Sunday Reflection - Love

Our pastor has been doing a series called "Ripple" that focuses on how our ability to love others can cause a ripple effect in our lives, in our families, in our communities, and in the world.

I have thought about love a lot over the years.  There have been two main areas of focus on love.  The first is the 'love chapter ' - 1 Corinthians 13 - where Paul details God's definition of what love is:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. (1 Corinthians 13:4-8)

Paul makes it clear that love is not a feeling ("I think I love this person because he/she makes me feel all squishy inside.") or something that just happens ("I have fallen in love with him/her.").  Paul makes it clear that love is consistent, difficult, behavior that makes us get our hands dirty in our relationships, that makes us sweaty from the work required, that challenges us to stretch our commitment to someone beyond what seems rational to the world.

Love perseveres, never fails - I love that Paul ended his definition of love that way.  In the mid-1980's there was a secular study done where 600 couples were interviewed.  All 600 couples said they were very unhappy in their marriage relationships and many were seriously contemplating divorce.  Five years later the researchers contacted the 600 couples again.  Many had divorced, but a sizable number of couples were still married.  Of those who divorced, almost 80% said they were still very unhappy in their relationships, even if they married again.  Of those still married, over 80% said they were very happy in their marriages now, even though they were very unhappy five years ago.

The researchers focused on those who were still married and happy now to see if they could find a common variable that explained the change in how they felt about their marriage.  Some had family support, and others didn't.  Some received counseling and others didn't.  Some worked on their relationships through structured marriage programs and many didn't.  And on and on.  At the end of the study the conclusion was that only variable that was consistent among all the couples who were now happy in their relationship was: they did not give up - they persevered.

Betty and I have learned through our own marriage and the many couples we have counseled over the years how important perseverance is -- you just can't give up.  Love never fails, but sometimes it takes hard work for love to break through the barriers we put up in our relationships.

The second area I have focused on is related to 1 Corinthians 13.  Paul's list is exhaustive and it makes me wonder how in the world can I love Betty like that - patient, kind, etc., etc.?

God helped me understand the how when he lead me to think about this verse:

One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?"  Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'   This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'   All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."  (Matthew 22:35-40)

Jesus commands us to love God with everything in our being - our heart, soul and mind.  Then he goes on to command us to love ourselves and in the same way our neighbors.  That's a lot of loving.

If we're obedient to the first commandment, to love God with everything we have, then what's left over to love ourselves and then our neighbors?  The logical answer is nothing if we give all of our human love to God.

I think God showed me that if we're obedient to Jesus' first commandment to love him with all of our human love, i.e., to empty ourselves of our finite and inconsistent human love, then God will fill us with his infinite and consistent divine love.

Loving someone, especially someone who is not that lovable, is not easy.  God says give me all your human love and I'll give you my love to love those in your life who are not easy to love as well as those who you easily love.

North Bosque Fall Colors Ride

Yesterday was a beautiful Fall day in New Mexico.  We saddled up the horses and trailered them down closer to the Bosque, the woods along the Rio Grande River.  The Cottonwood trees are turning all shades of golds and yellows while some of the Privets and Olive trees are still green.  

We rode through the Northern part of the Corrales Bosque which is more grown over than the central and Southern parts we usually ride through.  It means more ducking low limbs, but the nice thing is you don't meet anyone on that part of the trail.  We had it all to ourselves.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the most part, we rode quietly, enjoying the sounds of the horses as they shuffled through the leaves and limbs on the ground.  We would occasionally hear barking dogs off in the distance and, every once in a while, the call of the Sand Hill Cranes that are flying through on their migration South for the winter.  We usually get about a dozen or so Cranes who winter in Corrales, but most of these early Cranes are probably on their way South.  If you listen closely to the video below, about 35 - 40 seconds into the video, you will hear a Sand Hill Crane.

Both Sugar and Morgunn did well.  They seemed to enjoy the warm sunshine and cool air.  It has been probably three years since Morgunn has been through this area and it was brand new to Sugar.  

Here's a short video of our ride.

Betty Makes Julie Goodnight's Blog

If you recall, Betty attended a Julie Goodnight riding and yoga clinic two weeks ago and it was a great experience for her.  We just saw Julie's post on her blog about that weekend and Betty was the only person mentioned by name.  If you're interested, here's the link to the post:

http://juliegoodnightontheroad.blogspot.com/2010/10/riding-yoga-retreat.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+JulieGoodnightOnTheRoad+(Julie+Goodnight+On+the+Road)

I'm proud of my sweetie.

