Looking for Signs of Spring

We've been teased with a few peeks of sunshine and warm breezes lately, and it's causing us to look a little closer for those tell-tale signs of spring we "Hoosiers" get excited about. The green shoots of the lily plants have poked through the ground, buds are forming on my lilac shrub, and robins are rockin' around the barn. (I can't think of a more pleasing spring morning combination than a hot cup of coffee in my hand and the sound of a robin's song as I sit at the breakfast table. Joy!) The coming of spring also brings about a few extra chores that have been awaiting better weather. Brian has been working on our "old" barn which is being converted into equipment storage, and building fence for two additional horse turnouts.



A double-whammy prevented me from posting last week: first I was sick (thankfully I was the only member of our family who came down with that nasty little virus), and then our modem went bad. We were lost without internet and email acitivty for the first couple of days, but it didn't take long for us to realize that life really does go on without access to the world wide web! Of course it made a few items of business quite a bit more difficult, but we were able to manage.



I have new photos to post this time. The first batch is from the surprise birthday party we had for Emma on her 13th birthday in February. We were blessed with a BEAUTIFUL day and were thrilled to celebrate with about 40 guests in our barn.










The second batch is of the color guard team that Lindsay and Emma enjoy riding with. We were happy to offer the team an indoor riding opportunity on that extremely COLD night two weeks ago!




We're looking forward to hosting another 4H club's clinic in two weeks and plan to post photos from that event in upcoming blogs.

Happy Signs-of-Spring Hunting to you all!

Visitors, visitors

What a blessing our barn has already been in its short span of existence! Brian and I have been kicking ourselves for not yet starting a visitor's book for the barn, so we sat down this morning to brainstorm and write down names of people who have come to the barn since its completion. Our brainstorming session came up with 140 visitors since February 1, 2008. That is, 140 different visitors! We were very careful not to count anyone more than once since many people are here frequently or have returned for repeat visits, but I'm sure we'll realize that we've missed some here and there.

Last night we were thrilled to watch our color guard team practice in the barn. They were scheduled to be here last week, but bad winter weather forced us to postpone. Eleven riders on eleven horses were in our facility all at once, performing simple maneuvers...what a treat! In addition to those 11 riders were 21 spectators watching from the sidelines. Our biggest concern was parking for trucks with trailers, but we had no trouble parking 9 cars and 6 trucks with trailers in our parking area. It was a great night!

Last week we hosted a horse health care clinic with our veterinarian for the Rough Riders 4H club. Ice and snow the day before had cancelled school functions and knocked out power for many in the community, so we weren't sure how many to expect for the clinic. We were pleasantly surprised with 35 visitors that night, and everyone enjoyed gleaning from Dr. Lance's knowledge.

We're happy to announce the addition of two students to next week's lesson schedule! God is so good! News of our mission is spreading quickly, and we're so excited to be a part of His great plan for these young lives.

Hibernating or Rejoicing...?

Today is a gloomy winter day. It's the kind of day that makes it difficult to remember what it feels like to have the sun on your face, or what it looks like when everything isn't the depressing monochrome gray which has permeated our lives for months. It's the kind of day that calls for a mug of hot java, another log on the fire, and warm fuzzy slippers....the kind of day for hibernation. The horses feel no different. They weren't anxious to go outside today. They were as content to stay in their warm cozy stalls as I would have been to stay in my warm cozy bed.

Sunday, in comparison, was a wonderful Hint-Of-Spring day! It was the kind of day that made us joyful at the prospect of entering into our house of worship....that made us jump from our beds and bask in the glow of sunbeams illuminating the room....that made us anxious to look in the "summer clothes" pile for our wardrobe choices....the kind of day for rejoicing! The horses were rejoicing too! They would not be denied their desire to bask in the sunshine, and much to our dismay, they immediately rolled in their choicest of joys....mud! The pasture was electric with their excitement!

In my devotional time this morning, I reflected on my attitude today in comparison with my attitude on Sunday. Weather undoubtedly influences emotion, but attitude is ultimately a choice. I continued to think on this as I considered the activities we will take part in this week.

The calendar is FULL. The riding facility hosted a mock horse show for the Wayne County Equine Judging Team last night, will be hosting drill team practice for Wayne County Color Guard tonight, and a horse health clinic with Dr. Lance Alexander for the Rough Riders 4H Club tomorrow. Lily's three dance classes will offer parents a "watch night" Thursday evening, and 30 minutes later Brian and I will attend an all-important leadership meeting for our Horse & Pony Association. In conjunction with each of these events are the regularly-scheduled lessons for Jordan's Crossing students. Needless to say, hibernation cannot win out! There is simply too much to prepare for and do.

It is exhausting if we dwell only on the work portion of this "preparing and doing," but if we look a little deeper we realize that it is through the work that we are both blessed and a blessing to others. Our sacrifices (and I honestly shudder to use that word because I don't feel as if I'm really sacrificing anything) bring joy to others...and in turn, we are blessed to share in their joy. It's a cycle that we can choose to continue or break. It's all about attitude.

What attitude will you choose today? Gray and hibernation (serving self)? Or sunshine and rejoicing (serving the Lord)? "...choose you this day whom ye will serve...as for me and my house, we will serve THE LORD." Joshua 24:15