So.......Where do I start?

It has been a long time. A really long time since I have sat down and opened up this blog. I have thought about it. I have pondered it. I had almost decided to let it go. I still may. But I have these things called "thoughts" that run around in my head with no place to go. No outlet except my poor husband ears. And frankly...at times with I see his eyes glaze over I don't think he is listening. So...maybe I will blog again. Maybe I won't. Hard to say but I felt at least I should explain why I fell off the edge of the blogging world.

Life.

Life these last few months has been full of ups and downs. Some good things have happened and some that have been not so good. Isn't that the way life is? A mixture of good and bad?

Last fall we finally closed on the house we had been trying to buy. It was a long drawn out process and honestly we didn't think it would ever happen. After closing we went to work in earnest trying to do the projects we wanted to get done before we moved in. Keep in mind it was DH, youngest and myself. We would go to work, come home and work on the house until bedtime and get up and do it all over again. Finally we moved in the week after Thanksgiving. Right before Christmas....again. I do not recommend moving twice in a year and right at Christmas time. Makes for a lot of stress. But we did it and were thankful to have lived through it.

In the midst of all the remodel, moving etc. We had bad news from DH's doctors. Before we left the ranch in NM we knew he was having heart trouble. The doctors told us that his heart valve was bad and at some point it would have to be replaced. They didn't know how long..just that it would continue to get worse. Working on the ranch like he was working was making it worse. I honestly believe that at some point it would have killed him. But God is good and it was all in His plan to provide a job that was far less physical. In the year that He gave us we moved, coming back to the area we both grew up. He provided us a home we could afford to buy. And the means to do the remodel that we wanted to do.

In January it was clear that he could not go on much longer without doing the surgery. So in February he had a heart valve replacement. Praise God he had no heart blockage, such a blessing. The surgery went well and the Doctors were pleased. They said it was much worse then they had seen on the echo and was even growing down into the mitral valve. He was in the hospital a week and recuperated at home 4 weeks and then back to work and he has been blowing and going ever since. The doctors have been amazed at his recovery. But they shouldn't be. God is his healer. He had so many amazing prayer warriors standing in the gap. We are so very thankful for those people. They will never know what it meant to us.

January was a hard month. I lost a good friend of mine. Cottonpicker...her bloggy handle passed away suddenly. Totally unexpected. She was a wonderful mama, wife, and friend. I miss her. So far I have had a new granddaughter and am planning a wedding in June for my traveling daughter and I feel a void not having her here to take part and cheer it all on. But I know where she is and I know one day we will sit on a heavenly porch and talk till we can't talk anymore.

Grandbabies......they are good things! Our little T.A. was born just this past Monday. She was welcomed by brother K and  mama and daddy. I spent much of the week down there getting to spend time with them. Such a blessing!!

Traveling daughter is settling down. Well maybe...hard to say about her. At least now she will have a traveling partner to go about the world with. She is getting married the end of June! It seems like she should be still be that little girl that never met a horse she didn't like, roaming the country on old Casper. Bittersweet. But so happy she has met a Godly young man and for the life journey they are about to embark upon.

Changes. I am not a "change" kind of person. But God shakes things up and does not let us sit and stagnate. I have learned a lot these past couple of years.

One......God has been showing me we all have to come to a place of surrender. If we follow Him we have to surrender all to Him. Our hopes, our dreams, our loved ones. Our lives. I don't have it down yet. But I am trying.

Two......Obedience...Obey Him no matter what. Even if we don't feel like it. Even when we want to act like a two year old and run into our room and slam the door and holler..."go go go"..this happened this week with little K man:) Obey Him when it is not politically correct,or popular and when we don't understand why. We miss blessings when we don't obey.

Three....Faith....you can't see faith. I can't even describe faith. But I know if we don't have Faith we have nothing. Without Faith we can't get through the hard times. Death of loved ones. Sickness,disease, depression. We have to hang on to what we know of God, even if we don't understand Him sometimes. God Is good. He is Holy. He loves us. He is faithful...even when we are not. He is our light in the dark and our anchor in the storm. If you don't know those things about God read the Psalms....over and over and over. It will bring comfort to your soul.

Four....focus more on your blessings then your problems.....easy to say hard to do. I believe Christians have lost the art of being thankful. We whine and we moan and we complain about what we don't have so much that we don't recognize what we do have. Right now I am sitting in front of an open window listening to it rain. It has rained all night and much of the day today. Am I thankful? You better believe it. There could not have been a better blessing from The Lord then waking up and hearing it falling. We are still in a desperate drought situation. Will this end it....no...but it is an encouragement that God is still with us and that He cares. And maybe He will have mercy and let it continue. But if He doesn't then He has a reason. I am thankful for a healthy husband. I am thankful that with modern medicine they could help him. I am thankful for a healthy beautiful baby girl. And for 3 grandbabies. Four kids that I am so proud of. Thankful for a home and a job and plenty to eat. Thankful that I know Jesus and all those that have passed before me have known Him as well and we will all be together again one day.

Thankfulness......it is a good thing.

God Bless and Happy Trails
RanchWife