parables

We’re finally based out of Walden, CO! Praise God all the animals and such are in one place now, but we still have a lot of things to move. I have a lot to update you all on and it’s a combination of life changes, business updates and parables! Depending on what you want updated on, I’ll do headers so you can read everything or just scroll on by to what you really want to know about.

I cleaned and organized more than I thought I could! Rachael, my sister and I, ran a challenge group this last month. 14 days of a cleaning challenge, but many of us loved it so much we decided to continue in the group until the end of this month! We cheered each other on and celebrated our wins. You can still get an overview by heading here: Overview

Tomorrow Rachael and I will be running our Shop Talk/Zoom Talk at 5pm MT. These shop talks have been amazing and truly just like hanging out together, chatting about life and then having a class about a specific topic. Here’s the rundown:

5pm - 5:30pm: Shop Talk - this is what is different from any other Zoom class you’ll go to. This is a time for your questions to be answered, and for all of us to dialogue about life.

5:30pm We start a specific topic and tomorrow night it is Sip and Shine. This also comes with another challenge group and prizes are included!  

On top of attempting to get everything moved we were hit with another unexpected possible life change. In the last month we learned that some people in the town were very disgruntled with the current sheriff and decided to pursue recalling him. They managed to get the necessary signatures and now a recall is underway. You may think this wouldn’t affect us but it actually does. The undersheriff, which is Jordan’s job, is closely tied to the sheriff. He serves at the pleasure of the sheriff. In other words, if a sheriff is done, then his undersheriff, most likely, is done as well. This leaves not only the sheriff in uncertainty about his future but also Jordan and I too! Considering what we just came from, within the Lake City political realm, it’s almost laughable that we find ourselves in a similar position. So, you can pray for us and the community here. The recall election is mid-June, so we should know in a month or so what our future looks like. We would love to stay here, but we know ultimately our future is up to God and we will wait for His leading. 

We loaded up the sheep and managed to wrestle Connie, our guardian dog, into the back of the trailer with the sheep. I headed out with all the kids in tow as well. For some of these sheep they hadn’t been in a trailer for several years. We stopped in Gunnison to top off on diesel, chatted with a gentleman who had never touched a sheep before and got to pet ours through the trailer. The joy on that man’s face from touching a “real life sheep” was fun to see. As I peeked in on the sheep I realized one of our older ewes was laying down and some of the other sheep were standing on her! I of course thought the worst, climbed in there with them and got to her. She was breathing heavily and looked like she “thought” she was dying. I grabbed ahold of her and picked her up, setting her on her feet. She looked around, astonished, as if she realized she wasn’t dying. I laughed as I realized that as believers we often think we are dying within the circumstances God has placed us (the trailer for our ewe), but upon closer examination and God coming in to pick us up and set us back on our feet, we realize we are not dying. We maybe uncomfortable in our circumstances in the moment but we are not dying. God has us in that place for a reason and we may not understand but we do need to trust. 

As we continue in the uncertainty of our life we know God has us in this uncomfortable position for a reason and we trust Him. This also helps us realize that the people involved in these circumstances are just tools God is using to move us and make us more Christ like. Just as God uses us to make those around us more Christ like. As much as I sometimes don’t want to walk in the Spirit in these situations, I know it is necessary. Sometimes God has to come along, grab ahold of us and set us back on our feet. You are not dying, get up! 

Join us tomorrow tonight! Shop Talk 5pm MT.

Jordan and I hooked up our red trailer and climbed into the truck to head north to the Denver area. We had been in contact with a lady that had Karakul sheep. We had been interested in getting sheep for a few years. It started in Russia when we had purchased some karakul hats. We looked into the ancient breed and discovered they were a hardy breed, able to survive in harsh conditions, cold or hot. They are a multipurpose, meaning you can harvest them for wool, meat, or even milk! We found the location of the woman's home, picked out our sheep, paid her for them and then headed home. We had never owned sheep before and knew very little about them, but were excited to start this new adventure. When we got home, we unloaded them into their make shift pen and have been learning more and more about them every year. 

Did you ever do 4-H or FFA? Maybe your kids are participating in one of those organizations? They are both great organizations to a part of and I recommend it! These organizations encourage discipline and consistency in the projects that the kids participate in. These are skills that I am still striving for as well and often think I would like the accountability of a 4-H or FFA club for myself! 