Practicing

Unfortunately no pictures for this post.

On Monday we rode in the back and practiced a few of the things we learned at the Mark Rashid clinic over the weekend and Betty's experiences with Julie Goodnight in Colorado.  We stayed in the back because it was the first time we have ridden Morgunn and Sugar in three weeks so we needed to reconnect with them and get our minds and bodies back into riding mode.  The wind picked up pretty heavy as we finished and we know what it was like the rest of Monday -- it blew really hard.

This morning we worked again in the back for a little.  It was still windy and the wind was from the North so that it was cold.  Betty had the right attitude when she said, "If we want to ride throughout the winter (and we do) then we better start getting used to the cold."  I don't like cold wind, but it was a beautiful sunny day and that helped.

After doing some softening exercises we rode over to the South arroyo.  I focused on three things while I rode Sugar.

First, I wanted to keep my hands as quiet, as still as possible while I rode.  I remember Mark saying, "Quiet hands make for a quieter horse."  Second, I kept just a light contact on Sugar's bit for the whole ride.  If she kept her head down, in a relaxed position, she wouldn't feel any pressure on her mouth.  If she turned her head or raised her head she would feel pressure that she was causing.  I tried to never pull on the bit at all, just let her make her choice.  She did very well.  Even though we rode in a lot of wind she was pretty relaxed the whole ride.  Third, I tried to be conscious of my lower back.  Mark said that one of the most common problems for riders is tightening their lower backs which tightened everything else.  The horse will reflect this by tightening their backs.  The best way to loosen the back is to engage the core muscles in the stomach.  Every time I was conscious of doing that I felt my back muscles relax so it made me realize that I ride with a tight back more than I want to admit.

Betty and Morgunn did very well.  She has Morgunn riding nice and relaxed.  When I rode Morgunn he often would walk slower than Sugar and hang back.  Betty has Morgunn striding out in a much more lively walk and we walk side by side whenever we can.  He has a new life with her as his rider.

So, it was a great day of riding -- even with the cold wind.

Mark Rashid Clinic

Betty and I watched/audited a Mark Rashid horsemanship clinic this past Friday, Saturday and Sunday in Santa Fe.  Mark is a trainer of people and horses who is home-based in Estes Park, Colorado.  He is also the author of several books.  His first book, "Considering the Horse" is the story of how he, as a young boy, came under the tutelage of "the old man" who taught him a lot about how to look at things from the horse's point of view.  That book was instrumental in Betty and I becoming interested in learning more about horses when we first started riding.

Mark travels around the country doing these kinds of clinics and he is supported by his wife Chrissy who is an excellent horse person in her own right and their dog, Ring.

Mark is very low key and his emotional energy level never changed at all through out the week.  He would gently encourage people to try something new with their horses and then find something to encourage them, even if they failed miserably at what they tried.  When you work with horses, it's the same way.  We look for the slightest try and reward them for that. That's how they learn.  Mark understands that we're no different than our horses.  We need to be rewarded for the slightest try so that we can learn -- even if what we learn is not to do that again.

One of Mark's quotes was, "Don't focus on what the horse is doing wrong.  Ignore that and focus on what you want him to do right."  Mistakes are going to happen and we can learn a lot from our mistakes so it's best not to focus on what we did wrong, but to stay focused on what we want to do right.  Not a bad way of living.

There was so much we took away from his clinic that we're trying with our horses -- Morgunn and Sugar.  One of Mark's big principles is softness.  Softness in a horse is when he is relaxed both inside and outside.  The same is true for us.  If we can be soft riders, relaxed both inside and out, we can better connect with our horses.  As Mark says, our horses can do everything we want them to do -- just watch them in the pasture and how relaxed we are.  They just have trouble when we're on their backs and we're all tight and tied up in our minds and bodies.  If we can match our horse's state of mind and body we can come closer to that harmony we all want when we ride.

One of the reasons Betty and I enjoy our horses so much is there is so much to learn about them and, in that learning process, we're learning so much more about ourselves.  It's a lifelong journey of learning that will never get old.

Quick Post

Betty and I attended the first of three sessions at a Mark Rashid riding clinic in Santa Fe today.  We're auditing so we get to see everyone else ride and learn from their mistakes.  The first day was great and Mark is a very good teacher.  It's a one-on-one clinic with four riders in the morning sessions and four other riders in the afternoon.  It was neat to watch Mark gently work with them and watch they and their horses greatly improve in such a short time.

I probably won't have another post until Monday at the earliest because we're going back for the Saturday and Sunday sessions.  I'll have some pictures and video to recap it all on Monday or Tuesday.

