Horsing Around

If I remember correctly, I mentioned something about blowing winds last time. Well, they sure did blow here at our house. The powerful winds took down many branches from a dead oak tree in the woods behind the house. This tree had previously been hit by lightening, witnessed by Mark. The branches were then blown into the back yard and also onto our roof, thus taking down our satellite dish. When I got home from Lexington on Tuesday, it was quite the mess out back.

Thankfully, our satellite guy was out the next day to get us back in touch with the world. Mark and I experienced being out of the loop, so to speak, as we had no Good Morning America, The View, or the evening news to let us know the latest news. I even had to call my sister to find out who got voted off of Dancing With The Stars, thankfully, Curt Warner did not.

I'm still in the dark as to where Sam Champion is or what is going on with his family. They asked for prayers yesterday on GMA, but I don't think they were specific as to why. He's one of my favorite TV personalities, so I'm concerned.

I did, however, finally finish my latest book, The Horse That God Built, by Lawrence Scanlan. I bought it with birthday money last year, along with several others including, The Glass House, The Memory Keeper's Daughter, Anne Rice's first book about Jesus's life and another about Pete Maravich, one of my sports idols. I've always had an interest in Secretariat, being from Paris, Kentucky, where he was retired to stud at Claiborne Farm. My parents home is adjacent to the farm and I thought I'd eventually get to see him while he was there. I never did.

I think I started reading the Secretariat book last year, but then got distracted, and put it down. I picked it up again when I heard of the movie coming out, so that was my motivation to start reading it again. I finished it last night, so I'm now looking forward to going to see the movie. I hope I make it before it's too late. I previously put off going to see Avatar and was bailed out when they decided to rerelease it back to the theaters. And from looking at today's paper, I see I have missed the Horse Mania event as well. I really wanted to take a tour of Lexington and see all the horses, but, alas, they are being removed and relocated as I type. That's the downside of being a procrastinator.

Because of our temporary satellite blackout, I also avoided seeing the national evening news coverage of the assault prior to the Rand/Conway debates. Not only was this a Kentucky embarrassment, but I also understand the guy being charged is from my home town. I may have known a relative of his, not sure at this point.

The only tidbit of advice I have this morning is to read, if you get the chance, the story of Secretariat by Lawrence Scanlan. It focuses on the relationship between the horse and his groom, Eddie Sweat. I hope the movie brings out the importance of this relationship, but I hardly think it does. I was enlightened by so much of what goes on in the racing industry. The writer did his research in Ocala, Florida; Lexington, Kentucky; Belmont Race Track, New, York; and Secretariat's birthplace in Virginia. It was really a well documented and well told story. I hope to visit Claiborne Farm sometime in the future to see where Secretariat was buried. Hopefully, sooner than later.

I've got a lot going on these next several days, so I better get going. I've had the dogs out a lot this past week, but not for any walks. Even though today is supposed to be some twenty degrees cooler than yesterday's perfect weather, I hope to get out and walk all five. I hope you get out today as well, have a great one, luv, Susan

Blowing Winds

After experiencing day after day of dry, sunny, unseasonably warm days, something is blowing our way. We hope it's rain. Hopefully, it won't be anything violent. Unfortunately, we can't say the same about Kentucky politics. After blowing through the Commonwealth for weeks now, last night the most hotly contested race turned just that, violent. I'm embarrassed to see that Kentucky political supporters of an unnamed candidate physically assaulted an opposing candidate's backer. Regrettably, this all made the national news this morning. The majority of Kentuckians are sick and tired of all these negative ads and are having a hard time making sound, political decisions because of all this negativity by campaigns on both sides. We know that college behavior should be ignored as irrelevant to today's races. I just pray that God will give us the wisdom to make the best decisions when election day comes.