Through these organizations we've learned more about sheep and how to train them. When you first bring a sheep up that has never been handled, their flight response is very touchy. They literally think you are going to eat them, so they are running away and leaping about. Your first step is to teach them to trust you. When you raise a lamb from the moment they are born, they learn to trust you from day 1 and have almost not visceral reaction to you. Our latest batch of ewes, that we acquired last year, had never really been handled and they could leap and move very quickly. We didn't start working with them right away, mostly due to the schedule, but it turned out to be a positive as they learned to relax, seeing the rest of our animals not reacting in a dramatic way. This winter we officially started working with them. We had the whole flock follow us into the green house and then we cornered each ewe, catching them, straddling them and wrestling a halter onto their faces. Then, we would lead/drag them out of the green house and tie them up in a line along the fence. We had grain that we would feed to them while we just sat next to them. After the first week they were not fighting us as much, realizing there was something tasty in it for them. Into the second week we started teaching them to lead by walking the same path, giving them treats as we went. The first day of this was complete chaos, but after a few days they started to get the idea. I've worked with horses for almost my entire life and working with sheep is nothing like working with horses. Horses are more relational and motivated by the pecking order. In other words, you establish yourself as a leader to be trusted and they will yield to what you are asking them to do. There is a lot more that goes into it, but that is the basic premise. For sheep, they are highly motivated by basic needs, such as flight or fight mechanism and the desire to eat. If you can convince them that you are not going to eat them, then they can be convinced to follow you by what you have for them to eat. It's like bribing a child to pick up their room for a piece of candy. There is still so much we are learning about how to train sheep, but we have an older ewe, Bridget, who is a star when it comes to be haltered, led, and standing tied. She is not registered as a Karakul, but she produces big babies and I'm eager to use her for milking. Visit my Youtube channel to keep up on our latest adventures.

Working with any animal takes time, energy and discipline. To make any changes in life takes time, energy and discipline. I've seen this with my very middle daughter, as she has struggled in the past to finish her school work daily and then not had any improvements because you can not expect to retain information if you are not practicing it everyday. This year we have had some breakthroughs and due to her being more disciplined, she is retaining the information and it is not taking her as long to finish her school! There are some tools we are using to help her and I. There is a free online homeschool curriculum that I use to utilize when we lived in Russia and it now has the ability for you and your students to track what they have completed and earn "points" as they go. It not only is helpful for them, but me as well, as I often forget where they are at in each subject and what I need to grade or go over with them. I spent a lot of time everyday, reorienting myself to where each of them were at. With this online tool, it has saved us all time, energy and mental space. The online program is through https://allinonehomeschool.com/ You can sign up for free, but I recommend giving a donation as they have put a lot of time and effort into a free online homeschool curriculum that is excellent. I still use The Good and Beautiful for most of my educational needs, but added other subjects through Easy Peasy like, daily Bible reading, science, art and computer skills.

As many of you know I am big into natural health and wellness; preventively taking care of our bodies to avoid be horribly sick or having illnesses that could be prevented through proper diet and high quality supplements. I realize that some illnesses are not preventable, however, even those can be better managed through holistic means. When we manage our health and wellness with the same diligence as training an animal or doing school work we will also see huge improvements as time goes by. There is never a get healthy quick scheme without unwanted side effects. Like get rich quick schemes, they are detrimental in the long run. Time, energy and discipline are the key to better health as well. Here are some of my go to's for better health:

Ningixa Red: 1-2oz everyday, and more if you're fighting something

Boost and Balance: 1 packet everyday

The Good Day Protocol: Click the title to see how to use it.

Joy

Valor

Harmony 

White Angelica

Daily use and practice is very important in whatever we set our minds to do. Consistency is the key and taking the time, energy and discipline to accomplish your goals. 

Go here to get my daily regimine: Daily Regimine

Have a Blessed Saturday!

Becca Maria

I started my hunting season with high hopes of tagging out the first morning. We had seen elk in our spot second season and there is almost always elk in there. I had no doubt I’d be bagging one the first day. Well, God had other plans. 

