Okay.
This is going to be a ridiculous post.
A post that has no 'deeper meaning.'
Will not further world peace or recycling.
It's just a post that is bouncing around in my head & needs out.
So here goes...
We now live in an area that has a 'dog park'.
Dog Parks are places city people take their dogs to 'play' with other dogs.
To run around & socialize & be 'a dog'.
All kinds of dogs are at these places.
Big dogs. Little dogs. Boy dogs & girl dogs. Spayed dogs & neutered dogs. Nice dogs & pitbulls (ha! ha! don't get your hackles up it was just a JOKE).
Anyway. All of these people have all of these dogs running around. Together. And they think it is normal.
They think that it is what dogs do.
Um, okay.
Have y'all ever met a dog?
Read a book about a dog?
Oh, I know, watched a TV show about a dog?
Dogs are not 'social' animals.
Dogs are 'pack' animals.
In 'the wild' in the 'natural world' dogs would roam around in packs. Like coyotes & wolves.
The pack would have a leader~the Alpha Dog. Also known as "The Big Dog" ;)
The Alpha leader is the boss. All of the other dogs follow under in a hierarchy.
Packs don't play with other packs.
A dog/coyote/wolf from another pack shows up they kill it.
They don't socialize with it.
It is not normal or natural for dogs all to play together with a bunch of strange dogs.
It's asking for a fight.
And people (mostly city folk) are totally oblivious to this.
And I find that fascinating.
I mean, seriously, have we grown so silly as a nation that we think it is normal, natural & necessary to take our dogs on playdates?
Ooookaaay.
My dogs are farm dogs.
Their JOB, their purpose for being here, is to protect me, my family, our animals & our home.
If a strange dog shows up in my yard~I don't want them to play with it!
I want them to chase it away~AGGRESSIVELY.
If we introduce a new dog into the family we do it gradually. We let our dogs know THIS dog is now part of the pack.
It's a training issue. Not a 'playdate'.
As humans we tend to 'humanize' our animals. Give them qualitys & feelings we experience.
This is known as 'anthropomorphism'.
Don't go there :)
Treat your dog like a dog. Not like a child. ;)
Years ago, we used to visit my folks who lived at the beach.
I often took my big farm dog to play in the ocean.
His job was to protect me.
He took it seriously.
He never hurt a person, never even curled a lip at anyone but in the course of guarding our farm he had been in a few nasty dog fights.
He was always on a leash RIGHT by my side.
I could not believe how many people would let their dogs OFF the leash (which by the way was against the law on that beach) & let them run right up to my dog on his leash & get right in his face.
They would usually smile & say "Oh, it's okay, he doesn't bite."
While I had a death grip on my dog, holding him back from their dog who was threatening his pack & I would smile & say "Well my dog DOES. Wanna call off your dog?"
They usually didn't smile much after that.
My rather long winded point is a dog is an animal.
Not a child needing a playdate.
So treat your dog like a DOG.
Feed them. Love them. Pet them. Let them sleep on your pillow if you like. But don't take them to 'dog parks' & pretend it is normal.
Oh, yeah, don't dress them up in leopard skin coats either.
But that is a whole 'nother post. ;)
Blessings.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Current Events
Just thought I would post a few pics of our life lately.
The big happening being The Biscuit turning the big 2.
Wow.
How did that happen?
My baby isn't a baby. He's talking more & more each day. He's pretty muchly potty trained (he's a self trainer).
He can dress himself & climb the ladder to the top bunk (that last accomplishment is pretty scary for Mom).
And his favorite , favorite things are doggies & Edies.
"Edies"? you ask? What is an "Edie'? 'Edie' is the name of our horse (Limited Edition is her registered name). That is her in the banner at the top of the page. SO all horses are 'Edies'~see? ;)
So a Happy Happy Birthday to my Biscuit.
In other news my 14 yr old started shaving. Well, truth to be told he's needed to for awhile but had to be forced into it :)
The boys got a new lofted bunk bed set.