Dan

A Great Weekend

As Dan has already posted, I just spent a great weekend at the C Lazy U Ranch outside of Granby, CO with Julie Goodnight for a "Women's Riding and Yoga Clinic". It was amazing! Three fun days from lunch on Friday to lunch on Monday.There were 24 participants as well as 4 or 5 more helping Julie. There were wonderful women from all over the country--from New England and California and many points in between. Although I was definitely in the upper age bracket we all have a lot in common--our love for horses and riding.

It's hard to know where to begin. I'll start with Julie Goodnight. She is a wonderful horseman. She's been training horses and training riders for quite a while. I even found out that she used to race horses. One young woman owns a former race horse and Julie was able to answer her questions from personal experience. Julie truly did tailor the weekend to where we all were and what we hoped to get out of it. Of course many voiced concerns were true for many people there and pretty standard. I really wanted to work on my balance and posture in the saddle and many others agreed that they needed that too. Some of us (me included) hadn't cantered much and wanted to learn more about how to cue a horse into the canter as well as get more confidence while in the canter. Others felt comfortable cantering, but had trouble getting their horse to change leads. Others didn't want to canter at all. Julie was great working with each of us at our own level.

Ellen Mesaros was our yoga instructor for the weekend. I've never been in a yoga class before but she made me feel very comfortable with what we were doing. We spent much of our time doing stretches that were very beneficial to our riding--our balance and posture (funniest thing--just what we all needed). Ellen is an equestrian herself.

We were split up into 2 groups of 12 for all our activities.The weekend was scheduled so that we could have 5 riding lessons with Julie, 3 yoga lessons (as well as 3 shorter yoga stretches in the late afternoons), and 3 trail rides through the ranch with their wranglers. Of course we were told upfront to just do the things we wanted. The C Lazy U is both a ranch and a resort so there was a Spa as well as hot tub and pool and tennis courts. Several women opted for a massage or the hot tub instead of a yoga stretch or trail ride. I don't think anyone opted out of Julie's sessions.

My ranch horse was wonderful. His name was Buck. The Ranch Head Wrangler did a great job of matching people and horses. Participants could bring their own horses but not many of us lived close enough. Of course Julie brought her own--2 actually. Back to Buck. He was a typical trail horse--pretty solid and calm. But one who would respond to leg cues if done properly---one thing I had told Bill (Wrangler) that I was hoping to work on. It was fun to spend the whole weekend on the same horse. I got more and more comfortable with him and did get him to respond better to me as we built on the things Julie was having us do. 

Since most of us were on ranch horses, Julie had us work on keeping them separated in the arena--their tendency was to bunch up together as if they were out on the trail. She said this was good for all of us because we always need to be sure our horse is really paying attention to us. We initially worked on posture and the use of split reins (since all the ranch horses had them). Between her instructions and the yoga classes we were all doing pretty well by the end of the weekend. She didn't have to correct anyone much. My biggest problem was keeping my heels down, but by Sunday afternoon I was doing well. 

Other things we worked on---circles, one rein stops, lateral moves, moving on the diagonal, reversals, backing, hand and leg positions, transition cues, cantering, lead changes, controlling the speed of the trot--and more (right now I just can't think). Even before Dan and I got our gaited horses we only trotted a little while trail riding. I have never trotted so much in my life. Many of the exercises we did were done at the trot. I became more and more comfortable with controlling Buck's movements at the trot.

It took a while to get Buck into a canter when we started working on that. Partly because of me; partly because of him. Julie said being a "beginner's horse" at the ranch meant he was probably never asked to canter and so the cues would not be that ingrained in him. And I tended to not give him the continuous loose rein that he needed, because of some of my issues with speed (because of my accident). But once we both got it, we got it. And it was a lot of fun--for both of us.

Well,for those of you who aren't interested in horses, I appreciate your indulgence. For those who are, I'd gladly share more if you ask. I'll just say it was an incredible weekend for me. I met some wonderful women--horse people who want to learn and improve their connection with horses always are. I stayed at a five-star ranch with amazing facilities, delicious food, wonderful staff and amazing horses. Having the opportunity to work with Julie was a dream come true for me -- and she far exceeded my expectations. It was an experience I will not forget. I'm excited to go apply what I've learned when I ride Morgunn.

Here's a video that will give you an overview of my experience with Julie at the C Lazy U.

Transitions

I got Betty safely back to Fort Collins last night and we both crashed.  She had a wonderful time and she should have a post of her experience tomorrow.  We leave in the morning to drive back home.  It's been a wonderful visit, but it's time to be home.

