Takes Me Back

On March 12, 2017March 13, 2017 By AveryIn Faith, LifeLeave a comment

How has your weekend been? It has been busy and rainy around here. No riding for me, unfortunately, but great times had none the less. This is going to be a long week, but on the plus side, the time has finally changed! Cheers to more hours in the day to fit in rides. For the next two weeks I am house and dog sitting for some friends. The dogs are already tired after 3 days of shenanigans.

An Elliot Randall song came up on my shuffle while driving this weekend and I was immediately transported back to freshman year of college.

I love how a song can take you right back to another place and time. Almost as if I had never left. Every time it happens, which as you can guess is quite a bit for me given my love of music, it amazes me. It is so vivid. This particular song sparked all the remembrance and longing of simpler times. No real responsibilites outside of school and having fun. Hanging out with friends. Driving around that college town to and from campus and the barn with the windows down. While at the same time accompanied by all the angst involved with forging your path on your own, unable to avoid thinking about the unknown future. Struggling to find the faith you know you have in there. I can see myself there, sitting at a read light on my way back to the dorm one night from the barn. Looking out at the night lights blaring this song. Letting it permeate and feeling it because there was no avoiding it.

That last part makes me all the more appreciative of where I am now. I still do not have many answers, but I am much closer to them now than I was then. AHAmoment.

Does a song ever do that to you? Just me? Tap, tap. Anyone still there?

Got to spend time today with a great friend from that simpler time in my life. It was so great to catch up in person for the first time in years. It was good for the soul.

Walk in love, dear readers.

Wish.

On March 9, 2017October 29, 2018 By AveryIn Uncategorized7 Comments

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“Why do I ride horses? Because I look at my horse and I see my hopes and my dreams. I see my happiness and I see my success. I see my pride, and I see my soul. I look in a mirror and I see a person. I look at my horse and I see myself.”

Desire.

Dream.

Wish.

Hope.

Pray.

I see and feel my true self when I am with my horse. I thank God for that every day. It is easy to do that part. The hard part is expressing your hopes, wishes, dreams, and desires in prayer. Weird to call it hard, it really is an easy thing to do when you think about it. There are many things I pray for…when I remember. One of my resolutions for the year is intentional prayer every day after all. Most of the time I pray for others and for me to do His will, walk His path for me. I find that pretty easy. Specifics for myself are a little more difficult to say out loud. So, here goes.

I pray that I find that person to do life with that is right for me. Who knows me for my true self. That understands and appreciates me for who I am and for my love of the horse. For what it is and what it means to me.

That is a lot of me. Did I just admit all of that to you?

Well. It is out there. Getting intentional now. I am going to go crawl under a rock now.

What do you pray for?

Walk in love, dear readers!

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Hump Day.

On March 8, 2017March 8, 2017 By AveryIn Faith, Life13 Comments

Here is my lunch time thought. Since we talked about the Sunday Blues (or Scaries/Funk/Dreads, whichever you fancy) and the resulting conversations (thanks to everyone for your comments and to Karen for this Hump Day inspiration! Go check out her blog because she is expecting a foal here pretty soon and the world is about to get that much cuter. I am currently exercising extreme restraint and not breeding my mare! I have foal fever!), let us get into Hump Day.

Wednesdays have long been known as Hump Day. That middle of the week hurdle, once conquered, brings us with in grasp of the fleeting weekend. I live for my weekends to ride my horses. To recharge my batteries. To get back to center (let us not forget this song or this song!). Side note, expecting rain again………….Can not complain though, it grows the grass to feed the cows and horses. It recharges the water sources. Positive focus. Go me!

There are many ways people celebrate this day. I often partake in Wine Wednesday, as you might have noticed in the past, to celebrate that Hump Day hurdle. Or a special mid week dinner out with friends. Do you do something special for yourself for making it halfway through the week? Do not tell me you get a gold star.

