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Back To Basics

Been away for a while…..looking for myself.  It happens that way sometimes for everyone I believe.  I have wanted to write but had nothing to say.  Writing for nothing seems pointless and a waste of time.  So I waited.

During this time of year I find myself in a constant state of reflection.  What have I accomplished, have I met my goals, am I a complete failure, what can I do better, and most importantly, what am I thankful for.

So today, on the last day of the Thanksgiving weekend I return from a long absence to write and reflect and resume communication with all of you who have become part of my life through technology.  And what has my time of reflection given me you might wonder????

What I have determined is, that regardless of our state of mind or what is occurring day in and day out, God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.  That even when we take time off from Him, He patiently waits for our return.  That His constancy is the only thing in this crazy world we can depend on no matter what.  God is dependable.  God is loyal.  God is loving. God is my strength.  God is my deliverer, and everything else is just a distraction from the truth.

It is good to be back………..

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My Hair Bra…….

So, my four year old son and I are sitting in the dining room this morning listening to some new christian music through itunes ( he loves music) and all of the sudden he says to me, “Mamma, are you going to take out your hair bra or leave it in?”  After I picked myself up off the floor from laughing so hard, I confirmed with him that he was referring to my pony tail rubber band.  But,  when you think about it bras are ment to hold “things” up right? So I think I am going to stick with hair bra from now on.  Make it a great day!

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In God’s Image….Who Do You See In The Mirror???

I am going national.  I will be in California in October and am so thankful for what God is doing in this ministry.  Check out the new DVD and if you have a women’s’ event in your church or a MOPS group looking for a speaker, consider our ministry!  Blessings to all today!

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Back To School

Just some random thoughts today…….I have been school shopping with my children for the last two days with one day and one child left to go.  I take them individually as my mother did in hopes of giving them that one on one time that they never get with four children in the house.  We shop, eat and talk, I love it.  It gives me time to chat with them about the things on their mind that I hardly ever get to hear.  I learn some amazing things about who they are during those brief shopping sprees.

But I have observed something rather interesting during the process this year.  As I spend time cashing out visiting with cashiers or other moms, many have commented on how they can’t wait for the kids to go back to school.  I had one cashier say,  ” I bet you are looking forward to school starting?”  To her shocking surprise I responded, “No,  I’m not ready.  I love having my kids home and I miss them when they go back.”  Her response,  “That is soooo sweet!”  And the way she said it made me think that my response was unusual.

Now I don’t want to pick on anybody and I openly admit that there are times during the summer when I send the kids outside with directions to stay out and find something to do for a while.  But the deafening silence that ensues when school begins makes me sad. Fact is I miss them.  When my “Man of the North” and I had children it was intentional.  We like being around them.

Time passes so fast here on earth.  My children are by far the greatest gift besides my husband that God has given me.  I truly treasure my gift.  And with the beginning of another school year comes new milestones.  My oldest son is starting middle school and my daughter is in her last year of middle school on the cusp of high school.  My youngest turned four, three weeks ago and will start kindergarten next year.

My dad said to me once, “I turned around twice and you were gone.”  I am planning to enjoy the turns.

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The Day In The Life Of A Farm Wife

When I married my “Man Of The North” and moved to Minnesota almost 16 years ago I had this romantic idea of what it would be like to be married to a farmer.  I loved the idea of raising children on the farm, spending time working side by side with the man I love and doing anything and everything to make life the very best it could be “On The Farm”

Now four children and 16 years later I had a moment today that made take stock of my initial outlook of life on the farm.  If you would indulge me I will share my day with you.  I woke at 4:45am to wake my husband for his day and my oldest son as well.  Today, Wyatt would be going to the sod farm with his father to help with the seeding that is behind.  So as they head out the door at 5:15am I finish of the dishes and house cleaning from the night before and begin preparing for the rest of the day.  At 6:45am I woke my daughter for swim practice and finished loading the laundry in the car (the washer is broken) to take to the laundromat.

