Today is the Day of Salvation!

The day was May 29th, 2010.

It was a great day, and I was thinking things just couldn't get better. ( I was wrong!) It had been a tiring week, and I was EXHAUSTED. But we were headed in to a three day weekend with Monday being Memorial Day.

It was around 10:24 pm and we were leaving a local rodeo. Mario had won first place in the tie-down calf roping, and our nephew, Breylin had entered the breakaway roping for the first time ever. He placed 4th out of 15-20 ropers of various ages. We had had a great day together, the kids were excited to be up late, and I was wrapping up last minute tasks for Jeryn's birthday party for the following day.

We pulled out of the rodeo arena parking and headed for home, Mario and Breylin trailing us. We were all tired, but still excited, and I felt a little for twinge of guilt for having the kids out so late since they were both recovering from strep. I reached over and turned on a cd that I had found a few days earlier after having misplaced it for some time, and had been listening to it throughout the week. (album Everything Glorious by Passion)

I thought some soft music would help the kids to wind down. We first got our praise on with Jesus Paid it All. Once it was over, I drifted off into deep thought during the next song or two, justifying why it was okay to have them out so late:

It was Mario's first time to win on that particular horse (Raider, a horse my mom raised that he has been training in calf roping)...we wouldn't have wanted to miss that!)

School is out now anyway, and they can sleep in tomorrow morning and we'll just go to the late service... They had a blast and we were all there as a family...

Breylin gets to spend the night and we were there to show our support at the first rodeo he entered...

My thoughts were interrupted by, "Mom, start that song over."

It was Jaiden, and it was obvious that she was listening very closely.

I cleared my mind and just settled in and listened to the song with her. I could hear her singing along with it from time to time. Her voice sounded so sweet.

'I love to hear you sing and praise, Jaiden" I said.

She smiled and tucked her little chin down and thanked me.

I kept listening...to the lyrics and to her...

Chorus
Oh, Christ, be the center of our lives,
Be the place we fix our eyes,
Be the center of our lives.

Verse 1
And You’re the center of the universe,
Everything was made in You, Jesus.
Breath of every living thing,
Everyone was made for You.

Pre-Chorus
You hold everything together,
You hold everything together.

Bridge
We lift our eyes to heaven,
And we wrap our lives around Your life,
We lift our eyes to heaven, to You.

And then the music faded out and it was just voices ending the song, singing:
And turn your eyes upon Jesus, And look full in His wonderful face. And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, In the light of His glory and grace.

The next song came on and she listened to it.

We are Yours--kind of a different song, but it talked about being a 'generation touched by your salvation" and it prompted a conversation about what salvation means. We had talked about this nearly a month ago, and she was recalling some of that.

She told me that she had learned the story of Nicodemus. We talked again about salvation and how Nicodemus was "born again"...and how if we gave someone a gift and they didn't accept it, it was their choice and we weren't at fault for that. We discussed how that was similar to God offering us the gift of salvation and eternal life. We talked for a while and I remember saying, when you have any questions about all of this, just ask me or daddy and we can talk about it some more."

A silence fell and I looked in the mirror to see if Jeryn was asleep yet. He wasn't, but he was as quiet as a little church mouse back there, holding his ear with one of his hands--something he does when he is sleepy :) I reached back over and turned the music back up just a tad.

By this time, Chris Tomlin was singing I Stand Amazed (How Marvelous) , and just a few moments later, Jaiden announced from the back seat, "I want to be saved!"

There were no words to describe the joy that overcame me with her decision to accept Christ. We were nearly home, just around the corner...and while I hated to make her wait, I didn't want Mario to miss!! So I called him to tell him about Jaiden's decision. He was right behind us, so I told her we would pray together as soon as we got in the house because I wanted Daddy to be there. She was excited!

So at 11:25 p.m. Mario, Jaiden, Jeryn, Breylin and myself knelt in a circle in our bedroom floor. I read the following scriptures from my bible:

^{Romans 3:23-24 (NIV)}

²³for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus

Romans 10: 9-10 (KJV)

⁹That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

¹⁰For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation


And then Mario led Jaiden in a sinner's prayer to repent and accept Christ. This is the moment we had hoped for. Prayed for. Waited for. To see our child acknowledge Christ and accept Him at an early age.