So, I'll leave you with a couple of pictures of Juliet in her Halloween costume for this year.  She's Jesse from Toy Story and she's yelling "Yeehaw" in each picture.

Monday Video – Holy Thumper!

I have seen horses go through obstacle courses and I’ve seen dogs go through agility courses.

Enjoy these animals going through their obstacles.

Enjoy.

Betty at C Lazy U Ranch

I just got back from taking Betty to Granby, Colorado to the C Lazy U Ranch for her weekend of a horse back riding and yoga for riders clinic.  It was a 3 hour drive each way and I'm tired so this will be short.  The ranch is really nice - Betty has her own room with a king size bed and fireplace so she's not roughing it at all.  She even has wifi in her room so we can do a Skype video call each night while she's gone.  That will be pretty neat.

I know she'll have some pictures and, hopefully, video so when she can I'll get her to do a post of her experience.

Yesterday, we took the grandkids to a neat park and I'll have a post on that tomorrow.

Regards to all,

Dan

Just a Quick Hi from Colorado

We're having a good time with our kids and granddaughters here in Fort Collins.  Tomorrow, Wade Daniel will take the day off and we're going to do something with the kids.

One of the thrills for Betty and me is that Juliet is calling us 'Nana' and 'Papa' all the time now.  That really feels good.

So, I'll just leave you with a couple of pictures of how good a time I'm having.

Leah's Welcoming Party

We made it to Fort Collins on Saturday evening without incident.  On Sunday, as planned, we went to a 'Welcome Leah to the World' party.  Marie's sister, Melissa, and her husband planned it and it was held at a community center in the retirement community where Melissa works.  Family, friends and co-workers were invited and there was a pretty good turn out.  Betty took a lot of great pictures and here are a few.

Melissa welcoming everyone

Melissa leading a baby trivia game -- did you know that for the first three months of life a baby can breath and swallow at the same time?

Juliet eating her watermelon slice

Table favor made out of baby diapers

Marie opening one of the welcoming gifts while her niece, Maggie, looks on

Marie laughing about one of the gifts

Marie's mother, Nancy Jo, holding Leah while Kaley, Marie's other niece looks on

Leah's welcoming cake

Marie and Juliet checking out Leah's cake

Yummy foods

Marie's dad, Gary 

This is Juliet's day care provider, Brenda, holding Leah -- Brenda is fantastic and does great things with the kids helping them get ready for life

Some of the gifts for Leah

Naturally, Melissa had to plan a party game which initially made me cringe -- normally I'm not a big fan of games.  Each table was assigned a baby doll.  First, someone had to put a diaper on the baby.  Then another person had to put on clothes that fit and matched.  Then another had to look through hamper and find two socks that matched and fit the baby doll and put them on (that was my job).  Then another had to drink about a third of a bottle of juice.  Then we had to identify the flavor of a jar of baby food with the label missing.  Finally, the baby doll had to be swaddled -- fortunately we had the day care provider, Brenda, who really know how to do that.

Here's a video of the dreaded party game.

Finally, as things were wearing down, Juliet found a balloon to play with quietly all by herself.

A good day.

Monday Video – Just Like in the Movies

If you saw the movie, “The Mummy,” you’ll recall there was a massive dust storm that the Mummy used.  It was a wall of dust and dirt that came like a huge, monstrous wave.  Obviously a Hollywood trick, right?

Well, they got it pretty close.  Watch this National Geographic cameraman, out shooting migrating elephants, go through such a dust storm.

Enjoy?

Headin' North

Saturday morning we're jumping in the Tundra and heading North to Fort Collins, Colorado to see our kids and grand kids.

On Sunday, Marie's sister is throwing a "Welcome to the World" party for Leah Marie, our newest granddaughter.  They didn't do a shower before the birth so this is in it's place.  Actually I kind of like it because everyone gets to see the baby.

Next Friday, I will drive Betty to Granby, Colorado to the C Lazy U Ranch where she will attend a horsemanship clinic with a trainer, Julie Goodnight.  It's an all ladies clinic which will include yoga for riders in addition to the clinic time with Julie.  It should be a great experience for Betty.

Everyone be good while we're gone and stay out of the cookie jar.

More Horses and Balloons

We wanted to ride this morning, but we needed to check to see where the balloons were landing.  In the past we've had times when there were bunches of balloons landing all around our house.  That's not the greatest riding environment for horses.

This morning looked OK as we got the horses ready.  Then we saw this weird balloon heading our way.