On this particular Wednesday, I am going to be celebrating in another way. Dinner with my Mom’s parents and my Cousin. I am having lunch on Friday with Dad’s parents. I am so blessed to be 28 years old and have two full sets of Grandparents. I know many people can not say that. I have always been close with them. Growing up I would go to their house on weekends to play and for sleepovers. Or run errands with them. Listen to the stories of their lives. Learn from them. See their faith. Go to the movies. Ride horses. Do arts and crafts. Bake. I see myself in them. I see my family in them. We come from them. I love them and have always been close with them.

It is hard, knowing that every day with them is precious and they will not be here for forever. Life. It is even harder on my parents and it hurts me sometimes to watch the realization in them and knowing one day I will be there in their shoes. I take every opportunity to spend time with them.

I got an email from my dad today about positivity and social media from Jim’s Daily Awakenings. I really liked it so I thought I would share it with you below. Try to remember this advice in this social media driven world. Remember the Golden Rule you were taught as a child. It still applies today in all facets and forums. Get out of social media and talk to people. Be nice. Be positive. Care. Lift people up. Support each other.

Walk in love, dear readers, and have a blessed Wednesday! Tell your people you love them.

“I have a shocking thing to say to those of you on social media: Not everyone is interested in seeing a photo of your lunch, knowing your political opinions, or who you were with last night.

This morning I counted 210 social media networking websites. This excludes the online dating websites. The possible way to engage in conversation and share your opinion with strangers abounds.

But it bothers me that so many of the social media sites have gone negative.

I detest all the hostile, nasty, intimidating political remarks that are posted online.

I hate that social media has become a forum for negativity, criticism, belittling, complaining, fault-finding, cynical remarks, put downs, unkind comparisons, and even verbal bullying. Words that damage permanently are spoken behind the curtain of the Internet. Some people have even committed suicide over things said to them online.

Our words spoken online and in public should be positive, affirming, and encouraging. We should try to build people up in such a way that they never get over our edification of them.”

Death and life are in the power of the tongue.” (Proverbs 18:21)

Sunday Blues.

On March 6, 2017 By AveryIn Life29 Comments

You know how on Sundays when you start to feel that sad feeling brought on by the end of the weekend and the start of the week? Do you get it too? Sometimes, no matter how hard you try or how much you love what you do, it just creeps up on you. My mom calls it the Sunday Blues. My cousins call it the Sunday Scaries. I have friends that call it the Sunday Funk.

It creeped up on me yesterday, and I was quite surprised by it. We have been really busy at work which is a really good thing. It makes the day to day more exciting. It makes the state of the oil and gas indistry more ‘comfortable.’ The weekend was pretty good. I did get out to the farm to ride Cheetah. We took a couple short loops around the pond because we were on a short time frame. Some is better than none! We got a lot of rain and Darcy and I took a nap listening to the pitter patter against the window. There was movie watching. I was refreshed.

Maybe it was because I could only get one quick ride in on Cheetah.

Maybe it was my list of things at work.

Even my Darcy girl was feeling it yesterday.

Despite the blues, it was a pretty dang good Monday. What are your best ways to combat the Sunday Blues/Scaries/Funk?

Walk in love, dear readers!

I hope each and every one of you has a great week, free of any more blues.

I am having dinner with one set of grandparents and lunch with another set this week. Good for the soul.

Desire

On March 3, 2017March 3, 2017 By AveryIn Faith, Horses, Life9 Comments

Desire. A thought for the day.

I have and have had many desires in my life as I am sure many of you have. I find the dynamic nature of desires interesting and intriguing. As we learn and grow in life, as we gain wisdom with age, our desires change with our change in perspective. One can learn a lot about themselves, and others, by deciphering where certain desires come from. AHAmoment.

According to Merriam-Webster, the word desire is defined as:

Transitive verb: to long or hope for; to express a wish for or to; and most interestingly, to feel the loss of
Noun: conscious impulse toward something that promises enjoyment or satisfaction in its attainment; longing; craving; formal request or petition for action; something longed or hoped for

To feel the loss of something. I found that interesting to be defined there in just that way. How can you long for something you never had? Can you feel the loss of something you never had? Can you really desire something you have never known? Is it really loss if you never actually had it to lose? I think so. That speaks to how powerful they are and how/why they drive us. I think that is part of what makes our true desires conscious.

