What's up you say?

HELLO to ALL!

I began writing this blog on Friday after work, and was too tired to finish it. My plan was to finish Saturday after work, but that didn't happen either! Sunday came, I went to church, then was invited out for the afternoon....SO, here it is Monday and off it goes to you. Thank you for your patience--I'm keeping busy that's for sure!

Exciting things are happening, God is at work, and I am beginning to feel a little more adjusted to the Oregon culture. Thank you to each one for your many prayers!


Friday:

What a blustery day today is! I thought Michigan weather changed if you waited--well central Oregon has it's corner on that market too! Here, it can be in the 20's at night and in the 80's plus during the day! Last week, for two days, I had all 4 seasons in one day! In the morning the sun was rising, the temperature was coming up nicely, then by mid morning the wind picked up, temperature dropped, it started spitting rain, and then it snowed, and hailed :-). Layers of clothes are the norm here--because when the sun goes behind the clouds it gets cold--but 10 minutes later when the sun is out, one sheds the outer jacket. Interesting!

So, what have I been up too? LOTS! I'll start with my days at the ranch, and then fill you in on the evenings and weekends since I last wrote.

My day at the ranch begins at 9:00 a.m. The mornings are designated for projects that need to be accomplished when people are not on the ranch. I have helped in the office with computer entry, worked with Sam and Jeff with ranch tasks like fixing the electrical fence, assembling or taking down temporary fencing, cleaning and organizing the tool shop, and running errands in town to get needed supplies. On Wednesday from 10:00 to 12:00 are my horse lessons!! I now know how to groom a horse, put on a saddle (well, I do need some reminders on that part still), learned some "horse language", word commands, body language, safety around horses, how to make a horse back up with my hands or a lead rope, and I practiced turning a figure 8 guiding my horse both with my feet and the reins. On Thursdays from 9:00 till when I finish, I get to DRIVE THE TRACTOR!!!! I have been promoted to drag the paddocks once a week!!! YEEEHHAAA!!!!! I am so GEEKED!! I will try to get someone soon to take a picture of me on the tractor! It's a John Deere that we attach a chain drag on the back to break up the horse manure clumps so they decompose and to make the paddocks look real spiffy! In the arena I can make circles :-) and in the main paddock I have many trees and low tree branches to duck and drive around. I've already smacked my head a few times.....but I just want you to know, not on the same tree! So, I am learning :-). It is so much fun to drive the tractor! And to round out my morning times at the ranch every other week on Thursdays (and that day I drag on Monday) from 10:00 to 12:00 I meet with a staff member and another long term volunteer gal for our mentoring session. 12:00-12:30 is lunch and from 12:30-1:00 is staff meeting where we go over the schedule for the day such as session times with children, specific tasks/chores that need to be accomplished for the day and then prayer time. 1:00 - 5:30 are session times. There are three--each last 1.5 hrs each. They also have stampede sessions which are only 45 minutes long for the younger children, so there are two during one session time.

My first couple of weeks I was working on different tasks or projects, and the past week and half I have been "shadowing" a staff member during a session time! The need is so great for more session leaders--it is unfortunate but many are turned away because there is just not enough time slots and leaders available. When I "shadow" a session time I sometimes take a more active role in talking with the child, and other times have kind of stood back because the staff member and the child have built a relationship and I didn't want to interrupt that communication/relationship. It's been fun to "shadow" different staff members--each one has their unique way of talking, communicating, sharing with the children. I can learn much from each of their styles and personalities!

From 5:30 to 6:00 is clean up time and feeding time. There are "closing cards" and each of us are assigned certain areas to take care of. Everything from sweeping to picking up the arena areas (cones or logs that have been set out for horse session times) to manure pickup (both horse and dog :-), basically what each of us do when we clean house! Make sure everything is in its place!