And more than 6 months after I started it I finally finished The Little Man's quilt.
Here are the cousins enjoying the new loft.
And one last pic of one of The Little Man's latest "projects". He did this completely 100% on his own. His imagination & ability amaze me.
Blessings.
The big happening being The Biscuit turning the big 2.
Wow.
How did that happen?
My baby isn't a baby. He's talking more & more each day. He's pretty muchly potty trained (he's a self trainer).
He can dress himself & climb the ladder to the top bunk (that last accomplishment is pretty scary for Mom).
And his favorite , favorite things are doggies & Edies.
"Edies"? you ask? What is an "Edie'? 'Edie' is the name of our horse (Limited Edition is her registered name). That is her in the banner at the top of the page. SO all horses are 'Edies'~see? ;)
So a Happy Happy Birthday to my Biscuit.
In other news my 14 yr old started shaving. Well, truth to be told he's needed to for awhile but had to be forced into it :)
The boys got a new lofted bunk bed set.
And more than 6 months after I started it I finally finished The Little Man's quilt.
Here are the cousins enjoying the new loft.
And one last pic of one of The Little Man's latest "projects". He did this completely 100% on his own. His imagination & ability amaze me.
Blessings.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Soap Box
It seems lately that I have been hearing the same, tired, old excuses for women not wearing dresses.
Now, please understand, if you don't feel convicted about wearing dresses and you don't want to wear dresses and you are honest about that~ more power to you!
What I am talking about is women who maybe kind of want to wear dresses or think maybe they should wear dresses or even don't give a rip either way but feel the need to tell women who do wear dresses what they can or cannot do while wearing a dress.
So don't get all freaked out & think that I am saying that every women ought to wear only dresses & skirts. Or that I am more spiritual than you (or anybody) because I wear dresses all the time.
I don't. As I write this I am wearing very dirty jeans because I just finished riding my horse & it is cold & windy so I chose to wear jeans. But I could just as easily have ridden in a skirt & THAT is what this blog is about.
We are a 'dresses mostly' family. We were dresses most of the time. My daughter & I tend to wear pants when we ride or fence or fix roofs. Things that are a little harder to do modestly in a skirt.
Notice I did not say 'impossible'.
For 2 years we were a dresses only family. As we live on a farm & my husband travled all of the time I have done just about everything you might ever need to do on a farm~ in a dress.
This includes feeding, milking, gardening, mowing the lawn, riding, fencing and chopping fire wood. In the ice & snow & negative temperatures.
But this isn't about me (hard to believe isn't it? :) )
I often hear women talking about how they would wear dresses but they are 'too active'. There are 'too many things' they can't do in a dress. And they just can't be 'modest' in dress.
Hmmmm, maybe they are wearing the wrong kinds of dresses...
'Dresses just aren't practical.' Again, hmmmm...
I understand that every woman is not going to wear dresses.
But I also understand that all of those 'reasons' are nothing but excuses. And NONE of them hold any water.
This country was settled by women in dresses. They farmed, they cooked, they cleaned, they raised children, chopped fire wood & walked from one side of this great land to the other ALL in dresses.
And they did it modestly & with style & I highly doubt that a single one of them tried to get out of her duties because she 'couldn't do that wearing a dress'.
So like I said, if you don't WANT to wear dresses, that is your choice. But that is what it is a choice.
It isn't because you can't do X while you are wearing one.
So for all of the women who are out there saying "you can't weed in skirt" or "you can't mow the lawn, garden, clean, cook, whatever in a skirt GET OVER IT.
It is a total slap in the face to our ancestors & all of the amazing women who paved the road for us to say we can't do our pitiful chores in dresses.
So to sum up: Maybe you can't. But it is YOUR problem not the dress :)
I will now step off of my soap box & return you to your regularly scheduled programming ;)
Blessings.