I taped my toe to my other toe, had my ridged shoe insert in my winter boot and was ready to go. I knew it’d be slower going as I navigated that healing broken toe. The doctor had warned: You can hunt, but if you dislodge that bone you’ll be looking at surgery. I took what he said seriously, but we also needed to fill our freezer. So, off I went on my first morning hunt. It was cold, about 8 degrees, with real feel about 1. I’m no stranger to those temperatures hunting and I was hopeful I’d only have to experience it one time. He had other plans. I saw and heard nothing. The rest of the time hunting followed this pattern. It was into day 3 that I started believing I wouldn’t fill my tag, that this season would be like 2021. Where I hiked around for 9 days, hunting morning and evening, coming up with nothing. I mentioned to Jordan that I didn’t think I’d get anything and for some reason I thought this season was only 4 days! It was actually 5. Anyway, he made some calls and I called a friend to see if she would be on call for the kiddos as Jordan was going to go out with me the next morning. We headed out the next morning and found bulls but not cows. We headed home and about mid day got a call that someone found cows! They even offered to tell us where they were. Sometimes as hunters we’re not willing to share where our “spots” are. If you’re a hunter then you know what I’m talking about. So, we swore ourselves to secrecy and headed out. It was an awkward shot and I used way too many bullets to bring her down, which bothers me so much, but God provided the people to guide us to some cows and even a couple extra people to help us pack her straight up a mountain side. It was not an easy pack out but we are no strangers to packing out of hard spots. We were blessed by the works of faith by others and in the same way, we were demonstrating our faith by believing that God would provide. In our actions, even if our heart and mind thought we wouldn’t tag out, we still went out and looked. In that way our works showed we believed. 

Having works to demonstrate our faith can come in a couple of avenues. Demonstrating our faith through caring for others. Not in a check the box kindof way, but in a genuine, I care for this person and want to take care of their needs. Another demonstration of our faith is when we actively trust that God will provide for us through His people. This is when we are on the receiving end of those demonstrations of faith. Yes, it takes faith to receive care from other people. Sometimes our pride of, I can do it myself sneaks into our hearts. Instead of being willing to accept those “works” from other people, we can sometimes think, I’m not in need, I don’t need help from them or, I’m waiting for God to help us. Not realizing it’s that image of people stranded on their house top during a flood and a boat and helicopter come by to save them and they refusing saying, “I’m waiting for God to save me!” Not realizing God is helping you through the use of His people. Do not turn down the help from other people, as this is God’s way of blessing you and in turn they also receive a blessing! Therefore, you are denying them a blessing by turning down their help. Whew! It can be so hard but I’m sure if you reminisce, as I have done, you can recall when you have not only been on the receiving end of help but also the blessing of the giver. God supplies us with exactly what we need when we need it. Wait on Him. 

How have you received blessing or demonstrated your faith by caring for others and in turn receiving a blessing yourself?

Also, one final parting gift, there are some products I use that help me through strenuous physical activity. I don’t know about you but I don’t hike 4-6 miles straight up and back down mountains everyday. I’m pretty active but not that active. So, my body needs some extra help and the products I use are as follows: Aminowise - Muscle recovery powder, BLM - bones, ligaments and muscles supplement. I actually take this everyday, but up to twice a day during strenuous activity, Deep Relief roll-on - for those sore muscles after the fact, Cool Azul Sports Gel - another product for muscle recovery, and Thieves Vitality essential oil - this went in my hot water with honey to sip on, in the cold, while waiting for the elk. Boosts your immune response. Here is a link to those products: Hunting essentials

What are you satisfying yourself with? My tendency is to pursue what I can get done in a day. How capable I am of handling difficult situations. How well I’m caring for those around me. When any of those things fail to satisfy me, I’m left feeling discouraged, disappointed and worthless. Jesus is who should satisfy us! Pursuing Him and doing my work on His strength is what truly satisfies and then when I “fail”, according to earthly standards, it’s no big deal because I’ve already been filled up by Jesus. Walk in Him today and you will always be satisfied. 

#satisfied #filledwiththespirit #disappointment #discouragement #failure #jesussatisfies #pursueJesus #homeschool #homestead #parable #giveittoJesus #beccamariaeos #ylteamstrong