I drop Montana at the pool at 7:15am and then sort and start 7 loads of laundry all completed and back in the car by 8:45am and off to my business appointment at 9am.  By 10:30am I am picking Montana up from the pool and headed home to do the chores with the show cattle.  Once the kids have started chores, I loaded the broken baler belts in the car to drop at John Deere and pick some bale wrap for the hired man who was baling hay in one of our fields.

Home again baby down for nap and just settling in to my work on the computer when the phone rings.  It’s my “Man Of The North”!  The tractor has a flat tire in the field and I have to gather the appropriate tools and help the hired man get it off, get it fixed and get it back on so he can finish baling the hay before the rain.  I just finished that project.  And now it is time for evening chores and supper.

Tell me, where did the day go? Did I get anything done?  I am not sure. But one thing I do know for sure is that I get the farm wife medal today.  And my idealistic romantic outlook about farm life is intact.  I love my life.

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Saying Goodbye

I just said good-bye this morning to my mom and dad after a wonderful 2 week visit.  We have been anticipating this two-week time for months with a laundry list of things to see and do and more importantly the opportunity to soak each other up after such a long time apart.

It’s hard to say good-bye.  I have gotten really good at it over the years as I live so far away now and with every visit there is an ultimate good-bye.  But today hurts.  I can’t tell you why exactly.  I just feel like my heart has been ripped out of my chest.  Family is my life blood.  God made me that way and that is why I am so committed to my children and husband.  But it all started with my mom and my daddy.  Having them here gave me the best of both and it is hard to let that go. 

If you are blessed to have a family of any kind, do me a favor today and be intentional.  Tell them how much they mean to you.  Hug them and give them your best.  They should be the most important people in your life.  And they need to know that.  I love you mom and dad.  Come back soon…….

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The Back Story

I actually wrote this entry about a year ago and never published it.  It’s funny how God can give something and you write it down cast it aside thinking it wasn’t that important, only to have Him bring you full circle.  This entry is a back story…..Please read it with that in mind.  I will be sharing the “Rest of the Story”  in a couple of days.

How passionate are you about your life???  What matters most to you when you wake and when you lay down at night?  What are you hoping for? What are you looking forward too?Everyone is looking… aren’t they, for the “IT” factor, for satisfaction, for love, life, liberty and happiness.  I, like most have spent my utter lifetime in search of God’s intentions for me only to wind up chasing my tail.  And then today it hit me like a lightening bolt.

I have been in the cattle trailer for two days, wet to my knees in jeans in the middle of the summer with a scrub brush in hand, my oldest son (rubber boots and all) at my side
scrubbing.  Scrubbing the entire thing from top to bottom with the feeling that the job will never end.  And whatever for you might ask ??????

Well that is the epiphany you see!!! Because we are passionate. Passionate about our industry, passionate about what we teach our children, passionate about our current lifestyle, and most important, passionate about the future.

My husband and I manage a purebred Hereford cattle operation for the family business. My handsome, stoic, hardworking, loving husband is a cattleman and a farmer.   And I am his wife.  I love being his wife. I am also a mother to four gloriously beautiful children.  In the past few weeks I have come to understand the true gift that they are and that they are only on loan for a brief time while they grow and develop into gifted adults that, I pray, will be used for great things.  Motherhood never had so much significance.  How you might ask does this connect to the scrubbing the cattle trailer?

Currently, we are tirelessly scrubbing to prepare for a trip we will take with cattle in tow to the heart of Minneapolis tomorrow.  Our family has been asked to represent our breed during a large sales meeting for a national food company.  We’ve not only been scrubbing trailers, but cattle, panels, feed bunks, everything. I am exhausted and so are my children and yet I realized as I was finishing the floor of the trailer, which has taken two days and is just about clean enough to eat off of, that we do all we do for our industry because we
believe in it .  Not just a little bit, but with every ounce of our very being.  And as my
children look at me forlorn and disappointed when I send them out on day two to
complete our tasks I find my self side by side with them wanting to teach them through this experience, the importance of commitment and belief.  That all things important require that little extra.

