiasm as I serve. My attitude should be like John the Baptist’s.

John 3:28-30 You yourselves know how plainly I [John the Baptist] told you, ‘I am not the Messiah. I am only here to prepare the way for Him.’ It is the bridegroom who marries the bride, and the best man is simply glad to stand with him and hear his vows. Therefore, I am filled with joy at His success. He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less. (NLT)

His example is being filled with joy because of what God is doing. My attitude in serving should be joyful humility—God should get the glory. Glorifying God is also a benefit of obedience.

John 4:36 The harvesters are paid good wages, and the fruit they harvest is people brought to eternal life. What joy awaits both the planter and the harvester alike! (NLT)

The point here is that joy is a reward for work and sometimes that joy is deferred. (Yes, reward is the benefit.) Some people are planters and may not see the harvest. Even if they do, the result is not immediate. It takes time for the harvest. This also reiterates what we learned last time, that we all have different jobs. I need to find joy in the job God has for me.

Psalm 144: 15 Yes, joyful are those who live like this! Joyful
indeed are those whose God is the Lord. (NLT)

Heart Questions:
How is your attitude as you serve? Are you motivated by duty, peer pressure, fear, or honor?

What benefit of obedience catches your attention most today?

Other verses in this section
o Judges 9:19 If you [people of Shechem] have acted honorably and in good faith toward Gideon and his descendants today, then may you find joy in Abimelech, and may he find joy in you.

(I thought this one might need a little clarification to what I was thinking.) When we obey God in choosing our leaders, it can bring joy. When we don’t obey, it brings destruction, as the rest of the story in Judges unfolds.

o Psalm 41:1
o Psalm 84:5, 12
o Psalm 97;11
o Psalm 106:3
o Psalm 128:1-2
o Proverbs 8:32
o Proverbs 10:1
o Proverbs 12:20
o Ecclesiastes 2:26a

Such a techy!

Well, it finally happened. I used a picture from SweetHeart's phone in my scrapbook. That is where I have been the last few days is buried in a scrapbook project. And we got new cell phones. Now I have one we actually paid for! I usually get the free-be. I've had to learn how to use it! Which also made me upgrade my email, and in going through emails I found the picture that SweetHeart had sent me of his trip to the dentist with SweetDoll that goes with the story in this post. (Hmm...seems like I always have a scrap project going!) So I used the picture from the phone and copied and pasted the story from my blog! Life is good! (SweetTate and I like to read If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, can you tell?!)

So here is the picture to go with the story.

Focused Obedience

Down in My Heart Kind of Joy
Lesson 14
Complete Joy…focused obedience

Yes, we need to obey. That is vitally important, and there is a key element to that. We saw this verse last time, but let’s look at it again.

Read Ephesians 5:10.

Notice that it says “carefully determine what pleases the Lord.” We as women especially, have a hard time saying no, especially to church work. I have a friend who says every time her phone rings she thinks it is the Holy Spirit and she says yes! I have to carefully determine what God wants me to do. This story illustrates this so well.

The story is told of a man who met God in a lovely valley one day. “How are you this morning?” God asked the fellow. “I’m fine, thank you,” the man replied. “Is there anything I can do for you today?”

“Yes, there is,” God said. “I have a wagon with three stones in it, and I need someone to pull it up the hill for me. Are you willing?”

“Yes, I’d love to do something for you. Those stones don’t look very heavy, and the wagon’s in good shape. I’d be happy to do that. Where would you like me to take it?” God gave the man specific instructions, sketching a map in the dust at the side of the road. “Go through the woods and up the road that winds up the side of the hill. Once you get to the top, just leave the wagon there. Thank you for your willingness to help me today.”

“No problem!” the man replied and set off cheerfully. The wagon pulled a bit behind him, but the burden was an easy one. He began to whistle s he walked quickly through the forest. The sun peeked through the trees and warmed his back. What a joy to be able to help the Lord, he thought, enjoying the beautiful day. Just around the third bend, he walked into a small village. People smiled and greeted him. Then, at the last house, a man stopped him and asked, “How are you this morning? What a nice wagon you have. Where are you off to?”

