Grammys Corgi Country

Getting ready to go on a big trip for a few weeks is really a pain! I’m sure it will be fine once I get there, but I have never liked the getting ready part… trying to remember all of the things that might come up and make arrangements to cover them… Getting things cleaned, folded and packed… and for me, it is so hard to look at my dogs and horses and contemplate leaving my babies for any length of time. It just really tears me up.

I’ve been around animals since I was born… My parents always had dogs… In fact, that is how they met when they were 9 years old (They were born within 6 months of each other). My dad’s little white Pomeranian went to visit my mom’s little dog. They became friends, and he would go over at 4 in the morning to help her chop wood and get their stove going so she could make the tortillas for the day, and she would give him some for his family too. That was in 1929 and the early 30’s, when food was scarce for a family whose father had died of pneumonia 3 years earlier.

They always had dogs, and got my first dog for me when I was 6 months old. She was a little half-dead Chihuahua/Doxie mix. They got her fixed up and I had my Bootsie until she passed when I was 11. By that time, I also had a german shepherd and one of Bootsie’s pups, Bootie, while my mom had her dog, and my dad has his.

Over the years, my dad brought home all sorts of other animals as well. We had rats, and snakes… rabbits, raccoons, a skunk, and a raven (from the time when he was a featherless nestling until he passed at the age of 25 years old) among many others. He was able to get me a horse for me for my 11th birthday, and helped me train her and learn to ride. He taught me to go to the older people at the stables where we kept my Ladybug, and to listen to the older, experienced horsemen to learn about horses… their handling, care, and training.

Anyway, the only time I haven’t been around dogs is during the time I was in Bible College for a couple of years, and then I had a big stuffed dog that I kept in my dorm room to hug and pet. I believe that is one reason I’ve always had really good blood pressure… Researchers have proven that having a pet and just sitting there stroking it helps people to calm down, relieves stress, and lowers blood pressure. That is the main reason why more and more nursing homes are allowing animals in to visit patients… and lowered stress hormones also helps speed healing.

At least the last time I visited my son a couple of years ago, he did have a dog, so I won’t be “dogless,” and that is some consolation. (Maybe I can hide a corgi in my carryon… What do you think?)

Take some time doing something that will help you find calmness and peace today…

Today I’ve spent several hours on the web (remember I have an old, SLOOOWWWW computer) looking for some tickets so that I can fly to Florida at the end of the week. WHAT A HEADACHE!!! I’ve checked Hotwire (which I will probably go with), Orbitz, Travelocity, CheapTickets, Priceline, and several others.

Of course, I do realize that it is the last minute, and I actually found some rates that are much better than I had anticipated because of that fact. What I don’t understand is how one place has a flight that goes from a Santa Ana Airport, to a stopover in L.A. and then flies straight through to the city I need to go to in Florida for only $312, but, THE SAME PLACE says that I could get a flight from LAX (with a stopover in Denver) for over $500!!! Does this make sense to YOU??!!

If I would have to fly to LAX anyway, and go from there to Florida WITHOUT a layover for $312, then WHY would I have to pay $200 MORE to take a flight from the SAME PLACE (LAX) and still have to do a layover? Why can’t they just get me the leg from LAX to Florida that I would get with the other flight…

Is this INSANE or what!!??!! Do I sound a little frustrated? It would take me two hours to drive to LAX and almost 5 hours to drive to the Santa Ana Airport and then fly back to LAX to go to Florida. That’s 10 hours of driving for whoever takes me as opposed to 4 hours, and that is both coming and going… You can see how it adds up.

I think I’m going to end up going through another ticket vendor and pay about $380 to fly from LAX with a layover. It really does make a difference when you shop around online, though, so if you find yourself in this type of situation, do some homework and compare prices, schedules, etc., and you might find a good bargain.

Just as a last note, we’ve had several unexpected sources of money come in with people offering to buy things, etc. that we’ve wanted to sell but hadn’t worked at selling, and getting paid my first payment from this blog when I wasn’t expecting it… and the Lord is really helping to bring this trip together, so I want to thank Him for that, and say again, if you are trying to put Him and His ways first in your life, He does take care of the rest of it for you… What a good God we have!

May you follow Him and have your needs met…

Today I turned on the television to my favorite channel to watch the 700 Club on TBN and all I got was snow. Snow is ok… in small amounts at a time… on the ground… once or twice a winter, but I don’t like blizzard conditions on my television set! I like to watch this Christian television channel to make sure I get good stuff going into my brain, and not so much of the depressing or junk things that are on so many of the other channels. My son went up onto the roof and adjusted the antenna until we could at least watch and hear that channel until the show was over.

