The First Two Weeks

So I've been on the ranch for two weeks now and I decided that if I try to get into deep, philosophical musings and spiritual analogies, I will never post anything here! And those kinds of posts can be good sometimes, but what you really want to know is the simple stuff. What have I been doing? How is life out in the real Midwest? Pictures? That would be wonderful. Unfortunately I don't have the computer amenities to transfer my photos from camera to blog at this point, so you will have to patient.

My first few days here were spent unpacking my large entourage and settling in to the brand new girls' bunkhouse. Being the first to set up housekeeping has its advantages! I got to choose my favorite bed and my favorite spot; bed and spot not together? Nothing a little furniture moving can't take care of. I had time to get my stuff organized and out of the way before someone else's stuff came into the mix. Our place is in the basement of the lovely retreat-cabin style house pictured in my last post. When I get around to Starbucks and have the chance to load pics on a friend's laptop, I will post some show and tell. We have a lovely dorm-style room, large bathroom, and our own little sort-of-kitchenette/sitting room with a door to the outside, not to mention a tv room with a piano and a treadmill right off our apartment.

Two of my summer ranch buddies arrived during the first week; I had already met both of them last fall at the fundraiser and we got to know each other a little bit during the weekend. They are both here for the whole summer, and we are getting along fabulously. We've already had some great fun times and great conversation. Our fourth roommate is due to arrive tomorrow night. I have not met her before, but she has spent time at the ranch previously and she shares my name :), so, I imagine we'll all fit together pretty well. Though it is going to be weird calling someone else by my name. We've already been discussing nicknames so that everybody else can make a distinction between the two of us.

So the three musketeers (soon to be four) have been keeping busy with all sorts of odd jobs while our boss-man, Shannon Haerr, operator of His Ranch, has been working tirelessly to plant corn in the short period between rain when the fields were dry enough. God blessed us with about a week of beautiful summer weather, and today the rain and cold is back. But I think most of the planting is done! Pray that the crop will do well this year; the last several years have been too wet.

We have occupied ourselves with:
weeding a large and very wild flower bed by the ranch main entrance.
cleaning the welcome center.
sweeping out the barn (the stalls are another story)
organizing and cleaning in the tack room and feed room
learning and taking over evening chores
cleaning saddles and water tanks
getting to know the horses and trying to practice catching, tying, and grooming (some tries were more successful than others)
having informal horse classes with Cowboy Willie, the ranch's wonderful volunteer horse trainer
watching horse training dvd's by Craig Cameron, world's greatest horse trainer and possessor of a lovely sleep-inducing southern drawl ;)
going to church, Bible study, and a youth get together
going out for Mother's Day dinner as adoptees of the ranch family
going out for lunch
going out for ice cream
going out to Walmart
celebrating a birthday by exploring a nearby town, baking a cake, watching a movie, meeting a friend, and, you guessed it.... going out for dinner. At the coolest Japanese grill
Oh yes, and sharing female bonding time over dark chocolate. What could top that?

Life has been full, exciting, and full of new things. Next week promises to be even fuller, with more new people and new things, and hopefully, still fun and exciting! One thing I can say....I know I'm going to have plenty of opportunities to grow here. And it's not always going to be fun and exciting. And I don't like the sound of that, but it's okay. God knows where I am, He knows where He wants me to be, and He knows how to get from point A to point B. He knows what's around this bend in the road and the next one and the next. He knows how He wants to show Himself in my life and I'm just along for the ride! Pray that I will be soft to His touch, just as these horses must learn to be soft to our touch and submit to our plans for them. Pray that I will trust my Father in all the things I cannot see or know, just as the horses must trust their trainer and rider to guide them and take care of them and keep them from harm. Pray that I will hunger and thirst more for Him and love to be with Him, just as I am hoping these horses will learn to enjoy being with me and learn to respect me as the leader.

Thank you, my friends, for reading and praying. Adios until next time!