“Well, God gave me a job this morning. I’m delivering these three stones to the top of the hill.”

“My goodness! Can you believe it? I was just praying this morning about how I was going to get this rock I have up to the top of the mountain,” the man told him with great excitement. “You don’t suppose you could take it up there for me? It would be such an answer to prayer.”

The man with the wagon smiled and said, “Of course. I don’t suppose God would mind. Just put it behind the other three stones.” Then he set off with three stones and a rock rolling behind him. The wagon seemed a bit heavier. He could feel the jolt of each bump, and the wagon seemed to pull to one side a bit. The man stopped to adjust the load as he sang a hymn of praise, pleased to be helping out a brother as he served God.

Then he set off again and soon reached another small village at the side of the road. A good friend lived there and offered him a glass of cider. “You’re going to the top of the hill?” his oldest friend asked.

“Yes! I am so excited. Can you imagine, God gave me something to do!”

“Hey!” said his friend. “I need this bag of pebbles taken up. I’ve been so worried that it might not get taken care of since I haven’t any time to do it myself. But you could fit it in right between the three stones here in the middle.” With that, he placed his burden in the wagon. “Shouldn’t be a problem,” the man said. “I think I can handle it.” He finished the cider, then stood up and brushed his hands on his overalls before gripping the handle of the wagon. He waved good-bye and began to pull the wagon back onto the road.

The wagon was definitely tugging on his arm now, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. As he started up the incline, he began to feel the weight of the three stones, the rock, and the pebbles. Still, it felt good to help a friend. Surely God would be proud of how energetic and helpful he’d been. One little stop followed another, and the wagon grew fuller and fuller. The sun was hot above the man pulling it, and his shoulders ached with the strain. The songs of praise and thanksgiving that had filled his heart had long since left his lips as resentment began to build inside. Surely this wasn’t what he had signed up for that morning. God had given him a burden heavier than he could bear.

The wagon felt huge and awkward as it lumbered and swayed over the ruts in the road. Frustrated, the man was beginning to have visions of giving up and letting the wagon roll backward. God was playing a cruel game with him. The wagon lurched, and the load of obligations collided with the back of his legs, leaving bruises. “This is it!” he fumed. “God can’t expect me to haul this all the way up the mountain.” “Oh God,” he wailed. “This is too hard for me! I thought you were behind this trip, but I am overcome by the heaviness of it. You’ll have to get someone else to do it. I’m just not strong enough.” As he prayed, God came to his side. “Sounds like you’re having a hard time. What’s the problem?”

“You gave me a job that is too hard for me,” the man sobbed. “I’m just not up to it!” God walked over to where the wagon was braced with a stone. “What is this?” He held up the bag of pebbles.

“That belongs to John, my good friend. He didn’t have time to bring it up himself. I thought I would help.”

“And this?” God tumbled two pieces of shale over the side of the wagon as the man tried to explain.

God continued to unload the wagon, removing both light and heavy items. They dropped to the ground, the dust swirling up around them. The man who had hoped to help God grew silent. “If you will be content to let others take their own burdens,” God told him, “I will help you with your task.”

“But I promised I would help! I can’t leave these things lying here.”

“Let others shoulder their own belongings,” God said gently. “I know you were trying to help, but when you are weighted down with all these cares, you cannot do what I have asked of you.” The man jumped to his feet, suddenly realizing the freedom God was offering. “You mean I only have to take the three stones after all?” he asked.

“That is what I asked you to do.” God smiled. “My yoke is easy, and my burden is light. I will never as you to carry more than you can bear.”

“I can do that!” said the man, grinning from ear to ear. He grabbed the wagon handle and set off once again, leaving the rest of the burdens beside the road. The wagon still lurched and jolted lightly, but he hardly noticed. A new song filled his lips, and he noticed a fragrant breeze wafting over the path. With great joy he reached the top of the hill. It had been a wonderful day, for he had done what the Lord had asked.