When we finished watching the 700 Club, he checked the rest of the stations that we usually get, and they were all a mess. Some you could see a little bit, while others were completely gone, so we (my son mostly) spent most of the day, working on our VERY old, decrepit television antenna. He has “mickey moused” it many times over the 18 years that we have lived here, but with the rust and wind bending wires, etc. we were afraid that it had decided to “bite the dust” this time.

He worked on it for almost 5 hours, and a lot of that time, I had to be standing at the door with the channel changer. I would flip through the channels, while he worked on the roof, twisting and turning the conglomeration of wiring he has been creating to bring in the “over the air” channels, and to see where the best reception was for each one, while I called up the results to him.

At one point, about half way through, he thought he had it, and came in to the living room to check some wiring and connections in here to see if maybe that was why he couldn’t get it all exactly right. While he was doing that, something happened and it all messed up again. Boy was he frustrated… (he’d already had a frustrating morning working on the truck which isn’t starting right, and finding 2 more small waterleaks.) Finally, he ended up figuring out that one of the wires in the cable had broken, and he was able to take off the bad part and rehook things up so that it works alright now.

As I mentioned in my blog of a couple of days ago, I have been thinking a lot about how important it is to be reading my Bible every day because it shines the light of God’s Truth into my life so that I can stay on a safe path. Today, I started thinking about the old antenna, and how we really haven’t paid much attention to it (like keeping the guy wires taut for proper support, etc.), so the winds have bent it back and forth over the years, and the rains have cause parts of it to rust. Because of this, something broke, and it could no longer conduct the proper signals into the television.

The Bible says in Philippians 4:8 “ whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable… if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about these things.” If we keep our spiritual bodies strong and in good condition by putting good things into our brains, they won’t have “broken wires” in them and we will be able to “conduct” good examples that will bring good, clear messages to those around us. I’ve mentioned before, I think that modeling good things is the best way to draw others into a better, more healthy way of thinking and, hopefully, living.

May noble, pure, lovely, and admirable things surround your lives today…

Today, I had a doctor’s appointment in the late afternoon and we got home about an hour after dark… to a completely dark house… It turns out that somehow (the electric company didn’t say) the power lines were down and it would be several hours before they got them running again. No electricity, no computer… AND, since we don’t have gas out here, NO anything else either (like a way to cook, etc.)

Of course, we have backup plans, like an emergency, battery-powered light that is plugged in at all times and automatically comes on if the power goes off. It lasts about an hour, so we had time to run around and gather up the candles, flashlights and hurricane lamps that we also keep for emergencies.

I made a quick dinner of cold sandwiches and then went out and fed the horses. The flood lights for the back were off, so for a while, I had to juggle a flashlight and the hay, but at least I HAD a flashlight and hay to feed. While I was out there, my son started to come out to help, but he got his foot caught on something and took a pretty hard fall off the step from the washroom into the enclosed patio. He got bloodied up, even through his clothes, on his arm and knee, and pulled some muscles in his calf and the back of his knee, but did come out anyway and help me feed.

We came back in, hunted up the emergency First Aid kit, got him cleaned up and then settled in the recliner chair in the living room with an ice pack on his knee and some ibuprofen to, hopefully, help keep his knee from becoming to inflamed and swollen.

Even though it was only 9:30, I went in and went to bed (Hubby had done that just after we ate, so didn’t know any of this) I turned on the light switch so that when they finally got the electricity on, it would wake me up, and that happened a little after midnight, so here I am, finally getting to type this.

It is interesting, though, because I had planned, during the drive home, to write about light tonight. We had driven past a church, on the way home, that had a message board outside that said, “Dusty Bibles lead to dirty lives.” I had been thinking about that and what Psalms 119: 104 & 105 says: “I gain understanding from your Words, therefore I hate every wrong path. Your Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.” Little did I know that I was going to get a real example of that about 45 minutes later when I got home.

It seemed to bring home to me that if God’s Word is “Light” and we don’t use it to light our life’s pathway, then we will end up falling and getting dirty and/or hurt, but if we do use it, we will have a lighted way before us and be able to go around most of the pitfalls that we come upon. One thing that I noticed though, is that a candle or lamp doesn’t light very far in front of you… just enough for a few safe steps at a time. I think I even remember a book about something like that by Stormie O’Martian called, “Just Enough Light for the Step I’m On.”

I read a blog about this very thing yesterday (See A Corgi in Southern California in my blogroll)… Do you think maybe God is trying to be sure He gets my attention on this subject? I already read my Bible daily, and have for many years, because my Mom had been an excellent example of someone who does that. One of my fondest memories is of laying in bed, listening to her read her Bible to my Dad one night. (He read, and was a brilliant man… they were just sharing this together).