If you are reading this and you have never done this or have questions about what all of this means, you can go to THIS site to read what Billy Graham has outlined as steps to experience a new life in Christ.

Praise the Lord for answered prayer! Now, I continue to pray for Jeryn, that he too will accept Christ at an early age! Will you also pray for him?

And please pray for Jaiden to grow spiritually in the days, months, and years to come!

God is so good!

Acts 4:12 (New American Standard Bible)

¹²"And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved."

Little Artist

My little sweetie got a 2nd place ribbon in the art festival for her two tigers! I asked her if I got to keep the picture and she said, "No, because it will go in my portfolio." Pardon me for not knowing that kindergartners had portfolios. We are proud of you, sis!

The Loveable Max!

 

Could he be any cuter???

 

The next picture cracked me up.  I assumed the goat would learn to act like the dog, but looks like Esther has decided to be goat-like:

   

Thank goodness Max is feeling MUCH better!  After a few doses of pepto bismol and a round of penicillin and B12, he is doing well!  He nibbles on everything…the buttons on my shirt, my ponytail, my ring, toes, books, and as you can see here, paper towels:

The horses didn’t know what to think about Max the night we brought him home, but they have warmed up to him.  (I think Jeryn was telling him that he still likes horses the best).  We found out that Max loves animal crackers.  We already knew Esther did.

 

We fixed a bucket of warm water and gave Max a bath this morning.  The only thing I could get to quickly was a bottle of Head & Shoulders, so Max shouldn’t be having any dandruff anytime soon :)

Goat Rope or Bust.

Goat Ropers.  It was a term we used in junior high on up to describe the kids that dressed like cowboys at school.  They wore the tight wranglers, belt buckles big enough to fry an egg on, and sounded really country.  (Like more country than me).  No disrespect to the “goat ropers”…it was not to poke fun, it was more like an association.  For instance…those kids are baseball players, those are basketball players, those girls are cheerleaders, those are band kids, and those kids rodeo/show, etc.  In fact, I always wanted to be in FFA and to this day don’t know why I didn’t participate.

Make no mistake, I was no city slicker.  In my mind, I was a cowgirl.  I loved helping with the cattle, enjoyed the horses and didn’t mind to get dirty.  My summers were filled with long days in the hayfields and I loved getting to check out of school early for “cattle working” days.  I caught crawdads and went fishing, and did stuff with my cousins like sort chickens for the sheer enjoyment of it.  I never grew out of doing that stuff, but somewhere between my forest green Rocky Mountain jeans and junior high, I traded in my Justins for a pair of Nikes.

However, I also secretly dreamed of being a “goat roper.”  I loved the country life, the adrenaline that comes with competing in an event, and I thought about the day that I would not be too scared to fly around a set of barrels effortlessly.

That day never came, so I married a goat roper.  More like a calf roper, but stay with me.  Then, when I had a couple of kids of my own, it was important to me for them to be “country kids.”  Not because that makes you one iota better than a city kid. It doesn’t.  But just because being around animals is a learning experience…an adventure…it teaches you about responsibility…and it helps you to appreciate the mighty God that we serve!  Every day, you can see his handiwork displayed in the gentleness of a deer grazing in an open pasture, the beauty of a sunrise or sunset, or the miracle in the birth of a new baby calf or a long awaited foal.

These are the things that I loved about growing up on a farm.  In my lifetime I have had cats, dogs, ducks, chickens, geese, rabbits, horses, cattle, fish, turtles, frogs, and probably some other stuff if I thought longer.  I have nursed wild rabbits with broken legs, and held baby deer rescued from the hay cutters.  One thing I never had though, was a goat.