(from Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World by Joanna Weaver, p.
48-51)

I am realizing that those who God uses to accomplish a lot are very focused on what He has called them to do. They are not usually scattered in many different things, but the things they do are excellent for His glory!

My former pastor, Bro. Roger, was teaching on spiritual gifts, which is another important aspect of this to know, but we won’t get too much into that in this study. For right now, understand that everyone in Christ has a spiritual gift and the purpose is to build up the body of Christ. These are the verses that have the spiritual gifts listed: 1 Peter 4:10-11, Romans 12:6-8, Ephesians 4:11-13, and 1 Corinthians 12:1-31. If you are interested in discovering your spiritual gift, this is a helpful website that has a free online inventory.

This is the really interesting part for today. Bro. Roger said that the Greek word for gift, as in spiritual gifts is: charisma. Look at the first part of that word—charis. That is the Greek word for grace. Spiritual gifts are gifts of grace in that we do not earn them in any way; the Holy Spirit just gives them to us by grace. And we are to use them with grace. Another similar word is chara, which is…JOY! When I use my spiritual gift in obedience, I will have joy!

Heart questions:
Are there things you are picking up that God did not ask you to carry in your wagon?

What is your spiritual gift?

Are you using it?

Complete Joy...Jesus' example

Down in My Heart Kind of Joy
Lesson 13
Complete Joy…Jesus’ example

Go back over Lesson 12 to refresh your memory. Now let’s look at two pictures of Jesus’ obedience—washing the disciples’ feet and the cross.

Read John 13:3-17. Look at verses 3-4 again.

Jesus knew who He was in His relationship with God. Then He obeyed even though it meant being a servant—washing the disciples’ feet. I have to be in God’s presence, be filled and content with His joy, and be comfortable with who I am in Him. Then I can confidently obey and serve others with humility.

Read Hebrews 12:2-3.

Joy is a reward for obedience, and for Jesus it was worth the cross! He is our perfect example. So all of this comes down to this…will I obey? One time I started paying attention to the verses that said something like “____ pleases God.” I had quite a list going, so I decided to organize them and group them together. I don’t know why I was surprised to see that it all fit into two categories: 1) Love God and 2) Love others. (Have we seen that before recently? Matthew 22:35-40) But most of all obey!

Read Ephesians 5:9-10, 15-17.

I can know who I am in my relationship with God. Now it is time to roll up my sleeves and be ready for whatever service He puts me in. When I seek God and His presence and instruction, I can ask Him what He wants me to do.

Psalm 40:4, 8. Oh, the joys of those who trust the Lord, who have no confidence in the proud or in those who worship idols….I take joy in doing Your will, my God, for Your instructions are written on my heart. (NLT)

Want to know what God’s will is? Let His Word be written on your heart. Remember to keep on seeking, keep on knocking, keep on asking. He is not playing hard to get...He wants to be found!

Read Colossians 1:9. (That whole paragraph is rich!)

Ask Him—make this a Scripture prayer. I have this in my journal that I pray for myself and my family.

Heart question:
What was the last thing God told you to do? Did you do it?

Complete joy and the ten commandments

Down in My Heart Kind of Joy
Lesson 12
Complete Joy…Ten Commandment connection

Keep all that we’ve learned about joy in mind as we look at the Ten Commandments and draw a connection between joy and obedience.

Read Exodus 20:1-17.

For several weeks in Sunday School we had been reading and discussing the book Sinai Summit: Meeting God with Our Character Crisis by Rick Atchley. Each week we discussed a commandment and we got to the last one—“Do not covet your neighbor’s ____.” We talked about this commandment being different because it dealt with our thoughts, not our actions. And breaking this one can lead to breaking every other commandment! (The author pointed out that David coveted Bathsheba and that lead to breaking 7 of the 10!) Then it dawned on me that when we covet, we think we will be happier or find joy, if only we had _____. But the joy we are seeking is something only God can give us by spending time in His presence. When we seek joy in places other than God, it can lead to breaking every other commandment. This falls right in to what Jesus taught as the Greatest Commandment:

Read Matthew 22:35-40.