It was a funny looking balloon with a ball cap and sunglasses that have balloons reflected in them.

After watching this balloon land over in the sage, we figured we might see them again as that's where we were planning to ride.  We saddled up and rode over to the arroyo South of us.  As we got closer to the original balloon, we saw another balloon heading our way -- a triangle balloon with red, white and blue colors.  We stopped the horses to let the balloon land.

After waiting for that balloon to land, we continued our ride.  We first rode past the triangle balloon and their chase crew as they were putting their balloon and basket all back together.

We did ride past the original weird balloon as they waited for their chase vehicle.  We asked if they needed any help, but they were Hispanic and didn't speak any English.  They thanked us and we rode on.

An interesting morning and an interesting ride.

Balloons and Horses

The Monday morning mass ascension of the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta went well.  It started with four balloons who went up as the Dawn Patrol while I was feeding the horses.  They go up in the dark to check the prevailing winds to report back to the rest of the balloons and flight control.

While we were drinking our morning coffee, we heard the distinctive sound of a balloon’s propane burner steadily burning which indicates a balloon is coming in for a landing.  Sure enough, one of the Dawn Patrol landed across the street from us.  After a few minutes their chase truck and crew showed up.  We expected them to take their balloon down, but they didn’t – they took off again.  One of our neighbors who walked over to see if they needed any help told us that two of the passengers on the Dawn flight got engaged while they were flying and watching the sun come up.  Pretty cool.

Shortly after they took off, another balloon, a beer stein special shape balloon, landed very close to the same spot.  Other than that we didn’t see any other balloons that appeared to be coming our way so we decided to saddle up for a morning ride.  The horses are fine with balloons in the air, but they’re not too crazy about the propane sounds of the burner when a balloon is landing.

Here’s a short video of our morning balloons and horseback ride.

Balloons and Horses

We really enjoy living here.

Monday Video–Sunday Morning in Corrales

It’s Fall in Corrales and Sunday morning is the Growers Market – it’s even better during the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta.

Here is a short video of our Corrales Sunday morning – yesterday.

Sunday Morning in Corrales During Balloon Fiesta

Sunday Reflection–Holiness

How’s your holiness today?  That’s not a word that we use that often in our every day lives.

Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. (Hebrews 12:14-15)

The Greek word for holiness is ‘hagiasmos’ which means purity and comes from the root word for sacred.  It literally means to set apart – set apart our thoughts, our words, our actions, our lives.

The writer of Hebrews says that without holiness we aren’t going to see the Lord.  So, how do we become holy?  Do we earn it?  Where does it come from?

Paul gives us a pretty good clue in his letter to those pesky Christians in Corinth.

Now this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in our relations with you, in the holiness and sincerity that are from God. We have done so not according to worldly wisdom but according to God's grace. (2 Corinthians 1:12-13)

I’m supposed to be holy, but if holy is purity I come way, way short all the time.  But it seems that holiness comes from God – through his grace.  That means it’s a gift.  Our task is to live it out in our lives – to let God’s holiness change who we are, what we do.

You, however, did not come to know Christ that way.  Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. (Ephesians 4:20-24)

Holiness comes from the new self created – by whom?  Created by God through Christ Jesus.  When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit comes to live within us and brings us the holiness that can come only from Him.

Pumpkin Patch in Pictures

I went back over to the Galloping Grace Youth Ranch Pumpkin Patch today to help finish up some of the last projects.  It’s about 98% complete and looking good.

Here are some pictures from today.  Keep in mind this was a vacant lot two weeks ago.  A lot of hard work since then.

Entering the Pumpkin Patch…

Of course, lots of pumpkins…

Something new this year, a Country Store and the building was donated…

 

The Duck Races…

How tall are you…

Entrance to the Corn Maze…

The John Deere Tractor Raceway…

And more pumpkins…

A corn seed play area…

And more pumpkins…

Being Galloping Grace there are horses…

Finally, we even got a sign as we’re sponsors for the Pumpkin Patch…

Pushing to Open

The Galloping Grace Youth Ranch Pumpkin Patch ‘opened’ today.  As Max says, “We’re open, but we’re not finished.”

They did not receive a permit for the old site so at least two weeks were lost getting a new site and a new permit.  The Patch is now set up at the old Rowland’s Nursery site which is a great place and much larger than the old site.

Since getting started was delayed by over two weeks, we’ve been pushing to get everything up and running.  I suspect we need two more good days to get 99% there, but it will come.  I’ll try to have some pictures in a day or two.

In the meantime, I’m sunburned and really tired – but it’s a good tired.