Thursday, December 1, 2011

Hell & High Water

Have you ever heard that saying?  Come hell or high water?  There are times when both arrive and you aren’t allowed to pick and choose which to deal with.  The good news is that the solution for one is the solution to the other.  It’s not that we can control what comes our way all the time but we can choose to respond via our faith in God.  I don’t dictate to God how to respond rather I refuse to let myself wallow in depression or anger…I get sad and mad like anyone else but I will not wallow there.  The Bible says be angry and sin now and put on the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.  You can’t do either of these things if you’re so under condemnation for feeling things that you spend far longer coming around then you otherwise would.  I don’t believe it was ever God’s intention that this be so. 

 

Right now we have several things troubling our music group and it’s preventing us from having concerts at all this week…in fact it my severely limit our concerts for the rest of the season.  Our albums that we recorded are filled with audio anomalies that are taking copious amounts of times to fix thus we are playing with no new albums to sell…this is very painful financially as I’m sure you can imagine.  These are the kind of things that need real faith.  We have trips planned abroad that are hurt by this kind of thing and so it is beyond just a tough time for Christmas…it effects our church directly and also our lives personally because we are very much invested in the church and its mission.  Faith is needed when we struggle not when we have the answer.  I’d say this is the perfect time for it! 

 

Finally the change of seasons came upon us and with it our first heavy snow while our pumpkins were still outside.  It seems this pumpkin was sick of the change in the weather before it had hardly begun.  This one seems to be trying to be cheerful in spite of it all.  Our third pumpkin appears bewildered though we all knew this was coming.  Many trees were caught not with their pants down but certainly with some of their leaves still on.  Our neighbors trees seemed less prepared then ours for the snow.  Looking up from our downstairs patio shows what I’ll likely be seeing most of the season.  A pleasant surprise in all of this weather change was some unexpected visitors to the front of our house.  We’ve had the antelope visit us before…this is the land where they roam but this group was quite largeand they were quite unconcerned with our observations or picture taking.  They seemed eager for some winter salad!  This large buck was in charge of this harem of prong horns.  I have to say he was magnificent!  The light was fading at this point but I squeezed out these last shots.  Finally the herd began to meander off to the prairie againand I think I’ll follow their lead.  Have a blessed day my friends. 

16 comments:

  1. Trust in God, no matter the setbacks, for He will provide what is needed, not what is wanted.

    Nice looking goats.

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  2. What amazing animals they are! That was quite a large herd too! I hope you can get things worked out so you can continue with your music. How sad would that be if you can't.
    Take Care Joe and God Bless

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  3. I hope things work out with your band Joe, sorry you are having problems. But your snow pics are great. I'd like to have some here this year but I like it to wait until after Christmas so I avoid driving in it if possible.

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  4. Joe! No wonder you love where you are! That was magnificent. We have antelope but not where I am..a few miles off so they don't come into the city for which I'm glad for their sake (traffic).

    I can imagine what's going on there with you and please believe me..I have not forgotten my pledge to you. If it wasn't a pledge per se, it is now. I am so sorry that things are going so sadly. But I like what you said at the beginning of the blog. Certainly we are admonished daily NOT to allow these things to overcome us in that we are to continue to pray and know that He knows what is going on..indeed that is His plan though we mostly can never imagine what that plan is. It is up to us to know that He knows, and we are to trust. I know you trust. That is evidenced continually.

    Sending love and care in our kinship in Him, Joe. To you and the family.

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  5. Hope things work themselves out so the beautiful (I'm sure) concerts can continue soon. What great pictures. That one pumpkin is my thoughts on winter, lol.

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  6. So sorry to hear the troubles. I just know things will turn around for you and the band. Beautiful photos. Like the trees with leaves, I am not ready for winter either.

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  7. I am very sorry Joe about the difficulties you all are having. I pray things will get better in the future!

    The photos are great. The pumpkin ones made me smile.

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  8. Things will work out, Joe. You know He will provide.

    Amazing seeing pronghorns that close. The only time I've ever seen them, besides on TV, were through a 60X spotting scope while a buddy tried to get a bead on one through his rifle scope. never did get that shot and to tell you the truth I was a little glad it turned out that way. I can still see them bouncing over the horizon while he cussed a blue streak :-)

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  9. Joe Sorry to hear that things are not going as you planned and all hell seems to be breaking loose.
    You all remain in my Prayers and thoughts.

    The prong horns are a delight.I love the photos.
    Nice to see them come into town Im sure and a real treat for everyone around.
    You have more snow than I do . It remains nice and above normal temps here.
    Blessings my friend.

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  10. Joe I am so sorry to hear about the woes with your band. I will pray that all gets worked out. But your pumpkins so made me smile. They look so funny. Well finally someone else got a good dump of snow. We still have over 1 foot even after a warm up and some rain. Taking a breather right now. Hope you have a great weekend. Hugs Carrie

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  11. Oh Joe, sorry to hear that things aren't going as planned. You're in my prayers and thoughts. And your pictures are so lovely, oh how I miss the SNOW!
    God Bless Joe and peace be with you~

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  12. "Faith is needed when we struggle not when we have the answer." I will take that today and always as my motto. I do hope things go more smoothly for you soon.May the Lord lift you up when you are down. Take care

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  13. I couldnot beleif my eyes..Joe U have these walking around ur house. This is awesome But is it normal.That they come that close??Or is it cos the snowfall was to soon for them?
    I think they just come that close for food..no??
    Last eyar we had this time also heavy snow..But now its like wind and rain. I like sunbeams But u know that by now i think.
    About ur group Thats painfull to read u miss so much things. I do hope that the severla things that ur talking about are not serious health problems or so???
    be well and good luck We do a prayer for u and ur family.

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  14. Hope and pray things improve for you soon. Enjoyed as always your pictures, love the pumpkin ones and the captions beneath.

    Thank you for all your prayer and encouragement for me and my family.

    God Bless you all - Nita

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  15. What great shots of the wild life visitors Joe, time for keeping the winter parka handy for running out toe greet the critters.
    Neat reference to the changing of the season with the humorously carved snow covered pumpkins, what a nice touch. Keep looking up something will work outnow just keep that resolve you have to stay encouraged rather than the alternative.

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  16. Hi Joe, I love the snow pics. And to respond to what you said on my blog: first, if you are using the brand new Blogger interface and you look at the comment setting page you will see that they have removed the option for "Word Verification." So people who are using it and they want to turn it off they have to go back to the old interface to do that. I personally hope they don't add it back in as it is a nuisance, and comment moderation really makes it unnecessary. As far as email notification is concerned, there is a Blogger "Subscribe by Email" gadget which I have added to my blog. I have never tried it, but if everyone puts one on their blog then you should be able have what you were asking for. I hope you have a nice Christmas!

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