I have to put God as my first priority! When I do, watch what happens.

Read Matthew 6:33.

Jesus reminds us to seek God first, and our needs will be met—there is no need to worry or covet or steal or break any other command.

Then I thought of this verse. (This maybe one of those “joy” verses you were expecting!) It is short so I’ll give it to you.

Nehemiah 8:10b …for the joy of the Lord is your strength.

How can joy be strength? This was pretty profound to me! When I spend time in God’s presence and am filled with His joy, I gain strength to obey because He satisfies my desires! This led to a search and here are some other verses God lead me to.

Psalm 89:15-17 Happy are those who hear the joyful call to worship, for they will walk in the light of Your presence, Lord. They rejoice all day long in Your wonderful reputation. They exult in Your righteousness. You are their glorious strength. It pleases You to make us strong. (NLT)

There are several themes of our study that I want to point out here. First, did you notice the setting of joy is in His presence? Second, they rejoiced in Him because of His wonderful deeds. And third, they acknowledged God as the source of strength. I just love the last sentence! I am so weak, I’m glad it pleases Him to make me strong! I need Him so much! It pleases Him to make me strong because I am depending on Him in my weakness.

Read John 15:9-12.

When I spend time with Him, I hear God’s Word and gain strength to obey Him and remain in His love. When I obey, my joy will be complete! Wow! Which begs the question What does complete joy look like in my life? Stick with me and we will discover that, at least to some degree!

Read John 16:24.

As I try to obey and need help, I just have to ask! God will help me to obey so that my joy can be complete in Him. Then I will praise Him with joy for the mighty things He is doing in my life! Oh, I just love this next part!

Philippians 2:13. For God is working in you, giving you the desire to obey Him and the power to do what pleases Him. (NLT)

God gives me the desire to obey, the strength and power to accomplish it, and a complete greater joy to top it off!

I want to keep this in manageable chunks for a day, so come back for part two in the next lesson…

Heart question:
Am I content in God, or am I coveting ____ that gets me into trouble?

What priority does God have in my life?

Am I operating in God’s strength or my own?

SweetTate funny

SweetTate and SweetBoy are playing football on the wii. SweetTate said, "I want to be the tookers." He has said that for days and I have not had a clue what he was talking about. SweetBoy and I finally figured it out! When they are picking teams, SweetTate pointed to the team he wanted the "tookers." It is the Steelers. I finally got it! The stealers took something, so they are the tookers! haha

But what about trouble

Down in My Heart Kind of Joy
Lesson 11
But what about…trouble

We do live in the real world with real troubles, real hurts and life isn’t fair! Joy is still an option!

Read James 1:2-4.

Troubles—great joy?! Last time I checked this is not my first reaction to troubled times! But will I choose joy? Will I take the chance to seek God and be in His presence? A chance to joyfully praise Him for the work He is doing in my life? When I choose to do this, then yes, it is pure joy!

This is one of those times that it is good to practice being in God's presence and in His Word when life is good. Then when life is hard, keep at it. Even at the time if it is just out of habit, keep God's Word in your life. I recently read Corrie ten Boom's book, The Hiding Place. She has an amazing story of persecution and how God's Word and His love sustained her through it. Even to forgiving the concentration camp jailers who were so cruel. Beth's memory verse for this go round fits in here. It is Psalm 119:175 out of the Message:

Invigorate my soul so I can praise You well,
use Your decrees to put iron in my soul.

There is a verse that says the joy of the Lord is my strength (Nehemiah 8:10). Iron in my soul sounds like strength to me. That comes from His Word--His presence.

Read 2 Corinthians 8:2.

Remember that we will have trouble, but it does not have to interfere with being filled with abundant joy.