I've been having continued health issues of a periodontal nature. Simply speaking, I've had gum surgery this past week. It hasn't been pleasant and I'm hoping and praying for positive results ahead. This, however, did not prevent me from attending the last UK game, which was really painful to witness. Many UK fans simply headed for the exits when things went from bad to worse in the third quarter. We remaining fans kept the faith as there were real attempts at coming back. We will hope for a more competitive game in Starkville this Saturday. Go Big Blue!!!

This mornings UpperRoom was a favorite, familiar devotional, the story of the prodigal son. This son takes his inheritance early and goes off and foolishly squanders it. When he realizes that he is at rock bottom, wanting to eat even the pigs' meal for sustenance, he makes the decision to return home. He is willing to become a hired servant to his father, knowing that he has become unworthy of his former position of a devoted and loved son. He approaches his father with a fully repentant heart, asking for forgiveness and mercy. Remarkably, the father welcomes him home with open arms and restores him, with celebration, to his "rightful" place.

This is a wonderful story and parallels how God will welcome us back into his loving arms after we have gone astray and ignored his loving guidance in our lives. The best part is that it is so true. As long as we are repentant and ask for forgiveness for our sins, it doesn't matter how long we have strayed from Him, He is just so thrilled to have us back, He celebrates our return!

If you haven't read this story in a while, it is found in Luke, chapter fifteen. Many of us can relate to the older brother in the story. He, who has always done everything exactly right, is not feeling very much like partying over his little brother's return. I hope we will see the return of the "lost sheep" as God does and party on.

I'm not sure what to expect in today's weather, but I do know that God is in control of it and everything else. So, I know it will be a great day. I hope you have a great day and stay safe no matter which way the wind is blowing. luv, Susan

God's Blessings

I realize that I haven't blogged in quite some time. So, I'm gonna try to do a quick update and try to follow through with a couple of blogs each week. I think there's over a hundred previous blogs still on this site, if you're interested in my views or stories from the past couple of years. I especially recommend the story about Mark's Thorn.

First and foremost, I am a Christian. I live a really blessed life. I seek God's will for my life everyday. He is awesome how he uses so many different venues to get my attention and show me the way He has for my life and how I'm to follow through.

Currently, my husband, Mark and I are emptynesters, with two adult children, who are both game fully employed and living not too far from us. So, we are able to see them regularly. We love that.

After living in Henderson, Kentucky for 21 years, we have resided in Georgetown, Kentucky now for almost three years. We are so blessed to have a wonderful church and church family close by. We've nurtured relationships with them and other neighbors. Country living has always been our preference.

Also, thankfully, my sisters and parents live close by as well. After over thirty years, having family close is a true blessing. God is good!!

I keep busy with church activities, family, volunteering at a super place called the Amen House, and caring for five dogs. Yes, five!! I started simply with one, Taffy, who I was given by my Aunt Linda in Illinois, after our little cocker spaniel, Twinkles passed away. Taffy was always a wonderful little pet, but as she got older, I thought it would be best to breed her so there would be the possibility of having one of her future puppies available if and when I lost her. We bred her with another malti-poo named Duncan. I was able to give the two puppies to Duncan's owners and also to my cousin, who needed a little dog. After we learned that Duncan was fixed.....I thought we'd try again with another dog. Hence, we ended up getting Pepper, a little Maltese, six years Taffy's junior.

Taffy and Pepper really hit it off and had four litters of puppies. With God's guidance I found wonderful homes for most of the puppies. However, through the years, I have received three of them back. I figured, they were ultimately my responsibility, so, in addition to Taffy and Pepper, I also have Riff, Roy and Pudge. I've got my hands full, but I really enjoy this little family of fuzzy white companions.

I will continue to ask God to give me guidance each day so I can serve Him by serving others and loving everyone on my path. I am constantly reminded each day that He is always with us. We can seek his guidance through prayer, Bible reading and study, church attendance, fellowship with other Christians and always being open to His showing us our way.

I hope you have a beautiful fall day, as it looks like we're having here in Central Kentucky. I'll try my best to continue my messages on a regular basis. God Bless and take care. luv, Susan