What a beautiful piece of property HUGS ranch is situated on! It has a great mixture of tree's, grass, flowers, a goat barn, a horse barn, a round pen, an arena and two paddocks. To see the hay field dance in the breeze and watch the tree's sway along is a feast for the eyes in the richness of color, variety, and beauty. Horses, goats (and 2 kids), cats (and 10 kitties), dogs and chickens round out the scenery.
Psalm 19:1-4
The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known. They speak without a sound or word; their voice is never heard. Yet their message has gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the world.
In the Ears
Daily I hear sounds of chicks peeping, goats bleating, horses nickering, dogs barking, cats meowing, and song birds singing. I hear the sound of a screw gun whirring, the scrape of a pitch fork, a hammer knocking, a lawnmower running, and a tractor purring. It is a beautiful melody of sounds.
Psalm 89:15
Happy are those who hear the joyful call to worship, for they will walk in the light of your presence, Lord.
Happy are those who hear the joyful call to worship, for they will walk in the light of your presence, Lord.
With the Nose
OK, this is a ranch/farm, so you can pretty much guess ALL the smells..... :-)
Genesis 27:27
Genesis 27:27
Jacob went over and kissed him. And when Isaac caught the smell of his clothes, he was finally convinced, and he blessed his son. He said, “Ah! The smell of my son is like the smell of the outdoors, which the Lord has blessed!
Through the mouth
Cat hair, dog hair, horse hair....but more importantly my LUNCH! :-) Sharing my apple core with the horses and goats is fun too....
Genesis 6:21
And be sure to take on board enough food for your family and for all the animals.
In the touch
I have had the enjoyment of grooming each of the horses and talking to them about...well, they know :-). They are such good listeners, and are willing to let one more person in their heart. What a delight to hold and play and watch newborn kitties! It brings such a smile to my face and heart. They are so innocent, so trusting, so cared for by their mamma's. When the baby goats--kids--were born, I got see them in their first 24 hours! They are so soft, so cuddly. Their tails just wag/shake in excitement and curiosity! The momma makes interesting "momma noises" to her babies which melts my heart.
Psalm 67:5-7
Let the peoples praise You, O God; let all the peoples praise You. The earth has yielded its produce; God, our God, blesses us. God blesses us, that all the ends of the earth may fear Him.
All of these senses dive into my Heart
I began my new adventure at HUGS ranch May 3rd. These first few weeks have been a time to get orientated to my new place of work. Learning the ins and outs of a new place always has it's learning curve. Lisa and Jill have been so gracious and kind to spend time showing me around the ranch, and sharing about their vision and passion.
It's kinda hard to describe a "typical" day, since as I sit here to write it out I am finding it difficult to think of two days alike! Since I am the first "full time" volunteer at HUGS Ranch this is a new adventure for all of us! They have never had someone come everyday for all day so we are in the process of working out a daily schedule of responsibilities and horse time. As I write this it seems like it ought to be a pretty simple and smooth process, but any of you who have begun a new ministry or project can understand there are lots of details to juggle and prioritize. Here's a glimpse of what has been going on:
1. I have eagerly taken on the responsibilities for the buildings and grounds. Between the the three of us we have complied a list of over 60 short term projects and a half dozen or so long term projects! As I said to Lisa, I too have a list at home of "things to do", and the ranch is a lot bigger and broader in it's scope of operation so the number is no big surprise. Some of the projects that have already been finished include fixing gate latches, putting up the new hose hanger, repairing electrical fences, and general spring clean up. Both Lisa and Jill have spent individual time with me in this area in compiling, dreaming, researching, and in purchasing needed items to complete projects.
2. On Monday morning I facilitate a Bible Study that includes Lisa, Jill--and last week 2 other ladies joined!
3. I am learning the feeding schedule of the horses, both in the morning and in the evening.
4. Being a Red Cross Instructor I am going to teach a CPR/FA/AED class for the ranch staff as well as any volunteers that would like to attend. This will be in June for two Tuesday nights.
5. On Thursday mornings starting the middle of June the ranch has Jr Volunteers and Wranglers come to spend time at the ranch. These are young adults between the ages of 11-18 that want to volunteer their time to help out the ranch as well as hang out with horses. I am excited to have the privilege of leading the spiritual emphasis portion! I have an idea of what I would like to do...now to get it organized and written out! What a privilege and responsibility to introduce them to Jesus and encourage them to begin a relationship with Jesus Christ, and/or then share and learn together ways in which we walk daily with Him as well!
6. Working with the horses is very important. They need to get to know me too! Everything from spending time feeding and grooming them, to working on the lunge line in the round pen, to riding is essential. This not only helps me to get to know the horses and their personalities, but establishes a good working relationship bond as well.
7. Twice a week I hop on the tractor to drag the arena :-). This, is most certainly a chore I look forward too! I'm even using my creative skills to hook up two harrows into one to not only be more efficient with time and diesel, but hopefully I can drive out with ZERO tractor markings. I love the look and smell of freshly tilled soil :-).
I believe this gives you an idea of what I have been up to the last few weeks. It has been good to get an Excel spreadsheet made up of the projects and to organize them in order of priority as well as planning out some of the bigger projects to do in the future. I know that once the ranch opens my days won't have the freedom to plan and organize like they do now. Monday through Thursday is packed with mentoring sessions, special events, volunteers and visitors. They will be long, but full and satisfying days as well.
PRAISE THE LORD!!!! I am so humbled and grateful to my home church; Trinity Baptist Church for supporting me as their missionary again this season! What a privilege and honor to represent them at HUGS ranch! Not only do I receive this financial blessing, but because the ranch is within commuting distance I am able to live at home and am blessed to be able to stay involved with the Wednesday night children's program at our church and worship with them on Sundays! YEAH!!
I would appreciate your continued prayers for me as I follow the Lord's call for this season of my life. As with all change, there is stretching and growing. My desire is to follow whole heartedly after God and be obedient to the changes that are necessary for growth. I heard an illustration recently which both greatly saddened me and encouraged me. I am like a sponge. You don't really know what is in a sponge until it is squeezed. What comes out of that sponge when it is squeezed is what is in the sponge. What I have been soaking in I may be able to hide on the surface for a while---but when I'm squeezed, the "real me" comes out. Check out Colossians 3 and allow the Spirit to speak to your heart. Pruning, as described in John 15 is not always pleasant, but is very necessary. I can trust the Gardner to prune as much as He knows is needed. I can rest knowing He will never prune too much, or too little. He knows what's best. Ephesians 3 tells us that we are empowered by Christ and He is able to do exceedingly, abundantly more than we could ever ask or think! WOW! All glory goes to Him!!
The ranch officially opens June 14 and I can hardly wait!! The anticipation is growing each day in spending time with precious children and their parents/guardians. I know that I receive much from them, and our prayer at the ranch is they are drawn to Jesus in all that they see, hear, smell, taste and touch.
Keep smilin' and lookin' to Jesus with me! :-)
