“Maybe you are here on earth to learn that life is

what you make of it, and it’s to be enjoyed.”

— Dick Sutphen

Right now, you probably have at least a dozen business and home priorities consuming your mind and time. Just realize, as important as they seem right now, years from now, they’ll be insignificant — just specks in the span of your life. So as hard as you work, you need to work even harder each day to keep your true treasures at the center of your life — your family, your friends, your health, your character, and your spirit. Live by that simple rule, and life just seems to fall into place.

We had quite a few cattle to process and revaccinate before the “big storm” hits.  Casey & Avery came out yesterday to help us and we had FUN.

I will not be posting Avery’s resume, she is NOT FOR HIRE!

“Look to the present. The great disease of ‘I will be happy

when …’ is sweeping the world. You know the symptoms.

You start thinking: I’ll be happy when I get that … BMW …

promotion … status … money. The only way to cure the

disease is to find happiness and meaning now.”

— Marshall Goldsmith

The most well engineered Italian sports car; the most brilliant diamond; the rarest and finest Shafer Hillside wine at six hundred dollars a bottle. They all have glaring, unmistakable faults … they can bring you happiness, but they can’t fulfill and satisfy your life. That comes from dedication, knowledge, achievement, love, honor, and respect — which is far more precious than any stone, fine wine, or sports car.

Casey (our daughter) feels like her friends have been changing a lot so she wrote this on a blog that she shares with her friends that she went to high school with: 

A lot has happened since I last updated about my life happenings.  Like all of you I am sure, I have had some ups and downs in my life recently…a lot more ups and I have learned from all of my downs. :)

Avery, my dad, and I actually went on a drive this morning.  I love going on drives with my dad because since I was young I always knew if my dad had something important to tell me he would come and get me and ask me to ride with him, whether it was in the feed truck, tractor, polaris, or just his pickup.  He will still call me every so often and ask me to ride with him and we talk about things that have been bothering us. He gives me advice and sometimes I will even give him my two cents on his problems.  It is really helpful because my dad is very no nonsense type.  He has always been the type that does not have time for complaining..he will talk about your problems any time of day but only if you actually WANT help.  If you don’t want help then leave him alone because he has work to get done.  And my dad has a solution for everything.  He really does give the best advice…well they both give good advice.  Some of my favorite inspirational quotes are orginals that have come from my mom and dad or maybe even have been passed down from their parents.

So anyway, we went on a drive this morning.  he had to run to Coffeyville so Avery and I rode along with him.  We don’t ever talk about one particular thing. It might be politics, religion, business advice or it might be a family problem.  Everything my dad says I end up agreeing with.  I agree with everything he says because-  I trust my parents.  I think that is something that is uncommon now.  A lot of people my age do not trust their parents or the things that their parents have taught them.  I remember my parents telling me 10, 20, or even 30 times throughout my life “you can trust that we will NEVER lead you astray.” Basically, you don’t ever have to second guess the advice we give you.  How reassuring is that? Some people think I am naive for trusting my parents (of all people) so much.  Maybe you think I should make my own mind up about things and stop being a Jack & Lori copy cat.  Thats fine:) But I did realized at a young age that is what my parents were put here for..to teach me.  I just happened to get a really good set of parents.  They taught me about money, they taught me about Jesus, they taught me how to work hard and the biggest thing they taught me was to be proud of how I was raised.  I didn’t have any friends that truly grew up the way I did.  A lot of times I felt weird because my friends didn’t understand why mom and dad would come in the house with manure, blood, or snot caked on their clothes (I actually had a few friends ask me just that).  Most moms wore dresses to work or took their daughters shopping on the weekend, but I went to the clinic and cleaned dirty water tanks with my mom! :) But that gave me one on one time to talk to her about school, clothes, friends or any problems…the same things everyone else got to talk about and at the same time my mom was teaching me how to work.  I am so happy that I had that those opportunities.  I do hope one day that Joel and I will have a bit of their knowledge so that we are able to tell Avery those same things.  I feel sorry for kids (people my age and younger) who can’t or just choose not to trust their parents and the things that their parents have taught them.  I am not saying that you need to follow every foot step that your parent has ever made.  But I guess I am truly blessed to have a family to fall back on.  I know that any three of us kids will never be rejected.  All three of us have done things to shame my parents in the past and they have forgiven us.  They have truly forgiven us..and that is saying A LOT to truly forgive someone. 

I have gotten off subject.  I mainly just got to thinking about how sad it would be not to trust your parents.  The people who have taken care of you from the beginning.  How lonely and confused to wonder around this earth not knowing where you belong or what is right and what is wrong.  How lonely to not believe in the two people that really are REAL honest people. The people who have been there for you through the sad times, through the tough times, through the happy times.  The two people who bought you your first car or congratulated you when you graduated high school.  Your parents really have been there for you since the beginning and they will still be waiting to cheer and congratulate you when they see you walking up the path into Heaven’s Gates when the time comes.  I don’t care how cheesy or corny this all is, it is true…atleast for me.  And I often wish there was a way to show my gratitude to my mom and dad. -Casey

Now that is something to SMILE about! And I MEAN it!