But last night, that all changed.  Here goes the wild and crazy tale.  Mario’s calves had gotten huge and were too big to rope.  So he trades in with our friend, Matthew.  Matthew comes over to get the calves.  I mention that he should be on a lookout for a little goat for Jeryn to practice roping and tying on.  Mario rolls his eyes.  Later I called Matthew on the phone and left a message that Mario and I had discussed, and we agreed that it might be good for the kids to have a goat.  A local rodeo has goat ribbon racing and goat tying every weekend, and if they showed interest, we might think about that.  So I ended the message with, “So in all seriousness, be on he lookout for a little goat.”  As I’m thanking him at the end of the message, Jeryn is in the background saying, ‘no mama, not a lil’ goat—a BIG goat!”  We went to community group with the kids last night and Mario’s parents were up for letting the kids spend the night.  I needed to study and Mario and I thought it might be nice to have a quiet evening to ourselves.  Except we ended up getting a goat.  And castrating it.

On our way home from community group, phone rings.  It’s Matthew, and it’s 9:00pm, he’s leaving the sale barn. “You still want a goat for your boy?”he asked.  “I’ll be there in ten minutes.” 

Closer to 9:30, Matthew shows up with a goat.  I asked for a female…It was a male.  A guy that had bought a full load at the sale barn couldn’t fit him on his trailer so he told Matthew to grab him off the back if he wanted him.  I hated to complain about a free goat, but I wasn’t planning on a male…

“Not to be picky, Matthew, but this is not a female.” 

Oh but he’s been “fixed.”  As we stood there talking, Mario discovered that he had indeed NOT been “fixed.”  Matthew offers to “cut” him on the spot.  So here I stand at 9:30pm with my new goat, being castrated on my lawn in the light of the moon and porch light, enjoying a romantic evening at home with my husband like any other. 

The kids were tickled too pieces upon hearing the news of the goat.  This morning we had Moms and Muffins at school and I ran back by the school to take J’s lunch.  I stuck a note in her sack that said I enjoyed the morning with her, and to be thinking of a good name for the goat. 

 

When I picked her up from school, she said his name would be “Max”…that is if Jeryn was in agreement.  He thought that sounded good, and said he would ‘fwank’ and tie Max.  When he heard the noise Max makes, he decided he would NOT flank and tie Max, at least not right now.  Just as well, Max had a tummy ache (i.e. the runs) and Matthew came by and gave him two syringes full of pepto bismol.

Which is why Max has what looks like lipstick on in these pictures.  But don’t be confused by that.  He is a male.  And now, he is wethered (proper term for castrated goat, I think).

Meanwhile Max has settled in to his new home by getting in Esther’s dog crate and standing on our back deck.  The dog and the goat have made fast friends, and Esther is enjoying the company!

15 Steps to Success!

1) Start by gathering some farm fresh eggs.

2) Get some help from your great-grandmother.

3) After collecting enough eggs, sit on the porch and enjoy a little coke in a bottle.

4) When you get home, wash the eggs with soap and water. Place them in a large pot with cold water (to reduce cracking) and a little salt and boil.

5) Next, you will want to start with a nice, clean work area.

Or you can ignore that step altogether.

6) Bring the whole family in, coloring eggs should be a family affair!

7) Scream at your little brother for breaking all your eggs and try to push him off the counter. Act like your not mad at him long enough for a quick photo.

8) When you tire of the traditional egg coloring routine, call in an artist. An artist can help make the eggs into a variety of things like rabbits, flags, and cute cartoon figures.

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

9) Encourage the artist in a young-in by having them think of ideas and then turn them loose with sharpies (which wears nicely with their Easter outfit the next day).

10) Smile big and pack your Easter baskets. Go and celebrate our RISEN SAVIOR!

11) Put aside your “special eggs” so that no one else gets to find them in an egg hunt after church.

12) Leave one basket of eggs at the family Easter gathering.

13) Put the other basket of eggs in the back of your mom’s car and forget about it for a week. Be sure to throw stuff in on top of it throughout the week from all directions knocking the basket over so that the eggs will roll around and break in a million pieces.

14) At the end of the week, help mom unload the car! Act extremely upset to find that your eggs are broken and stinky.

15) Finally, laugh it off and take the few that are not broken and chunk them into the horse pasture as far as you can.

This concludes our 15 steps to egg coloring success! A few Easter weekend photos to follow soon.