Now, please understand, if you don't feel convicted about wearing dresses and you don't want to wear dresses and you are honest about that~ more power to you!
What I am talking about is women who maybe kind of want to wear dresses or think maybe they should wear dresses or even don't give a rip either way but feel the need to tell women who do wear dresses what they can or cannot do while wearing a dress.
So don't get all freaked out & think that I am saying that every women ought to wear only dresses & skirts. Or that I am more spiritual than you (or anybody) because I wear dresses all the time.
I don't. As I write this I am wearing very dirty jeans because I just finished riding my horse & it is cold & windy so I chose to wear jeans. But I could just as easily have ridden in a skirt & THAT is what this blog is about.
We are a 'dresses mostly' family. We were dresses most of the time. My daughter & I tend to wear pants when we ride or fence or fix roofs. Things that are a little harder to do modestly in a skirt.
Notice I did not say 'impossible'.
For 2 years we were a dresses only family. As we live on a farm & my husband travled all of the time I have done just about everything you might ever need to do on a farm~ in a dress.
This includes feeding, milking, gardening, mowing the lawn, riding, fencing and chopping fire wood. In the ice & snow & negative temperatures.
But this isn't about me (hard to believe isn't it? :) )
I often hear women talking about how they would wear dresses but they are 'too active'. There are 'too many things' they can't do in a dress. And they just can't be 'modest' in dress.
Hmmmm, maybe they are wearing the wrong kinds of dresses...
'Dresses just aren't practical.' Again, hmmmm...
I understand that every woman is not going to wear dresses.
But I also understand that all of those 'reasons' are nothing but excuses. And NONE of them hold any water.
This country was settled by women in dresses. They farmed, they cooked, they cleaned, they raised children, chopped fire wood & walked from one side of this great land to the other ALL in dresses.
And they did it modestly & with style & I highly doubt that a single one of them tried to get out of her duties because she 'couldn't do that wearing a dress'.
So like I said, if you don't WANT to wear dresses, that is your choice. But that is what it is a choice.
It isn't because you can't do X while you are wearing one.
So for all of the women who are out there saying "you can't weed in skirt" or "you can't mow the lawn, garden, clean, cook, whatever in a skirt GET OVER IT.
It is a total slap in the face to our ancestors & all of the amazing women who paved the road for us to say we can't do our pitiful chores in dresses.
So to sum up: Maybe you can't. But it is YOUR problem not the dress :)
I will now step off of my soap box & return you to your regularly scheduled programming ;)
Blessings.
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Love Devotion
This is a devotion I wrote for a 'women's thing' at church.
Unfortunately (or maybe not) I didn't get to give it as I missed the 'thing' ;)
So I decided to blog it :)
1John 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
1 John 4:8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
What does that mean to you?
What is Christian love?
Who are we to love? Only each other? Only the perfect?
How do we show that love?
How are we to respond to one another in Christian love?
1 Corinthians 13
1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned,[a] but have not love, it profits me nothing.
4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part. 10 But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.
11 When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.
13 And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
This often is used in marriage ceremonies to describe the love between a man & a woman but what about the love between Christians? Or the love of Christians for those around them? Believers or not? Lovable or not?
Paul first describes all of the many gifts he could have: prophecy, great faith, great charity but without love it is nothing.
As Christians we are often described as ‘haters’. We are ‘intolerant’. We are sexist & hypocritical.
We preach one way to heaven. Women cannot be preachers. Homosexuality is a sin. These are all true Biblical principles. But what about tattoos or piercings or immodest dress? What about drug addicts or homeless folks or just unlovable people?
Do we show everyone we meet love?
This doesn’t mean we have to hug & kiss everyone we meet. Or even to bring them into our lives & homes although if you can these are awesome ministries.
But what about just smiling? Smiling as you push your cart through the grocery store. Smiling as you pump gas? Smiling at the fussy children & the tired cranky parents in the line ahead of you? Smiling at the pierced, tattooed, dirty, scary looking teenager you pass on the sidewalk?