 (below) Juliah + Avery = little friends

“Trying is lying. There is no such thing as trying. You do

it or you don’t. You get results in life or you have

excuses why you didn’t. When people say,

‘I’ll try,’ they usually mean, ‘I’m not

going to do it now.’ -  Dick Sutphen

This is an email from Casey’s (Our Daughter) Friend.  She is 24 years old and is living in Egypt with her husband.

When Your Neighbors Are At War

Domestic violence is very prevalent here. I have had to help many women, cleaning their physical wounds, and sit and cry with them through their emotional ones. While I have been fortunate to not experience violence against me I have seen it perpetrated on to others. Why it is so prevalent is beyond my grasp. Poverty? Lack of control of your surroundings (Egypt is still semi- socialist in that you can not choose your profession, only so much bread is allotted per person, and freedom of religion and speech is highly questionable) Maybe because it is such a harsh environment with heat reaching to the upper 100’s in the summer and lower 20’s in the winter.

The whole country has an undercurrent feeling of fighting for survival. If you aren’t fighting with your family, it’s with your neighbor, if not with your neighbor it’s with your government. One even has to fight the land here, battling the wind and sand to make a plot of land to use that might be able to produce vegetation.

Like clockwork, I hear my neighbors arguing every mid day. What it is about I don’t know, but it’s loud and angry and it must be about the same thing because it always comes at the same time.

Further down the village two families have an all out war, guns and all. This is a feud to an extreme.

And more recent The Gaza/ Israeli war has brought recent security issues into my life.

Now I repeat DON’T WORRY I AM SAFE. I am 6 hours south from all the fighting. However in the past month there have been a ton of demonstrations in the streets. 2 weeks ago a group of 50 people rioted in Assuit (30 minutes from here) burning Israeli and American flags crying for the president to send the Egyptian military to the aid of Palestine. In other middle eastern countries they are burning the flag of Egypt and calling them cowards for not joining the fight.

So as a result of all this I have been playing it low key. I mean I can still go out, it’s just that I am not wearing a T-SHIRT that has like an American flag on it or I ‘m not going around whistling the national anthem. At this point I am trying to pass off as European or Canadian. I am safe here in the village, Most the Christians here celebrate when a Muslim dies ( I know I know, what happened to love your enemy?) but I guess when you are religiously oppressed the idea of forgiveness and loving aren’t really moral ideals to consider.

Things have begun to quiet down. I have no fear about my life and safety.

My mother is here this week, and she brought me the greatest surprise, my sister! It was good to see familiar faces and reconnect with my family. We took them to the pyramids and Atta and I went to the Cairo Museum ( The whole time Atta said ” Yes, this is the great civilization you married into, You married the descendant of Pharaohs”) I think the greatest thing about seeing my mom and sister was that they were really able to encourage me. They helped me figure out how my oven works and the first thing we made was chocolate chip cookies( pre mixed pack my mom brought from USA) I have never been so happy to eat chocolate chip cookies or even have a working oven in all my life!

That is one thing that has really changed me here is my perspective on life. I use to love watching Oprah and reading gossip magazines or looking at vogue fashion. not that I was consumed or a consumer of these things, but I just had such a fascination with this lifestyle that was so different from my own- now I don’t even have a fascination with these things, I am actually becoming more and more disgusted with it all. The antics of hollywood star-lites and the latest trends don’t hold two cents worth when it comes to the nitty gritty of life.
Also I feel a lot closer to death and life here. I mean as cheesy as this sounds the whole “circles of life” is lived out daily here. Have you ever seen your food slaughtered before you eat it? Looked the animal in the eye before you cut it’s throat? My whole Food philosophy has radically shifted, It’s like It’s become more sacred in a way. Maybe sacred is not the right word but I have definitely become more conscience of what I eat. Plus we only have seasonal vegetables, meaning you only get certain foods when it’s in season (not year round like in the states) so in this way you become more aware of the seasons and land around you.
I am more appreciative of the true freedom that is found in the Father, that transcends all governmental dictations and policies and my hope is that one day all men will come to know this freedom and will no longer have to go to war with their neighbor.

Peace

Tiff

Whatever you’re thinking about is literally like planning a future event. When you’re worrying, you are planning. When you’re appreciating you are planning…What are you planning?

Hey, have a Great Day!

“The mind moves in the direction of our

currently dominant thoughts.” — Earl Nightingale

Despite these times, it’s those optimistic people who spread hope and words of encouragement who stand out. But look closer — they aren’t simply motivating and inspiring. They are winning. While the rest of the country is cornered by fear and uncertainty, they know they’ll succeed, because it’s what they think about.  Always!

Happy A Happy Friday The 13th!!!  

We shipped a load of heifers early this morning and then I turned some cattle out for the day.  Here’s some calves that have been here a few weeks.  They’re doin’ great and gainin’ great cause they FEEL GREAT!!

Have a Great Day!

“Ask yourself what you would do even if you were

never paid. That’s a clue to what you should be

doing and of course finding a way to be paid

for it. You can attract more money from love.” - Dr. Joe Vitale

People who work get paid. Those who do good work get paid well. The ones who are passionate about what they do … those are the ones who are rewarded throughout their lives. Chase your passion, and money will follow. It’s just that simple.