Dependence

Psalm 62:5 is a commandment that David makes to himself. "My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from Him." I find there is nothing better I can do for myself than this same thing, absolute dependency and surrender to God, believing that His way is best.



Verse 4 of the same Psalm has new meaning for me. "They only consult to cast him down from his excellency; they delight in lies: they bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly." If the "him" in this verse is applied to God, it presents a clear picture of what we in this country are doing to God--seeking to eliminate Him from all public places while continuing to give lip service.

 
Verse 11 says, "God has spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongs to God." Keith and I, now in our later years, have learned that everything we have comes from God. We own only our 5th wheel, our BigTruk and our little Focus as we travel to various campgrounds, working for minimum wage. This simple way of life is of our choosing. The beauty we see in each area, the people we meet, and our explorations make our choice completely worthwhile. We are poor by earthly standards, but rich in joy and contentment and peace as we depend totally upon His provision, especially during Keith's major illness. If we are tempted to trust in man and make our plans apart from God, while blessing with our mouths , we are delighting in lies, for without God we can do nothing. We cannot even choose where we pull our "house" next. He decides!

 
For me, Psalm 62 flows into Psalm 63. As I acknowledge my dependence and God's power, I begin to hunger and thirst to know more of God. "O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsts for thee, my flesh longs for thee in a dry and thirsty land where no water is"...v. 1. "My soul follows hard after thee: thy right hand upholds me. But those that seek my soul, to destroy it, shall go into the lower parts of the earth. They shall fall by the sword: they shall be a portion for foxes." v.8-10. 



 Those things seeking to destroy my soul are unbelief, worry, temptation to other sins, the battle for my mind, etc. But as I stay in the Word, the sword of the Spirit defeats the enemy. As we make God's word our primary focus and seek to live  according to His precepts, wherever we may roam, He keeps us by His mighty right hand.



 Thank you, Jesus, for your Word, your power, your love for your children. Help us to be completely yours in every moment, every action of our lives, that your name will be honored.  Amen.

Day One in Cheyenne

 This is the setting for the Cheyenne KOA. We looked back as we set out to tour the town and could see our 'house'. It's the one just in the center with the fir tree sticking out above it. We decided to have a quick drive-through in downtown Cheyenne so we might see places to investigate in detail during our summer here.

We chanced upon the park where the Frontier Days Rodeo is held yearly, and found the Botanical Gardens there as well. The grounds were not yet blooming, or even planted, but inside the greenhouse I was intrigued with this jade tree, a bonsai. I've had jades most of my life, and never saw such a healthy one with practically no room for roots! How do they do that?

A Bird of Paradise! How beautiful!

This is the majestic Wyoming State Capitol building. We photographed it from different angles and got pictures of some sculptures and statues outside. We will save an inside tour for another day. Can't wait!

In my advance reading about the town of Cheyenne I discovered that there are many sculptured cowboy boots in the downtown area. Here is one outside the old Railroad Depot. It's about 6 or 8 feet tall and there were several in the courtyard at the Depot. It looks like the Depot is used now mostly for a museum, gift shop, restaurant, etc. I'm not sure if it's still used for train business. There is a huge complex of tracks right below the street and I'm thinking there may be a newer building for passengers down there. We'll see! This is the first place we want to really visit and tour. Get ready for photos!

Right across the freeway from the KOA we found the Wyoming Hereford Ranch. I've read it's the oldest working cattle ranch in the U.S. We'll find out more about that later. We did see a herd of Herefords, red cattle with white faces. This is the lane leading up to the beautiful ranch house. This place is definitely on our list to tour later. I want to see this lane when all the trees are leafed out!

Cold Weather!

Winter in the Black Hills can be very cold and stormy, we're finding out! It is beautiful, too. Yesterday there was an inch of snow, which is not bad, but there was wind gusting up to 55 mph and a 20 degree temperature, too. That's more difficult to deal with, especially since we have to be out in it, feeding the animals and going between buildings. We've had a mild sampling of what it will be as we get deeply into winter.

Here is a striking sunset outside our 5th wheel back window. I caught the reflection in a large mud puddle nearby.

This is our 5th wheel decked out with hay bales to protect against the wind which comes from the west mostly. It really works! We will have to guard against mice, who love the hay, but the wind is much more bothersome to contend with. We watched leaves and other debris being fiercely blown to the east and almost felt like our "house" was going to go along, too!

Waltzing Matilda!

Well, here we are at the Roo Ranch! We packed up this morning, hooked up BigTruk to our 5th wheel, and left our pretty spot at the Happy Holiday RV Park. Two workamper couples who we didn't know very well, but wish we had, came to wish us well and happy traveling. One hour later we were here, definitely the shortest trip we've ever had to a new job. We pulled into our spot right next to the building that houses the small, nocturnal animals, and got lots of help setting up from the young man who is one of the owners of Roo Ranch. He made sure we had what we needed, and he and Keith spent quite a bit of time getting us on the internet, which we can't live without! We have a pretty open view of the surrounding hills on all sides, as well as the path where the visitors walk to see the 'roos. We will love it here!
I went out at my first opportunity to take this photo of Matilda. Fancy a kangaroo being named that! She is in a pen where people can go right in to pet her and photograph her. The other roos are in pens the visitors don't go into, but I got to watch an employee bottle feed several of them. That will be my job, too, as soon as I am shown how. Can't wait!! I will post more photos as I get them, and a description of our jobs.