A Day In the Life...

I've been meaning to keep a journal of my daily activities at camp this summer but it hasn't happened yet.  I thought I would recap what I did today on my blog.  I have been walking at 6:15 every morning with Joan Croome, a camp mom I met last year.  We became good friends in just two weeks.  She loved the finches I had and went back to Houston and bought some for her anniversary.  She now has 4 and I have none.  The last one I had a camper let out of the cage.  Anyways, it is a great way to start my day because we walk over the big mountain and turn around and we can see the sun rising over the mountains in the distance.  I get to see God's awesome beauty in this place.  When I get back to the barn around 7 the Wranglers and I begin feeding the horses, we walk to the dining hall for breakfast and I usually have a meeting with them about our plans for the day.  I attend a leadership staff meeting at 8 a.m.  Meg told me the surveys are coming back from first term and horseback is getting great reviews.   I led the 2 hr. trail class on Indira this morning and Lily Lou came along too.  I had to get off and put her up in the saddle with me when she got tired.  At lunch today, I drove one of the Wranglers into Kerrville to get a new radiator for her truck.  We stopped at Hometown Crafts and I bought some jewelry clasps and beads.  I had the idea that all the Wranglers can make a bracelet from the horse hair of their favorite horses.  I hope to send them home with many happy memories and a momento. When we got back to camp I had a Wrangler ask me for advice on giving the sermon this Sunday.  I gave her my devotional book, Jesus Calling.  The Wranglers and I judged the crew yell, cleaned a slimy green water trough, picked up a dead dear on the I Spy trail, drove a injured camper to the health lodge.  Now I am sitting in my barn apartment while 4 Wranglers are watching the movie A River Runs Through It and a group of campers are downstairs touring the barn and listening to someone sing to them on the front porch.  It is 10:25 and it has been a long day full of lots of good things.  Speaking of good things one of the campers lost her Father in September and she has really bonded to one of our horses named Arrow.  I told the Wranglers that what we are doing goes so much deeper than just working with horses, we are blessed when we get to see little glimpses of God's greater plan.  Lonehollow is a special place to many many souls.

This is my job.

So I was moving a mare and donkey to the front pasture this evening and had the funny thought that this is my job. This is what I do. I feel like I live in a bubble sometimes and the rest of the world is out there somewhere running a million miles an hour. One of my Wranglers posted this on her FB page and I had to copy it because it really describes well what my day is like..
So tomorrow begins another day of hoisting children onto horses, answering questions like "why is he named speedy if he's so slow", tugging on horses to make them trot, and repeating phrases like "pull back to your hips", "kiss to him" "kick with both legs" and "look where you're going, not at the horse"; all in the hot Texas sun, and loving every second of it!

Little town with a BIG show!

The little town of Utopia put on a BIG show last night.  It was better than the Bellagio in Las Vegas.  One of the new Wranglers is from Denmark and I was so glad that she got to see such an impressive show.  I drove into town with Shanna, Peyton and Nina and we were surprised to see so many people.  There were people from Uvalde, Leakey, Camp Wood and other surrounding towns.
I love that Utopia is a beautiful town tucked away from the fast pace of the world.  It still has a simple innocent lifestyle.  This is the part of Texas I love and I get to enjoy it everyday.  I have a hard time believing I live here.
The last two evenings have been so beautiful because the moon has been full.  We rode down to the river yesterday at sunset and took the horses swimming in the river.  It was dark when we were riding back to the barn and the moon lit the way for us on the road.   It was so bright we could see our moon shadow.  It was one of those moments I hope I will never forget.  The warm Texas breeze blowing on us after swimming in the clear river.  The sound of the horses hooves walking along the road.  I am so blessed to be able to enjoy the simple pleasures of the country life.