Heart questions:
How do I react to hard times?

Is there anything in the way of my experiencing God’s greater joy?

So here is where we have been. This joy is overwhelming! God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit—the presence of the Triune God is our lasting source of joy. We seek to be with Him in praise and instruction. Because of His presence, forgiveness and mighty acts, we shout with joy! Even when we don’t feel it, God fills us with joy. Now. What will we do with it? See you next time!

But what about stolen joy

Down in My Heart Kind of Joy
Lesson 10
But what about…stolen joy

Beware! Satan wants to steal our joy! One of SweetTate's favorite TV shows is Dora, the Explorer. There is a character, named Swiper, who likes to swipe things. When he comes to steal something, Dora and her buddy Boots say, “Swiper, no swiping!” Sometimes his plan is foiled. I wish it were as easy as saying, “Satan, no swiping!” God desires for us to have His Word such a part of our lives that we can combat Satan with it.

Read John 10:10.

Did you notice destruction is the enemy’s goal and his plan starts by stealing? He knows how powerful joy is. He is so envious and there is a lot he can not touch, like our salvation, but he can steal our joy. That is why he sets traps of sin for us to fall into. David fell into sin with Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11) and he wrote this Psalm of repentance…

Read Psalm 51:8, 12.

Satan steals our joy and tries to replace it with a counterfeit. I know there is no lasting joy except from God. Guard it! And if I do fall for Satan’s lies, come back and repent as David did. God will restore the joy of my salvation.

Heart question:
Has Satan stolen my joy?

Is there unconfessed sin that needs to be taken care of?

Praise Him for the joy of His salvation!

The Lamb has Landed!

I used to say that I grew up on the farm. I have no idea why. I only lived there for 4 years before we moved to the "big city." (And yes, Mom, technically it is still the biggest city I have ever lived in!) But no. I'm really a city girl. It doesn't matter how small--I like being able to walk to the post office, city hall, and the school. I am totally clueless when it comes to animals. So let the adventures begin! SweetBoy has a show lamb! Thankfully SweetHeart (and Papa) are ol' pros at this so we have some experience in the family.

Did I mention she is in the backyard? SweetBoy can see her from his bedroom window. She will fit right in with the horses next door. That is just how our tiny town rolls! SweetBoy has been SO excited for her to finally get here. For weeks he has been drawing up plans how the pen will be, saving for feed, buying supplies, or talking about all of the above and more! (Talking about it...does that surprise anyone who knows him?!) When the ag teacher drove up this afternoon with the lamb he said with a gleam in his eye, "You'd think I was Santa Claus the way those kids reacted." He made their day! Thanks Santa!

But what about when I'm just not feeling it

Down in My Heart Kind of Joy
Lesson 9
But what about…when I don’t feel joy

Whether it is a big move, strained relationships, a loss, or any number of other hurts, we all have times that we don’t feel joy. I am one who can get down, and if it is something I think I have the right to be depressed about, I just let go and fall into depression. (Never clinically diagnosed, but once it probably could have been.) In the middle of working on this, we had to put our dog to sleep. (That was about a year ago.) She had been my dog for almost 12 years, and it was really hard. (I understand if you are not a pet person, you probably can’t relate here, but go with me.) I cried for days, and really didn’t want to do anything but sit and miss Sadie. Then I remembered this lesson, and thought about how I should look to God for my joy and not let go into deep sadness. And He did. He comforted me like no one else could. I know that is so minor to other situations, but I know if He cares about the little matters, He will certainly care about the big ones!

So where is this in the Bible? Reading the story of Elijah, I noticed something.

Read 1 Kings 18-19. (Yes, that is chapters.)