My daughter said to me, “Why mamma, why do we have to spend so much time?”  And I replied, “Because when these shiny clean animals walk off this shiny clean sliver trailer into their beautiful freshly mulched pen those coming to see them will know that we love our animals, that we care for them and that we BELIEVE in what we do.”  And I watched the light come on in her face. Yes, she got it!

And then I stood back and watched them play and laugh and find joy in their work, because they BELIEVE  in what they represent.  And trust me the work is hard, real hard.  But from belief in a task comes belief in oneself.  So tomorrow, when we take the honor of representing what we believe in it is my prayer that those we come in contact with will see the essence of who we are and what we love.  And that my children will understand the gift of hard work.

Proverbs 16:3  Commit your works to the Lord and your plans will be established.

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The Essence Of Life

Had the opportunity to have some professional photos taken of the kids yesterday and then got to see some of the shots this morning. 

Ever have a moment in your life that takes your breath away.  That when it happens everything else going on around you, all of a sudden doesn’t matter because God gently knocks you over the head, gets your attention and whispers to you “This is the essence of your life.”  When I saw this photograph today, everything came into focus.   Thank you Lord for all your gifts big and small.  These four people make my life more than I ever imagined possible.

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Windowsill Rock Garden

I have been doing quite a bit of purging in the house this past week.  We have company coming and that always inspires me to step it up and go through things that I have been meaning to go through for entirely too long.  Additionally, I am desperate to get a handle on the clutter in my life in an effort to be more organized and efficient.

I have to admit that I am not the best housekeeper in the world, as shameful as that sounds and sometimes I am down right BAD.  But most of the time I can maintain partial space with a great gift to accomplish much under pressure.  That is where I find myself this week as our “Out of Town” guests will be arriving tomorrow and I have been frantically working to remedy months of clutter in one week.

I did not think I was going to make it.  I still need the morning to wrap things up but that being said, the places I aimed to declutter look better than they have in a while and I have a fresh new desire to continue this new trend and become completely clutter free.  I will let you know how it goes.

What is interesting about my process this week that made me think a bit, was my kitchen windowsill.  I went through the kitchen to some degree, as well as every other room in the house.  But the kitchen window, well, it’s, well, cluttered.  Cluttered with rocks.  You see every rock that my children have found, you know, “Look mommy at this pretty rock I found,” or “Mommy I brought you this rock from my field trip,” or “Mommy when I saw this rock I knew you would want it for your collection.”

My Windowsill

My collection.  Yes, you could legitimately call it “A Collection” at this point. I just don’t have the heart to get rid of them.  In fact I added two more to the sill this week. To most it’s just a big pile of rocks.  To me, it represents all the times my children have thought about their mommy.  I represents and validates my role as the mommy.  The parts I managed to get right.  I love my windowsill rock garden.  It fills my heart and soul and declutters my mind.  It reminds me of my priorities, and fills me with pure joy.  And that leads me to my conclusion……Some clutter is GOOD.

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Under New Management

Normally, I only post when I have something significant or philosophical or funny to share. But today I want to appeal to those of you out there that have been following and are potentially interested in what I really do with my life day in and day out.

I am a loving wife and mother of four that at times feels like her life is continually driven by complete and udder chaos.  The saying management by crisis would be a complete descriptive view of my everyday life.  I have tried all kinds of solutions for eliminating the daily grind only to face it again the very next morning.

I know you are saying, “Who cares.” Point well taken, although I will say that I have begun to determine on this chaotic journey that I am not alone.  I thought it was just me and then I started opening up and talking with other women about their lives and it would seem that these feelings of being out of control and exhaustion are quite common.

So what shall we do about it?  I say this because, for those of you reading this and relating to it we now have a common bond, right.  You know I have heard a saying for years that I never took completely serious until just lately.  “The devil can’t make you sin, but he can make you busy.”  It is all coming together for me now.

For those of you out there that can relate, lets tackle this “Thing” together.  What is working for you, what doesn’t.  I would love to start a forum on this subject and toss around ideas of how to stay productive, and stay sane all at the same time.  What do you think???????