Anyway, maybe I was just supposed to share these important insights with others or something, but I will definitely keep thinking about this, because God got my attention!!!

Note: You never know when an emergeny will crop up, so be prepared with flashlights (and batteries if needed… some of ours are windup), candles, First Aid Kit (kept up, not USED up already), etc.

Keep the light on in your life, so that you will walk in safe paths, and have a great day!

Getting old can be a pain … Literally… especially in the winter! Oh, that we had the wisdom, when we are young, to take care of our bodies and our health! The problem with wisdom, in most cases, is that it comes from making mistakes. There are some things that I would change if I could, and others that I know I wouldn’t have changed for anything, over the years.

I’ve ALWAYS been a big, solid female, but the sin of gluttony is one that I’ve always had trouble with. If it tastes good, then I don’t have a tendency to stop at a healthy amount. I’ve been working on that a lot more, the last several years, but that does seem to be my “prevailing” sin… at least that is what I think they call it. That might not be the right name for it, but what the word I’m looking for means, is that everyone has some kind of sin that keeps hounding them throughout their whole lives… something that they have to fight all the time to be living the way the Bible tells us that God wants us to live.

Because I’ve given in to that tendency, I now have to sow what I’ve reaped all these years in health problems (diabetes, sore feet, asthma, hip and back problems, etc.). As I’ve brought myself more and more under the health rules I should have been following, more and more of these things are clearing up, or at least improving a lot! As you can see, I’ve gotten wisdom the hard way…

One thing I wouldn’t have changed is working with horses for so many years. If you love horses and work with them for any length of time, you WILL get hurt every once in a while. Somewhere along the line, you will get stepped on, shoved down or into something, bucked off, a rope burn, etc. Even the most solid, gentle horse can get spooked by something, have another horse knock into it, get tripped, step in a hole, etc.

If you train horses, of course, it is even more likely that you will run into a problem that can cause an injury.
As you get older, some of those old injuries tend to turn into joint problems. Still, I wouldn’t trade my time with the horses I’ve known in my life (at least most of them) for anything.

A few young people talk with, and learn from, older people and they don’t have to make many of the mistakes that were made by those people who have gained wisdom with their age. Unfortunately, way to many young people now-a-days, don’t take the time, or don’t have the opportunity, to talk to the many wise older people out there. I was blessed with parents that taught me the wisdom of spending time with older people and, though I didn’t always take their advice (which is a typical young person’s way) I did learn a lot from them and didn’t have to make many of the mistakes my friends did.

Many of the friends I’ve had that are my age, look and feel much older than I do, because they “did their own thing…” and didn’t listen to their parents or other people. Many have even died for lack of wisdom. Getting old may be a pain, but it also has its joys, and the more wisdom you gain when young, the more joy you will have when you get older.

If you are a young person, find a wise older one (not ALL older people are wise…) and spend time talking to them, or, even more importantly, listening to them, about some of your questions. If you are older, make friends with a young person so that you are available IF they want to ask for advice, or so that you can model wisdom in your life for them to see… and remember, older people can sometimes learn from their young friends, too!

It’s been a hard night and day, with not much sleep. My oldest son’s wife has had some health problems and yesterday, she had some major problems and has had to be put in a Critical Care Unit. They live on the other side of the country from us, so we were on the phone or praying or waiting for phone calls most of yesterday evening, last night, and today.

It is hard not to be able to be with those you love when they are having serious problems, or those they love are, and you know that they are hurting. You want to be able to see them and hug them, and help in any way you can, but sometimes it’s just not possible to actually BE there physically.

It is in times like these, that my faith in a God that loves us (my family and those I love), is a stronghold that I can take refuge in. Over the years, as I’ve grown to know Him and see His work in my life, and in my kid’s lives, I have come to know that I can trust Him to do the best for those I love. It is true that what He knows is best, isn’t always what I think would be best, but I’ve also learned to trust that He will take care of them in the ways that ARE best for them no matter what I think.

He also promised to send “The Comforter” to those of us who believe in Him and ask Jesus into their hearts, and I KNOW that He keeps His promises because there have been so many times when I have been comforted. That is my prayer now, for my son and his family… that they would know the Comforter in their lives and feel His work within them, giving them peace that passes understanding and wisdom in the decisions they and the doctors make.