What do you think?

I think the loss is very real. The relationship of the parent you never had. Or the child. Or the life. However, just like everything in life, there is a flip side to this coin. Not all loss is bad or negative. Loss can be good. It is, you know, part of the circle of life. Even this change averse gal can admit that. The feeling of loss is powerful in a good way when you no longer desire something that is harmful to you, for instance. Whether it is a person or a group of people or a thing or an idea. Does not matter.

I guess it is all of a piece. Maybe they are the same. The negative feeling of loss of something at first and then you grow and your perspective changes, making the loss positive in light of your changed desires.

I feel like I am quickly going down a hole into accounting.

I will confess that I have desires that I will not speak out loud, for fear of anyone experiencing the loss with me. I guess what it really boils down to is the shame that fear is creating.

I used to have a desire to be a famous horseman that other people looked to. Now, all I want to be famous from each of my horses’ perspectives. To be the best I can be for them. To be a real horseman. My perspective changed. That is something they have taught me through the grace of God.

I used to think I had it all figured out. I had a plan for my career and life. I desired certain things and I felt like I knew how to make them happen. Now, I feel like those desires are slipping away and I am discovering that I am letting them go. Has my perspective changed? I think it is changing. I am not there yet. New desires are not quite there yet. Do I feel loss? I do not know. I think in the beginning I did. Sometimes I feel lost and alone.

Does any of that make sense? Do you ever feel the same? What are your desires?

Far too much introspection for a Friday.

They are predicting rain all weekend, so here is hoping I get some ride time in. I can not complain though since the weather has been absolutely amazing.

Walk in love, dear readers, and have a great weekend. I am walking in faith trying to figure out the desires of my heart in my true self.

Too much? Oh well.

Fire Alarm

On March 1, 2017 By AveryIn LifeLeave a comment

We had the fire alarm go off in my office building this afternoon. I think my head is still ringing from the alarm.

After checking the postings in the kitchen to see if this was a scheduled test, which of course it was not, we all gathered and walked downstairs and outside. Gathered may be a strong word. We, which means me, made sure everyone was leaving and then just made our way out. All the ~~adults~~…er, people in charge or powers at be were out of the office at the time. Figures.

I went into a straight up, even if momentary, panic at having to make sure everyone left. Hello, I am the youngest one in the office! For some reason, some people have a hard time following that simple rule in our office. I should be the rebel that does not follow the rules!

Alright fine. Ya, right. I am no rebel. I follow the rules. Most of the time. When I don’t, I just don’t talk about it.

All of that stress and ear holding made me wish we had a beer garden downstairs. Especially since the weather is simply beautiful.

It made me think about being in elementary school (not the beer part!) when everyone knew what to do in the event of a fire alarm. No questions. I remember it happening all the time.

There was one time, when I was in elementary school, that the fire alarm went off while I was in the restroom down the hall from our classroom. Just for a minute, put yourself there in your little, innocent elementary school self. All by yourself in the bathroom. Are you there yet? Scary, right???

It must have been unscheduled since my teacher allowed me to go. I hope. Anyway, I was wearing overalls, I remember. Back when overalls were a thing and everyone wore them. They may or may not have been made of black velvet. I know you are jealous.

When the alarm went off, I got so freaked out, I ran out of the bathroom before I had fully buckled my overall straps! I ran down the hall with my left shoulder strap flapping. When I reached my class and got in line to walk out of the school, I looked around and then fastened the strap, fully mortified that I ran out of the bathroom in that way. Funny the things we remember and remember well.

I also do not remember my teacher looking surprised or relieved upon my return to the classroom. Hopefully my sprint from the bathroom was so fast that she had not yet started going through the roll sheet.

Back to real life, where there is no beer garden downstairs.

Half way through the week! You can do it! Just 2 more work days until you can go and do what feeds your flame. You know what I will be doing.

A little more than 11 days until the time changes and we have more daylight!