Hopefully that was mostly clear so you have a fairly good idea of what each day at the ranch entails. Sometimes the schedule is adhered to pretty well, and other times flexibility is the key! Some days people come to the ranch for tours that are not scheduled. Some days people have come to the ranch to volunteer their time--so I have worked with them on projects. Some days, like this past week the power company needed to trench right through the main paddock so the temporary fences had to be put up, and then taken down when they were finished. There has not been two days alike yet!


Saturday:

What takes up my evenings and weekends?

Easter weekend my hosts were out of town so some friends of theirs, and now mine, called me up and asked if I would like to go to church with them! What a pleasant surprise and blessing! Paul and Heeysun attend a church in Sunriver, OR--and I so enjoyed the service! I have been back twice with them. In the picture the back row I am standing next to Paul. In the front row in the middle is Mrs Lee and her son is on the left and her daughter is the right. Standing in front of Paul is his wife Heeysun.





The couple that I am living with introduced me to some of their friends one evening when we were invited over to their house for supper. During the dinner conversation she turned to me and asked me if I was interested in working on their ranch for pay---and very happily I said YES!! :-)!! So, I have been working some mornings and some hours both on Friday and Saturday cleaning the winter manure out of the horse paddocks, and now am starting to work on other ranch maintenance type tasks for them! WOW, way cool eh!!! I mean, I had prayed about a part time job--and here one was offered without me even looking! Praise the Lord with me!

I leave the ranch by 6:00 or 6:30, go to my hosts home and 90% of the time dinner is ready!!! I then do the dishes (since she made such a delicious meal for me to eat) and by that time it is usually 8:00ish. As you can imagine, I'm pretty whooped by then! I check my e-mails, write a few e-mails, take a shower and try to get to bed by 10:00. I would say at least once a week, and sometimes twice I have eaten dinner with my hosts at one of their friends home, I have eaten Sushi with some friends from the ranch--that will be a ONE TIME deal for sure (pictures below), had a "potluck" sort of dinner with other ranch friends another night, and just last night we all met at the house of some of the ranch ladies who live together to have a envelope stuffing party that included dinner. SO, I am not starving yet :-).





It's been fun to do several activities mentioned above with the guys and gals from the ranch at various homes. They are great people with a zest for life and a love for the ranch and it's ministry! The envelope stuffing party was the quarterly statements the ranch sends out for donations received. We folded, stuffed, licked and stamped around 700 letters! The time was passed with jokes, stories, laughter, and excellent tomato soup and toasted cheese sandwiches! On my way home the sky was the clearest that I've seen so far--and the stars--oh the stars I could see with my naked eye were phenomenal!!! I stopped by the side of the road so I could take in the view---but it was so freezing cold that I didn't stay out too long! Just this past week one of the ladies at the ranch said she was planning a star gazing night--I can't wait! Maybe it will be warmer by then??

I have on two occasions taken some longer motorcycle rides that have thrilled me! Just last week it was 75 degrees on Sunday afternoon so I took off towards the mountains. At one point the snow on either side of the road was higher than I was!! And, it was still warm. However, the higher I climbed (only about 1,000 feet) BBBBRRRRRR!!!! It was like teeth chattering cold!! I was very happy as I plateaued out to get back into warmer air!! The route I took, I have been told, is not even close to the beauty of the one that I can take once the road is opened after winter has passed here. So, in a few months I hope to take a long day trip through the mountains---too bad I don't have video camera on the front of my bike so you could see too! Here is a picture I took of Mt Washington.






