Watch This Video

I have a blogging friend, Mark, who lives in England.  He had a post this past Sunday with a very powerful video.  It touched me deeply.

Please take a moment to go to his site and watch it – especially if you’re a man.

http://markdan44.blogspot.com/2011/08/father-and-son.html

Hurricane Irene? What Hurricane?

I’m not downplaying the recent effect of Hurricane Irene on the Eastern seaboard.  Lives were lost and property was damaged and for each of those families it was an individual tragedy.

However, there is one place where Hurricanes are ignored.

It is a place of dignity, honor and duty.  This picture was taken during the impact of Hurricane Irene on Washington, D.C.

These guys are the best of the best.

Monday Video–Frustrated Dog

Ever wonder what it would be like to talk with your dog?  Here’s a video that shows what it might be like – especially if you frustrate your dog.

Enjoy.

Sunday Reflection–Going

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"  (Isaiah 6:8)

Has God ever asked that of you – “Whom shall I send?”  I wonder if there have been times in my life when that call was made on my life and I ignored it or just missed it.

There are people I know who have heard that call and responded as Isaiah did – “Here am I.  Send me.”

Max and Michelle Wade heard that call from God and answered it.  God led them from a life of assurance to one of faith – and Galloping Grace Youth Ranch was founded.

My oldest son Wade Daniel heard that call and took the jump to ask a Christian publishing company if they had any openings – and he now contributes to great Christian publications that help our children grown spiritually.

My youngest son Chris and his wife Tracy heard that call and opened their home and hearts to a 16 boy from the streets of Cleveland – and now Javier knows there is a different life available to him if he chooses a new way.

Perhaps the call in our lives is something that happens more often on a smaller basis – listening to someone, opening your home, reaching out to someone who is grieving, soothing a child’s tears, taking in a homeless dog or horse, staying faithful to your spouse, being there for an older child who is struggling.

Who knows?  God may be talking to us/me right now.

Getting Ready for Pumpkins

The season at Galloping Grace Youth Ranch ends next Wednesday.  So, that means that Max Wade’s mind is now focusing on the upcoming Pumpkin Patch.  We’re fortunate to have the old Rowland’s Nursery spot again.

Last year we used less than half of the available space – this year Max has plans for the WHOLE space.  Last year we only had a few weeks to get the place cleaned up and ready to sell pumpkins.  This year we have the whole month of September.  We started today with clean up – about 30 to 40 people showed up to help.

We had people cutting bushes down with Max’s expert supervision, of course.

There were plenty of people who were there to pick up trash (which is what I did).

Max’s wife, Michelle, also helped – usually she’s the official camera person for the ranch.  Here she is with Wanda.  Michelle and I have an agreement – no butt shots.

The best job was these kids who hauled a heavy cooler of water around to give to the thirsty workers.

If you live in the Albuquerque area, be sure and get your pumpkin from the Galloping Grace Youth Ranch Pumpkin Patch.  There are games available every day for the kids.  On a couple of the weekends there will be bands playing music, food vendors and craft fairs.  It’s going to be a lot of fun.

Friday Morning Ride

Betty and I were able to take a ride over to the arroyo South of us this morning.  It was a pleasant morning with abundant sunshine and a slight breeze – which made it almost perfect.

What made it a little different is Betty woke up with a pretty bad headache.  We talked about whether we should ride or not.  It was her decision and she decided to give it a try.  Sometimes a distraction is good for taking her mind off of her headache.

The ride is about 45 minutes and both horses did well.

Betty is a real trooper when it comes to horseback riding.  She makes me proud.

Junior Volunteers are Great!

As most of you know, Betty and I volunteer at the Galloping Grace Youth Ranch.  There are several categories of volunteers.  There are group leaders who stay with a bunch of kids through the different activities at the ranch – scooping poop, grooming, writing thank you letters to sponsors, and, of course, riding.  There are volunteers who work with the check in process.  And there are volunteers who work with the kids on the horses – that’s what we do.

Finally, there are the junior volunteers.  These are kids, mostly girls, between the ages of 10 and 18.  They help out by getting the horses, getting them groomed and saddled, working with the adult volunteers, then putting the horses away.

This is the first year for the junior volunteers and they have been a God-send to us older volunteers. For the first three years of our time at the ranch, Betty and I did everything from getting the horses to putting them away at the end.  And it was very tiring.  Now we arrive at the ranch and the junior volunteers have all the horses ready.  At the end of the day they take them from us and do all the work of putting them away for the day.  It has made our lives a whole lot better.

One of the things the junior volunteers get to do as a reward is to ride the horses before the kids arrive for the day.  Today, several of the juniors didn’t get to ride beforehand, so we let them ride after the kids were gone.

I got to work with three of the junior volunteers today and it’s a lot of fun to teach these kids.  They are so willing to listen and learn and they do pretty well.  Some of these kids have a natural riding ability and only need someone to help them refine what they already do pretty well.

Junior volunteers are great!