It Just Hits Different

Every year, our neighbors put up this Christmas decoration. A lighted cross. They lost their 13-year-old son two months ago in a car accident. This year, it just hits different. The importance of the light in the darkness, the hope of the cross, the simple act of faith of putting it out in the midst

West Texas Faithfulness

One of my favorite podcasters talks a lot about the importance of having a good memory as part of being faithful. She says that we need to write down our prayers, thoughts, miracles, and hardships so that we can remember what God has done for us. Because we, like the Israelites, can so easily forget

Sounds from the Big 12 Championship Game

Our beloved Pokes fell short—two inches short, to be exact—of the Big 12 Championship. We profess being #loyalandtrue in our alma mater song for days like today. More importantly, I wanted to share a few things you would have heard if you watched the Big 12 Championship at our house… Braun: Mom, does he know

Ride For Your Life

This article was published as part of Our Rural Roots with Progressive Farmer. I recently purchased one of those ridiculously expensive exercise bikes. I debated for months about spending the money on something like this for myself. There were so many other purchases I could make: feed or a new ewe. We could have put

2021 Christmas Gift Guide

As has become a bit of a tradition, I’ve pulled together a little holiday gift guide. This does include some affiliate links…so if you’re going to order these, click my links here and I’ll get a little cash for my own Christmas shopping! Here are links to the lists from years past: 2020, 2019, 2018.

Two Roses

My rose bush hadn’t bloomed all year. Not one red flower. I had given up. It’s the end of October. We’ve had lows in the thirties. It hasn’t been watered in months. And then, in the midst of this nightmare of a week…there they were. Two perfect blooms. You’ll never convince me those roses weren’t

Kooper

I have lots of memories of Kooper. Him giving Braun a vest to wear and some advice before Braun did his first mutton busting and Kooper and Kade cramming in the back seat of our feed truck with my two kids so we could all get home from the rodeo at 1 in the morning

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. I couldn’t watch the slide show at Aydan’s (our 12 year old friend who was killed in a tragic car accident) funeral. Every picture they posted of him as a little red headed boy just had me seeing the little red headed boy who calls me Mama. So, I just clutched my

What You Don’t See on the News

I was recently discussing the current status of the United States with someone. He was offering a litany of things wrong in America today. It resembled what you might hear on the evening news. Issue after issue, crisis upon crisis. And he wasn’t wrong—all of the example he gave happened and are terrible. America isn’t

Put Your Shadow on Them

I went to a beautiful rosary last night. When they invited friends and family up to speak, a man said “the best thing you can put on a child is your shadow.” Man, isn’t that true. I think back to my own childhood and what I remember is the time my parents invested in me.