A week ago Friday I went out to the ranch to help with the afternoon chores and Kelsie said--hey you want to ride a horse! Well, I surely couldn't that down! SO, for my very first REAL ride (the two other times earlier in my life they said didn't really constitute riding--that was more like crawling), I rode bareback!!!!!! Yup, it was just me on Hannah, feeling her bony back bone on my back bone :-). But WOW, what an experience! All I had to hold on with was my legs/thighs and my hands on her mane. Walking was cool, but when we got to the trotting part---hmm that got a little more interesting! I was laughing so hard (and the other gals there were laughing along with me too--glad I could be a source of amusement for them) that it proved difficult to stay upright! Yes, I did fall off twice--but no broken bones, just some pretty bruises on my backside :-). I got Hannah to canter for just two or three short bursts--and that was a tremendous comfort improvement---but I was kinda scared of falling off at such a speed--so I didn't do that for long! What a blast! The more I am learning about horses, the more I growing to love them! The more confident I get, the more relaxed and fun it is! Yes, it is true, a horse can "read" it's rider. They know if the rider is confident, if the rider is the "boss", and even which way the rider is looking! In fact in my last horse lesson class I purposely looked the other way while asking the horse with the reins to turn the opposite direction, and he went the way I was looking! I have MUCH to learn, but I think I am catching on pretty quickly--it sure helps to have patient, kind and humorous teachers too!

Praise the Lord with me for my adjusting to my new working/ministry environment and making new friends too!

One area that some of you have been praying about has been future living arrangements. The couple I am staying with is moving the end of May, and I needed to find a place to go. Well, that prayer has been answered in our Fathers amazing and miraculous way! AGAIN!! The people I am working for have offered me an apartment in their barn! Now, before you think I am living with the barn animals---I'm not--exactly :-). The best way to describe it would be like an studio or efficiency apartment that they have built along the side of the barn. I am so grateful the Lord prompted me to bring my coffee maker, toaster oven, popcorn popper, bedding and towels--because now I will put them all to good use! I am SO EXCITED about this new arrangement! It will save on gas and time since now when I get up I can start my "chores" at my "paying" job, then be at the ranch by 9:00. I will also feed and water their horses when they are gone for personal or business reasons. This working/living arrangement will work out for both of us great! I will be moving sometime in the next few weeks. I will now work for them in the mornings and help out with the horses in exchange for my board and utilities. If I work over and above on the weekends then I can turn in some hours for "pay". What an incredible answer to prayer! They live out in the country on a 40 acre ranch--it is so peaceful and quiet during the day--and I can see stars at night! The Father had this planned all along--a special special blessing for me! Praise the Lord with me!

Sunday:

This afternoon Judy and I went for a drive to Tumalo Falls. There was still snow that we had to walk across on the path to get to the top--but check out the view! Absolutely gorgeous!



Monday:

Today is the start of a new week! I am excited to see what the Lord has in store for this week! It was really neat last week to actually be able to recognize some parents and children! One precious little girl who two weeks ago remembered me came over to ask me a very important question. With her cowgirl boots, vest and pink baseball hat she peered into my eyes with such excitement asking: "Can we go scoop poop like we did last week?" A huge smile came to my face, and my heart flipped with her excitement and said sure. So together we went into the main paddock armed with two rakes and one wheelbarrow. As we picked up clumps together she filled me in on her week--the good and the sad. We laughed together, "high fived" when we managed to get an extra big clump in the wheelbarrow all in one scoop together, and so continues our friendship.

Last week I also had the privilege of making a new friend during a session time. This little one has come from a home that brings tears to my eyes. Halfway through the session time we were walking to the tack room and she reached up for my hand. I gave her my hand, and my heart. Later on, after we had bathed the horse (and each other!) I reached down to take her hand, and she gave me hers--and a piece of her precious heart. How I pray that her time at the ranch will be ones that she connects Jesus and His love for her with. That because the ranch is a safe place for her, she can, for a little while, laugh, play and be herself.

Again, thank you for your prayers for me, for the staff, and for each one that walks through the gates. Young and old, those with deep hurts, and those with wounds and scars--all come to the ranch to experience a healing, a release, a time to build relationships. As we have opportunity, not only do we listen, but we share with our actions and words the best unconditional love there is: the love of Jesus.

Have a spifferillo week and keep smilin' and lookin' to Jesus with me!