Thursday, November 21, 2013
Monday, November 18, 2013
The Joy of the Lord...
So I am going to take a break from my "Dear Diary" entries, to share about a very fulfilling weekend in our Ministry.
On the weekend of 11/16, I was blessed with the opportunity to head to Agape Youth Ministry's smaller ranch up in the Phoenix area. Upon arriving in Phoenix, I was picked up and driven out to the Purdue Ranch in Buckeye. For those of you familiar with the Madera Ranchos, Buckeye is almost identical.
The reason for this entire trip, was to assist with Agape Youth Ministry's other outreaches...working with inner-city kids in the Phoenix area. Roughly 25 kids were supposed to arrive at the ranch on Saturday afternoon for a trail ride and bonfire. My responsibility was to help with teaching horse safety, basic riding, show these kids the love of Christ and to help lead a trail ride. We set things up on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning, then exercised the horses and prepared for the arrival of the group around 3PM.
Seeing the joy and excitement in the eyes of these kids was truly inspirational, and watching them overcome fears and become more confident was such a blessing. It was a very special weekend, and being able to assist on the Purdue Ranch every so often will make my time in Arizona even more meaningful.
And arrive they did...the kids and their mentors... Since pictures are worth 1,000 words, I will let pictures tell the rest of the story.
On the weekend of 11/16, I was blessed with the opportunity to head to Agape Youth Ministry's smaller ranch up in the Phoenix area. Upon arriving in Phoenix, I was picked up and driven out to the Purdue Ranch in Buckeye. For those of you familiar with the Madera Ranchos, Buckeye is almost identical.
The reason for this entire trip, was to assist with Agape Youth Ministry's other outreaches...working with inner-city kids in the Phoenix area. Roughly 25 kids were supposed to arrive at the ranch on Saturday afternoon for a trail ride and bonfire. My responsibility was to help with teaching horse safety, basic riding, show these kids the love of Christ and to help lead a trail ride. We set things up on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning, then exercised the horses and prepared for the arrival of the group around 3PM.
Seeing the joy and excitement in the eyes of these kids was truly inspirational, and watching them overcome fears and become more confident was such a blessing. It was a very special weekend, and being able to assist on the Purdue Ranch every so often will make my time in Arizona even more meaningful.
And arrive they did...the kids and their mentors... Since pictures are worth 1,000 words, I will let pictures tell the rest of the story.
Monday, November 4, 2013
Dear Diary... 11/04/2013
Dear Diary,
November is upon us, and before we know it, Thanksgiving will be here. I cannot believe how quickly 2013 has flown past. So many things have happened, and so many big changes! Looks like I will, for the 3rd year out of 4, be missing Thanksgiving with my family and, all too likely, Christmas will prove the same. I am planning a long trip home in the spring of 2014 for probably two weeks, which will allow time to visit my family in the Bay Area, spend time in Fresno AND attend one of my favorite Civil War reenactments.
Recently I switched from an iPhone, which I have been using for the past 3+ years, back to a flip phone... I know, crazy, right?? It is a lot harder to do certain things, but much simpler overall! And more cost effective.
This past Saturday evening I attended country church over at Sunizona First Baptist Church, which is always a good time with dinner at 6 and service at 7...this month was "Soup Month" which was really neat. It was great to be able to get to know some more locals too. Sunday morning I took my bike up to Tombstone for church at Tombstone Cowboy Church, and got caught in a downpour on the way back - felt good though. :)
Halloween was a fun time here, not because anything particularly interesting happened, but because I dressed up my animals. :)
Apollo dressed as a firefighter:
Tacoma as a slick biker
And the newest addition to the family, Cherokee, dressed as Jim Harbaugh
November is upon us, and before we know it, Thanksgiving will be here. I cannot believe how quickly 2013 has flown past. So many things have happened, and so many big changes! Looks like I will, for the 3rd year out of 4, be missing Thanksgiving with my family and, all too likely, Christmas will prove the same. I am planning a long trip home in the spring of 2014 for probably two weeks, which will allow time to visit my family in the Bay Area, spend time in Fresno AND attend one of my favorite Civil War reenactments.
Recently I switched from an iPhone, which I have been using for the past 3+ years, back to a flip phone... I know, crazy, right?? It is a lot harder to do certain things, but much simpler overall! And more cost effective.
This past Saturday evening I attended country church over at Sunizona First Baptist Church, which is always a good time with dinner at 6 and service at 7...this month was "Soup Month" which was really neat. It was great to be able to get to know some more locals too. Sunday morning I took my bike up to Tombstone for church at Tombstone Cowboy Church, and got caught in a downpour on the way back - felt good though. :)
Halloween was a fun time here, not because anything particularly interesting happened, but because I dressed up my animals. :)
Apollo dressed as a firefighter:
Tacoma as a slick biker
And the newest addition to the family, Cherokee, dressed as Jim Harbaugh
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