Quick Jaunt in the Snow

As what I have come to hear is quite normal around this area, especially in the high desert, it has snowed this week quite a few times. It’s kind of weird to drive by the elementary school and see “Spring Break” on the billboard with everything blanketed with snow. I am so thankful for the snow tires that are still on my car.



This is Cappie. You can’t tell in this picture, but he was once mistaken for a pig by a little boy. He is what is known as an ‘easy keeper’ – it seems that whatever he eats goes straight to the girth of his gut.



Svara has quickly become one of my favorites. She has the sweetest personality, even though her trot has been compared to riding a pogo-stick.




This is one of our new little guys and has found a place in my heart very swiftly. He is quiet, inquisitive and very low to the ground. He has a little training in front of him before he will be put into the program, but I can see him becoming the first choice for many small children. His name took a little time to decide on, but we have finally dubbed him Buckshot.




Solstice got her name because she has seen the last of her darkest days. She was rescued and brought to the ranch in the middle of January. She has since gained a couple inches and over 100 pounds. Her withdrawn personality has quickly changed into a little spitfire. If you can believe it, she is a 2 year old Quarter Horse. She could easily be mistaken for a very sick 6 month old. But under some TLC, that is quickly being changed.

4 Weeks In

Whew – this last month have been a whirlwind of God’s provision. In only 4 weeks, I have found friends, 2 jobs, and a place to call my own.

In 8 days, a couple girls who also work at the ranch and I will be moving into a 3-bedroom bunkhouse that is just around the corner from the ranch. Goodbye 40 minute commute. Hello short little bike ride. My parents will be moving all my stuff that has been in storage down here next weekend and I will finally be able to settle in. (My parents are the best – I couldn’t ask for anything more in them.)

After what seemed like much deliberation and much pursuing by my part, Starbucks has decided that they can’t survive without me. It took them a little while to see how amazing I am, but they finally got it. I start there the beginning of April.

The same exact day that I start training at Sbux, the ranch officially opens for kids. (I’m foreseeing a very-exhausted Julie by the end of that day.) That is also the first day that I will be clocking in and out at the ranch – yep, they are officially hiring me.

It’s hard to believe at times that all of this has come together so beautifully. Such a confirmation that this is right where I am supposed to be.

Longings

I think I have the two week itch. Or homesickness is sinking in.

The first little bit of this new adventure has seemed a bit like a short-term missions trip. You go with the knowledge that God will be using you and making everything come together in His time, but now I’m feeling the need for familiarity and the comforts of home.

I want a good home-cooked meal (that wasn’t thrown together by me after a long exhausting day).

I want the closeness and comforts of family. People who know you through and through and love you regardless of your shortcomings.

I want those deep friendships, where you can call anytime and invite yourself over.

I want to look forward to my weekends, knowing that you’ll be doing something fun with friends, rather than wondering how the heck you are going to pass the time.

I want to drive on streets that I know like the back of my hand. A place where you don’t have to consult a map or drive around aimlessly for 15 minutes trying to figure out where you are.

I want my commute to work to be my nice little 2 mile hop, instead of a 45 mile roundtrip trek across the desert.

I know, just take one thing at a time, but I’m just a little tired of trying so hard right now.
***
Here’s how you know you’ve reached my street, just look for the overabundance of mailboxes:

Trust with a Shaky Hand

Anyone who has read Blue Like Jazz can probably figure out which chapter I just finished reading.
***
I don’t often make New Year’s resolutions, but my finances were so out of control in December of 2003, I vowed to create a budget and hold to it. No more use of my credit cards (especially on frivolous things like new shoes or a full-price movie with popcorn), No more overdraft fees at the bank because I didn’t keep track of all my debit receipts, no more waiting till the last minute to pay my bills, just barely slipping by without late charges.

I surprised myself by actually sticking to it. I itemized all of my expenses, with the monthly bills getting paid as soon as I got my paycheck deposited. But the one line item that always seemed to get shifted to other areas had the title of Tithe.

I don’t know why I have such a problem with giving back to God what is already His. I guess all the old lies that are fed to so many others are the ones that I believe too.

“It’s not really even that much, it’s not like the church is really going to suffer without my measly little amount.”
“I can barely get by as it is, how do you expect me to pay all my monthly bills without that money?”
“Well, I bought Susie a coffee last week, so that’s kind of like giving to charity, right? I mean, it’s helping the church, which is really the body…”

To be honest, that last one still gets me. I think I can justify a lot of things to make them seem legit. But really, when I bought that coffee, I wasn’t thinking of giving to the ‘church’, I was just spending money. Money that I didn’t necessarily have left in the Coffee Budget, so I just kind of ‘borrowed’ it from the Tithe Budget. But lately, God has really been nailing me about this area of my life.

In this recent step-out-in-faith time in my life, I have slowly been learning how to truly trust God for all of the details that I really don’t have a lot of control over. And I’ve stood back and have been amazed at how perfectly this journey is coming together for me. So many of the small things that I have been concerned about are all coming together as such a confirmation that I am right where the Lord wants me.

But He knows there is at least one area of trust that I am reluctant in. My finances. I know He is asking if I trust Him enough for all things that I would be obedient in the small amount that He is asking for back. I want to be, but I feel like I am tentatively holding that offering out to Him, but just close enough to me that I can snatch it back if I really start to sink. But that method didn’t work too well for Peter when he failed to trust the Lord when he was walking on the water, so I know it’s not going to work for me either.

The Lord hasn’t forgotten or forsaken me yet, so I don’t expect Him to do it anytime in the future. This is just one more step in following Him and relinquishing control.

Both Feet In

Well, here I am. It’s only been a little over a week after my going-away lunch at my old office and it feels like years ago already. I’m getting settled in here in my new life, but it feels so strange.

I made it down on Saturday and got somewhat settled. As much as you can when you are living with two people you don’t know. I’m learning how this situation works, but it will nice to get my own place, just for the sake of actually feeling at home. But I am also so very thankful that the Lord has provided this place for me to stay. (Except for the fact that I am living out in the sticks with only 1 bar of cell coverage, if I don't move around.)

I sat by the river on Sunday and just cried my eyes out. My parents had helped me move down and they had just left and I felt so very alone and scared. It has been awhile since I’ve been in a new town so very far away from home where I didn’t know anyone. I had forgotten how daunting it can be. But the foreboding feeling has quickly slipped away as I’ve gotten to know some people and jumped into things at the ranch. There were only about two days where I was seriously ready to just repack all my stuff and head home.

But the Lord is so good to me. I’ve only been at the ranch for three days of training so far, but am already feeling like this is going to be an amazing community. There may be a more permanent place to call home becoming reality in a few months, and I’m trusting God in His plan for a job. Two nights this week I’ve been invited to dinner at homes of the ranch staff. This is feeling more and more like I could call this place home soon.

This has definitely been an experiment in obedience for me and I know that there is still more to come. It can be a bit of a scary thing, but I know God’s plans are more than I could even ask or imagine, so I’m ready to trust Him for them.