A Beautiful Sunday

It was a great day.  The Sunday Service in these beautiful hills is something that fills my soul with JOY.  I look up at those hills that have been here since creation began and the sky above and I am filled with gratitude that I get to live here and enjoy this place everyday.  That God has placed me here with a purpose and it is to fill the lives of others with good things.  Today we took 30 counselors trail riding.  52 signed up and we had a drawing to select 30.  Many of them had never ridden a horse
before and they were so grateful and thankful.  All the Wranglers went on the trail so we had 22 horses out on the trail.  I think we enjoyed it as much as they did.  I feel it is a privilege to be able to teach someone about horses.  Hopefully, they will remember the experience as a positive one that they will want to do again in their lives.  The peace I feel when riding a horse is something that I am thankful for.  It takes me away from the cares of this world.  I hope it will do that for others too.
This evening the Wranglers and I took some horses to the Sabinal River and took them swimming. It was so much fun to cool off and swim with them.  How many people get to go swimming with their horses?  It told the girls on the way back to the barn, "Doesn't it amaze you that God knew we were going to do this today?"  He gives us priceless gifts!

Just a Minute

I just started reading a book called Just a Minute.  It is about stories of children that were encouraged by words or actions of others.  You never know when you are making a memory.  Tonight the Wranglers and I took some of our advanced riders on a trail ride and had a steak dinner at one of our cookout locations.  These kids are great, they talked about their families, told stories, laughed and said it was the best night they had at camp so far.  They have all been here three weeks so I take that as a successful trail ride.  When we got back to the barn they unsaddled their horses and bathed them.  Then a water fight started and a few of them ended up in the water trough.  I think those are the happy memories I want them to have when they remember the barn and their time with us at Lonehollow.  Enjoying friends, horses and the outdoors.  I am so thankful that God has put me in a job where I can serve Him and others because it always comes back around and blesses the giver.  The joy and laughter that I get to be around fills up my heart.  I know the other Wranglers feel the same way too.  That is the best legacy we can leave on this earth. A life can be greatly influenced with as little as a single word, an uplifting comment, a prayer, a compliment, all in just a minute.

Life Lessons

We have three newborn fawns that arrived at camp today.  As the Wranglers and I were walking back from lunch today we stopped in to see them.  It is a wonderful feeling to love and hold them.  It is a blessing to work here at Lonehollow.  We get to feel the same joy that these kids feel when they hold and feed a baby deer.
The lesson plan for riding today was to introduce various styles of riding to the campers.  Today we took the horseback classes out into the big field in front of the barn and played "horse games".  We did pole bending, egg & spoon, toilet paper relay and barrels.  We did a jumping, barrel racing and dressage demonstrations.  As the horse was getting ready to jump he stopped and refused the jump.  He did that 3 times. We changed the jump from a vertical to a cross rail and used guide poles.  He finally went over it at a walk and then a trot.  I used that as an example to the kids to show how we have to continue working on the problem to fix it.  Getting angry at your horse doesn't work and will usually make the situation worse.  The way to solve a problem is to think about alternate solutions until you can ultimately get the horse to do what you want.  I think that is a great life lesson.  When we came back to the classroom I asked them what they learned today.  The answer was not to get angry at your horse.  I hope they will remember.  That wasn't the original objective of the lesson but it was even better.  Thank you God for using horses that refuse jumps to show us how to work on solving problems.

This is Jess and Pizaz.  Tonight we had a theme night and it was holidays.  Jess came up with the idea for our booth and the kids made construction paper ornaments in the shape of gears and taped them to our pony-tree.  Pizaz wore a green slinky, a star on his head, and a little red nose.   I am happy with the way the horseback program is going.  I have never experienced the kind of joy you feel seeing a kid "get it" when they gain their confidence around a horse.  I am so blessed to be a part of that experience with them.  The first time they trot and they are scared and then when they realize they are safe and having fun; their faces light up.  I have had so many kids just this week that were scared to even lead a horse and now they are feeling so good about their new horse friend.  I remember how much I loved horses and how I felt as a little girl and it is a gift to get to be a part of this kind of giving to others.