Welcome to our website

I’ve told my children before how our wedding date was picked but somehow every year they want to hear the story again. They asked again today and it reminded me that for the past 29 years we have managed to consider each other in all our decisions. I’d say that’s one of the reasons we lasted 29 years..that and the Lord. I know you want to hear the story so here it is..

The night Phillip proposed to me we knew we didn’t want a long engagement. So Phillip picked his favorite day of the week which was Sunday and I picked my favorite number which was 7; then we went to the kitchen and got down the calendar and as if we were on a treasure hunt searched every month to see if there were any that had the 7th fall on a Sunday. This was January 14th so turning the page for each month had a bit more anticipation attached to it. Finally, he flipped over to August and there it was!  

You may ask why this is in “Sweetwater Updates”, well, its because today is August 7th, 2012 and not only is it our 29th anniversary its the beginning of Sweetwater Youth Ranches website! For several years we have prayed for direction. We knew the Lord had an assignment for us but we didn’t know what it was. We had clues..farm, heritage, horses, life lessons from the round pen, children…we just didn’t know how to put it together. We just kept praying and being assured that we were on the right track. I’m not sure I can put it into words but there was a very strong sense of peace that we were to keep the vision in our hearts and keep doing what we were doing and that was to keep training with natural horsemanship. Another thing was to keep everything in writing. Every idea and every insight that came to mind is documented!

The foundation of natural horsemanship is relationship, building trust through leadership and respect. Several times I had the thought that if nothing else, the Lord has used it in our lives to teach us about our relationship to him, to our children and to each other.  It appears that the Lord has more for us though and I’m glad. Two of our children grew up to have the same burden and while I feel we gave them every opportunity to choose something else, I’m glad to have them on board. I’m looking forward to the adventure before us..the faith that will grow stronger each day while we wait on the Lord to put us in the right place and bring us the children that need us. I have felt strongly about not putting a label on these children because I believe we have something to offer to all families regardless of background or financial status. I also look forward to sharing what I believe the Lord has given me; that will be in the spiritual insights category and hopefully one day in a book.

So, welcome to our website! If you have questions or feel the need to jump on board with our vision we certainly will find a way for that to happen. I plan to keep updates current and offer insights often so keep in touch.

God Bless ~