I hope that you have comfort when you need it, and peace for this new day…

One thing about Corgis, and Border Collies apparently… they are like cats…(don’t tell them I said that… it’s a “dirty word” to a lot of dogs). They play just like them, though. One of Dott’s favorite things to do is to chase the “fishing pole” type toy that my son made for her. It used to be a long buggy whip and he flicks the long end around and she chases it and sometimes even turns flips trying to follow it and grab it.

I mentioned, the other day, that they all love to chase the “little red bug” (my son’s laser light). In fact, you have to be very careful not to start a fight with that thing, because Sadie, Dott AND B.G. will all start chasing it and then bang into each other, which can cause a fight. It’s a lot like little kids that start playing roughly with each other, and then one gets hurt and they start fighting.

Sadie caught a mouse outside while I was feeding the horses the other day, and she was slapping it back and forth and tossing it in the air exactly like a cat would do. Dott and B.G. do the same thing with a lot of their toys, and it’s hysterical just to watch them.

Ok… so I take pleasure in some of the simple things in life, but letting God take care of my cares, and taking time to smell the roses or watch the Corgis play, makes life so much more satisfying than stressing about things that “may” happen, or things that I can’t do anything about anyway.

That is what is so wonderful about Corgi Country. It is a haven away from traffic, noise, and other sources of stress. I can always turn off the TV and listen to music or even just listen to the birds sing, or the horses munch on their hay. Doing what the Bible says in Matthew 6:34 has become my main philosophy of life I think… At least since I’ve tried to follow it this past year, it has worked for me! Essentially, it says to take one day at a time and don’t worry about tomorrow.

After all, we don’t even know if we will be here tomorrow (freak car accident, stray bullet, meteor coming through the ceiling, etc.). If you’ve taken care of the important things between yourself and God, then THAT isn’t a problem, so just do what you need to do each day, to keep things in running order.

Be careful not to add the world’s problems to your shoulders by feeding your brain depressing stuff you can’t do a thing about anyway… that doesn’t mean not to do your part, like voting intelligently according to your principles, but so many times we sit there and watch T.V. shows that just put junk into our heads. Computer people say, “Garbage In, Garbage Out,” when talking about programming a computer and some of those principles apply to what we allow to go into our brain.

Today, start the New Year by making an effort to feed your brain good things… things that bring you joy and peace, and cut back on things that bring you down. This has been shown, by numerous studies, to lengthen your life, by lowering blood pressure, and the levels of stress hormones in your body that tears it down over time… Take a walk with a loved one, or a dog (same thing actually) and really LOOK around you. Look at the rainbows in the diamonds of dew on the leaves or a spider’s web. Watch a comedy or read a funny or uplifting book. Feed your brain good things!

Take your first steps toward a more peaceful way of living today, and try to make it your way of life…

Well, we are saying good-bye to another old year, and hello to a new one. We’ve seen quite a change since last year started. So many things have happened. The Stock Market was running wild and the gas prices were way out of control. Now things have changed drastically. Stock Markets have crashed all over the world, and the big gas companies (we are in an oil drilling area) have all stepped back and have stopped drilling or at the very least, cut way back because it costs more to drill for the oil than they will make from selling it. One of the big companies around here, Flying J, has gone bankrupt this past week, and many of the small oil producing companies that they bought from, haven’t been paid for the past month so many of them will probably be go under soon.

There are wars and rumors of wars in many places, and the seas rage… the earth trembles with earthquakes more and more in unusual places. Gee… it sounds like something out of the pages of the Bible.

Well, God told us what would happen, but most people don’t want to hear it or acknowledge it. He also gives us hope and promises of help in times of trouble, and I’ve a feeling that we are going to need all the help we can get in the future we are stepping into.

He has told many people, all through time, what was going to happen, AND it ALWAYS happened sooner or later. People need to read His Book, the Bible, to learn HISTORY (His Story). It was the letter He gave us so that we could learn of Him and not have to make up a God of our own as so many people do. Many people are still doing that, throwing out the parts of His Book that they don’t like and dwelling on the parts they do.

He did the best He could do for us. HE made us, and HE makes the rules, and the rules say, if you sin, your Spirit dies and you end up in hell. THEN, He said, I love you, though, and I will send a perfect sacrifice to pay for YOUR sin, so that you can have the choice… accept the ticket to Heaven that He paid for, and turn from the sins that you have been doing. Ask Him into your life so that His Holy Spirit will enter your heart and HELP you clean up your life because you can’t do it yourself. Follow Him, putting Him first in your life and He promises that ALL the things we need (not necessarily want…) will be taken care of. (Matthew 6: 25- 34)

A New Year is a good time to start a New Life… and each day, as they say, “Is the beginning of the REST of your life.” He’s always been faithful to me, and I know He loves you. Have a God Blessed year !!!