I have lived my whole life in very small rural areas. This area is by far the largest & most diverse area our family has ever lived. And I have noticed that not a lot of people smile. In a small town more folks smile. More folks wave as they drive by. Nobody waves here. But my husband & I have purposed to continue to wave & maybe someday somebody will wave back.
I have purposed to smile. All through the crowded grocery store I try to remember to smile. To catch someone’s eye & just smile. It is a simple way to love someone. Have you ever been in a hurry, maybe not the greatest day & some simple act of kindness helped make things a little better? As Christian women I feel this is one of our callings. To show that the difference Jesus has made in our lives is our ability to love.
I don’t always succeed. I am sure many times I have looked on others without love. But I make it a point to try.
Smile. Say something nice to someone. Be the friendly, cheerful person to go through the checkout line. Smile at babies & small children & their mamas. Even if they don’t smile back. And most children always do! It is the easiest way to get some love your way!
So I encourage you to start out this new year with the purpose of love in your hearts. The purpose to be seen & noticed for the love of Christ shining through you in your expressions & actions. We can all do it. A smile costs us nothing. Young & old alike can share a smile. Rich & poor can share a smile.
I encourage you to let the world know that love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
Blessings.
Unfortunately (or maybe not) I didn't get to give it as I missed the 'thing' ;)
So I decided to blog it :)
1John 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
1 John 4:8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
What does that mean to you?
What is Christian love?
Who are we to love? Only each other? Only the perfect?
How do we show that love?
How are we to respond to one another in Christian love?
1 Corinthians 13
1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned,[a] but have not love, it profits me nothing.
4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part. 10 But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.
11 When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.
13 And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
This often is used in marriage ceremonies to describe the love between a man & a woman but what about the love between Christians? Or the love of Christians for those around them? Believers or not? Lovable or not?
Paul first describes all of the many gifts he could have: prophecy, great faith, great charity but without love it is nothing.
As Christians we are often described as ‘haters’. We are ‘intolerant’. We are sexist & hypocritical.
We preach one way to heaven. Women cannot be preachers. Homosexuality is a sin. These are all true Biblical principles. But what about tattoos or piercings or immodest dress? What about drug addicts or homeless folks or just unlovable people?
Do we show everyone we meet love?
This doesn’t mean we have to hug & kiss everyone we meet. Or even to bring them into our lives & homes although if you can these are awesome ministries.
But what about just smiling? Smiling as you push your cart through the grocery store. Smiling as you pump gas? Smiling at the fussy children & the tired cranky parents in the line ahead of you? Smiling at the pierced, tattooed, dirty, scary looking teenager you pass on the sidewalk?
I have lived my whole life in very small rural areas. This area is by far the largest & most diverse area our family has ever lived. And I have noticed that not a lot of people smile. In a small town more folks smile. More folks wave as they drive by. Nobody waves here. But my husband & I have purposed to continue to wave & maybe someday somebody will wave back.
I have purposed to smile. All through the crowded grocery store I try to remember to smile. To catch someone’s eye & just smile. It is a simple way to love someone. Have you ever been in a hurry, maybe not the greatest day & some simple act of kindness helped make things a little better? As Christian women I feel this is one of our callings. To show that the difference Jesus has made in our lives is our ability to love.
I don’t always succeed. I am sure many times I have looked on others without love. But I make it a point to try.
Smile. Say something nice to someone. Be the friendly, cheerful person to go through the checkout line. Smile at babies & small children & their mamas. Even if they don’t smile back. And most children always do! It is the easiest way to get some love your way!
So I encourage you to start out this new year with the purpose of love in your hearts. The purpose to be seen & noticed for the love of Christ shining through you in your expressions & actions. We can all do it. A smile costs us nothing. Young & old alike can share a smile. Rich & poor can share a smile.
I encourage you to let the world know that love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
Blessings.
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