Pursuing Jesus

"Even youths grow tired and weary,  and young men  stumble and fall;  but those who hope   in the   Lord  will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles;  they will run and not grow weary,  they will walk and not be faint." Isaiah 40: 30-31 This summer I worked at a summer camp called Circle C Ranch. For those of you who don't know about it, it is a summer camp for kids that revolves around sharing the gospel with kids. I was a... you guessed it... wrangler! That means that I worked long days working with the horses and making sure the tiny humans didn't die. Not going to lie, it was hard! We woke up early and went to bed late. The work was hard and fast paced. But it was so worth it! The kids absolutely loved the horses and there were a number of the kids who said that the horses were their favorite part of camp- they had come from places where they didn't have a chance to ride so this was special for them.  Outs...

Lights swirled around her as she stood, arms open wide, looking up into the sky. Fingers outreached she swirled round and round, making it look as if she were dancing with the light, laughing with joy overflowing. She felt fierce, she felt beautiful, she felt loved. These feelings swelled within her as she basked in the love of her heavenly Father, her King, her Savior, her Abba. No one in the whole wide world knew her better. He had formed her in her mothers womb. He had knit her together. He had put passions, hopes, and dreams in her heart. He had given her the little quirks that made her her, that made her different from all the others. He had chosen her to be His daughter. Joy and thankfulness drove her to her knees in worship of her King. Her King looked down on her, smiling at His daughter, and when she rose and danced in His glory, He danced with her. This has been an scene that has been in my head for a couple of days now. As I have thought about this image I have been moved ...

  Hello Friends! I can't believe how fast the time has flown by! It seems like only yesterday I got here to Crystal Peaks and started this amazing journey! Unbelievably I only have two more weeks here at this incredible place. This is definitely bittersweet, I know that the Lord has something awesome in store, but it will be incredibly hard to leave all the sweet people and wonderful friendships that have grown here. Even though I only have a couple weeks left, I am determined to make the most of each day, and stay open to whatever He has to teach me! This past weekend most of the staff and interns went on a coast trip to spend time together and refresh. While being there we were able to go beach walking, rock hunting, and crabbing in addition to playing games and having wonderful conversations! One of the favorite things to do was to go rock hunting, specifically for Carnelian. Carnelian is a type of Agate that is only found in a couple places worldwide, Oregon being one of ...

Hello friends! Sorry it has been so long since my last post! Things have been pretty busy here at the ranch! School is out so we have more session kiddos, the ranch had its summer play day for the community, and lots more! I've had some really awesome sessions with some really awesome kiddos! In my blog today I want to tell you just a couple of stories from some pretty neat sessions I've had :) Kid stories: Mason is a little boy I had worked with several times. Every time I worked with him he would hardly speak, most of the time he would just nod or shake his head to reply to any questions I asked him. After a couple of sessions with him and still seeing no more expression from him than the first time I had worked him, you could say I was a little discouraged. His family came out again and I was paired with Mason. Our session started out like our others, with minimal acknowledgement, but as we got the arena with our horse I started to see a little crack in the wall. The...

Wow! These past two weeks have been crazy busy, but so good! Sessions have been going well and I'm loving getting to know all the kiddos I've been working with! I even got the chance to go to a play one of my kids was in! Last weekend I needed to take some time to myself... my introverted brain was pretty much fried! But after taking the time I needed I was ready to get back to work! The week went really well! Then this past weekend Alyssa and I helped a friend redo their roof Wednesday and Thursday after work, then Friday and Saturday. We also had a wedding Saturday! Thus where the crazy, but the so good comes from! :) Through all the crazy, God has still been teaching me through my time here, and it won't surprise you that He's shown Himself to me through... you guessed it, horses! During our horse time we were riding and I saw one of the other interns horse's checking in with her. When a horse does this they are asking questions, they want to know if you are a...

Isn't our God awesome?! When we look around and see everything that He has made, and ask Him to teach us through His creation.... He will! All the earth shouts His praise and we can learn if we only listen. "But ask the animals and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky and they will tell you, or speak to the earth and it will teach you, or let the fish of the sea inform you. Which of these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In His hand is the life of every living creature, and the breath of mankind." Job 12:7-12 This past week God has been using a sweet horse named Remnant to speak to me. (Remnant is the closest horse in the picture above.) For those of you who don't know Remnant's story, he is a survivor of Hurricane Katrina. This sweet horse was stuck in chest high water, entangled in downed trees and limbs, for three weeks before he was rescued. He was so trapped in the trees that the rescuers had to use chainsaws to cut him fre...

All gave some, some gave all. This is a common saying we hear, especially in times of remembering our fallen hero's and the ones serving still today. I am proud to have many family members who have served our country, from both of my great grandfathers who served in World War 2, a great uncle who served in Vietnam, and an uncle who was in the National Guard. I am so thankful for the men and women who serve our country to give us the freedom we have today. As I think of the saying "All gave some, some gave all", I can't help but compare that to our lives as Christians. As followers pf Christ, we are called to share the Gospel and show those around us Jesus through how we live. Not because we need to live perfectly, none of us can do that, but because of the grace of Jesus. Because of His love for us we can have a relationship with Him. When we accept Him and allow Him to work in our life His love will come into us and pour out into others. This call on our lives to...