Ramblings of a team ropers wife!

Levi and I actually took a trip by ourselves this past weekend! We took Jocelyn to my parents and then we drove on to Bethany, MO for a USTRC state championship team roping. Levi got first place last year with Steve Zumbrun. We had a nice, quiet uneventful drive there. Levi roped in the #11 roping and the #10 roping. The number #11 roping was not a great contest for Levi. He broke the barrier a few times which makes it hard to have a good mindset for the next steer. If you break a barrier you get a 5 second penalty added onto your time. He had one run that was under 6 seconds but since he broke the barrier it ended up being 9 something. It was not the best day for him. There was a short break between the #11 and the #10 and I got to talk to him and tried to give him wise advice. (Sort of hard to do since I know VERY little about team roping!) He did calm down though and went back out with the determined mindset and focus that I have always admired in my husband. In the #10 roping he was 2nd high call back in the short round. They have to rope 4 steers as a team and the last round is called the short round. Many people don't make it to the short round since it is progressive (they have to catch the first to move on to the second and catch the second to move to the third and so on). Levi and his partner (Steve Zumbrun) drew a fast steer and it took some time to run him down. They caught the steer and were clean (Levi didn't break out and Steve caught both legs). They were a 1/4 of a second off from first place. So we came home with second this year, no saddle and no National team roping slot YET! Levi and Steve did qualify for a Regionals slot and won 1500 dollars! I call that a pretty good payday! :) Hopefully the streak will continue as Levi will be roping in the next 3/4 weeks.

God will meet our needs.

God is soooo good. He has answered my prayer through His word. I had been praying about my stress lately and asking Him to help me manage the stress better. Then I read Matthew 6:25-34. Vs 33-34 says "Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious for tomorrow for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." I am amazed at the simplicity. I need to SEEK him and He will take care of me. What do I have to be anxious about? God, my God will care for my family.

Did you know that a high percentage of what we worry about never comes to pass? That means we are spending alot of time worrying about what might happen, the what ifs. Those what ifs are robbing us of the present moments. Do I believe we should plan ahead? Yes, we need to plan so we can care for our family. We need to be wise managers or stewards of our finances and our time. We need to be faithful to what God has called us to and what God has given us charge of but we do not need to worry. Worry is actually a sin, we are telling God that we don't trust Him to care for our future. WOW! I don't want to be guilty of thinking God can't take care of my family. God is faithful, God is good, God is all knowing, God is all powerful, God is mighty, God is strong, God is loving, God is aware of me and my needs. God does not always give us our wants. We will have times of sacrifice and times of struggle. He uses those times to draw us near to Him. So in this time of economic hardship are you choosing to trust that God will provide and drawing near to Him or are you choosing to try and carry the load on your own shoulders? Think about it...your shoulders or God's infinite strength....Hmm...I choose God. How about you?