Here are some highlights I want to point out about Elijah:
o Experienced God’s presence – 1 Kings 18:15
o Witnessed God’s marvelous acts – 1 Kings 18:18-39
o Heard God in a gentle whisper – 1 Kings 19:11-13
o AND had confidence and depression issues – 1 Kings 19:14 (for the fourth time)

So where was Elijah’s joy? From what we have studied, he surely experienced the lasting joy of God. I am no expert, but the best answer I can come up with is that maybe it was just not recorded. It is comforting for me to know that I can have times of depression and times where I don’t feel God’s joy. It is not something I want to do often. Others are watching how I react and depend on God. So for His glory I need to reflect His love and joy more often than not. But there will still be those down times, and from Elijah’s example, God can still use me mightily! I need to keep on seeking, keep on knocking, keep on asking and keep on knowing Him.

So does this mean I can’t be sad or upset in His presence? No. He wants me to bring Him all of my stuff. I know we read a lot already, but you have to see this.

Read 1 Peter 5:7.

He wants it all—the good, the bad, and the ugly. Go ahead. He can handle it! And He loves you so much!

Read Psalm 56:8.

Read Psalm 42 (focus on verse 5).

Read Psalm 126:5-6.


He cares—keeps tears, wipes away tears. He will lift you up and fill your heart with joy. Our hearts ache, but we always have joy.

Heart question:
What care do I need to cast on the Father who loves me?

Mostly birthday news

Wow! We have had an eventful couple of weeks! Last weekend we went to SweetHeart's hometown for his homecoming and 20th class reunion. We enjoyed the game and visiting with friends. SweetDoll had said she wanted a surprise party for her birthday. Well, that was going to be a trick to pull off being far from cousins and friends, and we don't know a lot of people here. But since we were going to be at hometown anyway...we invited some friends and took some cousins with us to the park and had a surprise party there! SweetDoll didn't have a clue until we pulled out the party stuff to decorate the table. (Meme totally made it a party with the decorations!) That was fun to surprise her and play with friends!

There are several family birthdays within these couple of weeks, so we just had a birthday bash for all of them while we were visiting. Here are the birthday girls--the twins, Meme, Aunt J, and SweetDoll.

This week for SweetDoll's actual birthday...(my kids are masters of stretching out their birthdays!) Granny came for lunch at school. Then it just happened that her class was going on a field trip to a local corn maze so Granny, SweetTate, and I went along. We had a great time getting completely lost in the maze! Seriously, we were so lost the lady running it was watching out for us on the tower. She tried to give us directions, but eventually came to our rescue and led us out herself! I'm sure there is a devotional in that, but we'll go there another day.

For birthday supper SweetDoll wanted chicken nugget kabobs. (Dad was at a ballgame.)

Our present to SweetDoll was going horseback riding. SweetDoll got new cowgirl boots for her birthday. I dug mine out of the closet too. Haven't worn them in years! But there is just something about putting on a pair of boots! We are ready!

Miniature horses greeted us at the ranch. SweetDoll loved it!

We found a great place to take a picture. Here is my 6 year old!

SweetBoy was so excited that he got to ride alone. He rode Lightnin'.

SweetDoll rode with Daddy on Star. SweetTate and I got Slim. (Infront of SweetBoy is Toby, the huge Belgian Mule who wanted to have his picture taken too!)
The kids' favorite part was when we would go down and up the creek bed ravine, the horses would trot. And every time they did, the kids would just giggle! Which was our favorite part! Priceless. We had a glorious ride through some beautiful country! The pictures don't do it justice. (Your next photography challenge...get a good picture on horseback with a three year old in front of you!)



I hate to end this on a sad note, but it has been part of our week too. Our dog, Daisy, had been really good about staying close to the house, but this week she ran off a couple of times. Friday she ran off and the big kids chased after her. They saw that she got to the highway and turned back and came home. Thankfully they didn't see what happened for many reasons mostly their safety. But Daisy was hit by a car and she died. It has not been nearly as hard to deal with as loosing Sadie last October, but it is still sad. SweetTate got his B'noculars out to look for her today.



On a happier animal note...(aren't you glad!) SweetBoy is getting a show lamb this week, so I'm sure we will have new animal adventures to talk about!