My Enabler

I realized recently -  my husband is my enabler. He feeds my habit.
"Hi, my name is Lyndee, and I have an addiction to baby calves."
It started with two calf hutches. Then, this past spring Taylor got me a 3-pen calf shed.  And rarely do any of these pens sit empty because Taylor brings me baby calves from the feedlot. In the past two years I've taken care of 37 different calves.
And, just last evening Taylor brought me number 38 - a sweet little black brockle-face heifer I named "Alice" off of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (or for my grandma) :)

Sunday afternoon was absolutely beautiful, so after church Taylor and I decided to work on a few projects that needing doing outside.  As we were working, I realized nearly all of our projects were created by/for my calves:
- Taylor getting the loader to move hay bales that helped block the wind from my calf shed when it was really cold earlier this winter
- Using the loader to pile up the old straw and manure I cleaned out of my calf pens
- Digging dirt out from my calf hutches to limit any bad bacteria
- Leveling off the dirt from the line that was dug to get electricity and a water line out to my calf shed

"The first step is admitting you have a problem" - well, this theory doesn't apply in this situation. I may have an addiction (and I know it), but I have no intention of trying to overcome it. :) I love taking care of little baby calves that would otherwise not have a chance. And I couldn't do it without Taylor. He gets me hay and straw, helps me doctor and work them, and on those sad occasions when a calf gets really sick and is suffering because it isn't responding to the medicine, Taylor puts them down for me. I'm so blessed to have a husband who gives of his time and effort simply to make me happy because he knows how much I enjoy my hobby of caring for baby calves.

Now the trick will be to always recognize all these gifts Taylor gives me, and make sure that I'm giving back to him as well. I want to put him above myself, the way he has for me.

Bently cuddling up with new baby, Alice

I'm also extremely grateful for friends like Jim and TJ, both of whom work at the feedyard. Jim frequently takes care of my calves for me if we're gone, and TJ, along with many other things, helped us build my calf hutch  pens and put in a water line to my shed. (It's a good thing they like cookies, pies, and quick breads and will work for food, or we'd be broke from how much I'd owe them for their help.)

Besides messing with calves, Taylor and I recently went skiing with his family at Crested Butte. It was such a blast! It was really cold while we were there, but we bundled up and had a great time. Because of when we went, there was hardly anybody else on the mountain. It was awesome not to have a ton of other people on the slopes at the same time. I like doing a few nice runs, but my favorite thing to do is to try and follow Taylor down some blacks. I'm about as skilled at doing the moguls as a house cat is at swimming, but I like to try. I'm sure I'm horrible to watch, but at least I skied down those parts more than I fell this year. :)

These are what moguls look like - (until I started skiing with Taylor I had no idea what they were)

Western Kansas Fact: We need moisture, VERY BADLY - please pray we would get some. But if you're going to pray, please be specific - ask for snow that would come without wind.  Blizzards kill cattle in a hurry.

 I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink. Matthew 25:35
I needed to be reminded of the lesson that went with this scripture. A lot of times when I think of working or doing things for God, I feel like I need to accomplish something big for it to count. But this lesson reminded me that this scripture doesn't say "I was thirsty and you dug me a well." God doesn't ask us to perform miracles. That's His job. All He needs is for us to show up and offer our lives for Him to use. God can use the simplest acts that are done in His name - like offering the thirsty a drink - to make a difference for His kingdom.

Hope you all have a wonderful week!
Lyndee

The Magic of Christmas

There's nothing more special than the magic of Christmas. When I was little that magic woke me and my siblings up on Christmas morning about two hours earlier than normal. Then we'd go downstairs and traipse into Mom and Dad's room to wake them up so we could go see what Santa had brought (at this point Mom and Dad would inform us it was entirely too early to open presents, and they'd make us lay down next to them and rest until it was a reasonable hour - like 6 a.m.  It was torture). :)

Now the magic comes from different things - like shutting off all the other lights and enjoying the beauty of our own Christmas tree, or picking out the perfect gift for someone, and even though you know they'll love it, you're more excited to give it to them than they could ever possibly be to receive it. One of my personal favorites this year was sitting in the living room lit by soft Christmas lights, wrapping presents, drinking hot chocolate and watching the Polar Express. It doesn't get any better than that.

We did Christmas a little differently this year. Instead of spending Christmas Eve with one side of the family and Christmas day with the other, we spent both with Taylor's family, and then we spent a long weekend with my family. It was nice not to have to rush around trying to get from one place to the other and really get to spend time with each side of the family.

My favorite ladies in the world!

I think one of the best parts of my time back home was on Friday me and my sisters took my niece and nephew to their first movie at the movie theater. We watched the new Disney movie, Frozen. Oh my goodness, folks, it was ADORABLE!  I absolutely loved it! (I'm pretty sure the kids did too). :) I would recommend it for anyone to go see, especially those people who are lucky enough to have their sisters be their best friends.

We were beyond blessed this Christmas. I got a lot of wonderful gifts I know I'll really enjoy. Yet sometimes I think it might be better if we didn't worry so much about buying gifts for each other. What if we just spent the time together or offered ourselves and our time as a gift to someone else? One of Taylor's gifts to me this year was something along those lines, and it meant more to me than anything else I received. How great would it be if we brought more of that back into Christmas?

Taylor was very excited to wear the Santa hat. :)

I think this December went by more quickly than any other has for some reason. At the beginning of the month Taylor and I went to Vegas for the NFR with his parents and brother, one of our friends, as well as my sister and her husband and my cousin and his wife. It was the biggest group we've ever had go, but it was a great time. For me one of the most memorable moments was one evening after we'd gone to the rodeo, we were walking around the casino floor. As I walked by the roulette table, I saw a guy turn around and look at me. Then he stuck his hand out to me and said, "You're freakin' cute. I'm Rodney Carrington." You never know what will happen in Vegas. :)

A random picture with Rodney Carrington

From there the rest of the month flew by in a haze of Christmas preparations and trying to stay caught up on my articles for the Kansas Livestock Association.

Western Kansas Fact: When people in far western Kansas say "river." They probably don't actually mean "water."  The Arkansas river is just south of Lakin, but it almost never has any water in it. When anybody in Lakin says "the river," generally they really mean "the river bed" or "the place where the river used to be."

I want nothing on earth besides you. Psalm 73:25. 
I think this is a beautiful Scripture. It is true in my life, but sometimes I let that desire become covered up by earthly wants. I pray that each day God will help me grow in my faith so this phrase can be the most important desire of my heart.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, and I pray 2014 will be a wonderful year for each of you!

Love,
Lyndee