Proverbs 17:6 says “Children’s children (Grandchildren) are a crown to the aged…” Now I’m getting a bit “long in the tooth” as they say, but don’t exactly feel “aged” yet. Still, when I get to spend some time with my grandkids, I feel like royalty… or at least an especially blessed person!!!

Today, I got to have my “Little Bear” all day long, and it was so much fun. He is five years old now, and until recently (about 3 months ago) I had gotten to spend at least 2 days a week with him, and sometimes more, so he was a BIG part of my life. When his father, my cowboy son, got a new, much better job, they had to move to a town about 2 hours drive from here, so now I only get to see him a couple of times a month, sometimes for only a couple of hours a visit. I really miss him a lot, and he says the same to me.

This weekend, though, I saw him on Christmas day, and then today, he got to spend most of the day with us. It was a little bit of heaven. When we first got home, his Papa took him out to show him how our neighbor had plowed up our back pasture and planted the seeds to grow grain if it rains enough. He had saved some of the grain to show our “Bear,” and we plan to plant some of them in a pot or two so that he can see them grow.

I got to show him that big tarantula that I mentioned in my blog of about a week ago. It had died, and I kept it so that he could get a good close look at one. We had lunch, and then went out and picked some of the tomatoes that he had helped me start growing several months back. He was so excited to see that the plants had finally grown real tomatoes that we could eat.

After that, we gathered wood for making a fire since it is so cold out here, and he loves to help me with that task. We fed the horses, and then he came in and helped his Papa start a fire in the woodstove. It got dark, and we went out into the backyard for a while to listen to the coyotes and look at the stars. When we came back in, he and Papa watched cartoons while I made dinner. The time came, way to soon, when it was time to take him back to his parents.

He had wanted to spend the night (which we wanted, too) but his parents had other people to visit tomorrow, and EVERYONE wants to see my “Bear” when he is in town. They are a well loved family, which I am happy about, but they have a lot of friends and extended family that love them as much as I do, so I’ve had to learn to share, and just be thankful for the time I do get to spend with them and/or him… it doesn’t keep a little rain from falling, though…

If you have a chance to spend time with children that are special to you, cherish every moment you are given, for they grow up way to fast. Your life can be a model for them and others you know… make it a good one…

There is another treasure waiting for us in Heaven… Today, my husband and I attended another funeral. This time it was for a good friend of my husband’s… one he had worked with for many years. About a month ago, we saw him for the last time, and, as usual, he was smiling and joking around, and Hubby had a really good time talking to him and reminiscing about old times.

He’d been living in a little place beside his sister for the past several years since her husband had passed away, and while they talked, she came over to me and quietly told me that he had recently had surgery and the doctor had opened him, then closed him back up, because cancer was all through him. She said that they figured that he only had a few more weeks to live. Even knowing that, he still was joking and kidding around with my husband and having a good old time. That’s the way he was… always had a smile… and so did you by the time you left his presence.

At the funeral, we read the 23rd Psalm. The minister talked about how all people, both good and bad, go through “valleys’ in their lives, but that during the bad times, we need to remember that life has both downs AND ups. We need to keep in mind, during the “dark valley” times, that if we keep our eyes looking up toward the “Light” of God, then He can lead us through that “Valley of the Shadow of Death.” John wrote, in a couple of the books of the Bible, that Jesus was the Light of the World. (John 1: 4 – 14, and I John 1: 5 thru 2: 10)

I guess that is what takes away the sting of death for me… knowing that Jesus is the Light that shows the way to Heaven. By following this light, I WILL make it there sooner or later, in His time, and see those “treasures” that I have talked about before… my mom, dad, friends, etc. that have followed Him to the homes He has made for them there.

As I think of the reason that He was given to us so long ago in that manger, especially during this time of year, I have to thank God for His gift to us… the gift of light and life that Jesus paid for. It reminds me of that Randy Travis song called “The Gift,” where it says, “He had the Birthday… WE got the gift.”

For many, this time of year is very hard to get through… in times past, it has been for me. It seems that this is a time that brings back those bitter sweet memories of those that have gone through that “Valley of the Shadow” before us. To those who are hurting during this season, I ask that you try to remember that God is there to help you through, if you ask Him too. He can show you a glimpse of that light, even if it is just flickering faintly in the haze ahead of you, and if you keep on looking, He will guide you through and out of the other side of the valley.

May God shine the light of His Holy Son into your heart and warm any coldness from pain, until it eventually melts away. To those of you who are having a good, or even great, year, find a way to shed some of that joy on others who don’t have as much as you do right now.