It’s time to empower each other!

Good morning everyone! I hope you are well! Today, I am about to take a step in faith on the journey
God has me on and with that, will begin telling my story…and hopefully, yours. It is time to put a face to the statistics, to change the culture of shaming, and to help inspire and encourage others. You are not just a “survivor” …you are a champion, a warrior!


– Leading cause of death in women is heart disease, cancer, chronic lower respiratory disease.
– It is estimated that 266K new cases of breast cancer will be seen this year.
– 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner.
– 100 women die each year in Texas due to domestic violence. 12 of those in 2017 were in SA.
-1 in 5 women have been raped.
– In 2016, the military had over 6K cases of reported sexual assaults (the actual estimate is twice that).
-15 to 20% of pregnancies end in miscarriage.
– 23.5 million Americans suffer from autoimmune disease.
– Autoimmune disease is one of the top 10 leading causes of death in women.

If you feel like you want to share your battle, your story…please…I would love for you to join me on this journey – here is a link to a confidential contact sheet.

Peace, love, and pie.
RED

Sing Baby Sing

This will hit ya next Tuesday:

When God remembers you, He

Scripture

doesn’t remember your mistakes or failures, just His promise over your life. He doesn’t remember your past, He remembers His. God’s past is your present reality but also your future destiny. You can’t live in His victory if you’re living in defeat in your life and memories. Before you had a past, God already knew your future! BAM! – Pastor Duane White

Never Forget!

While you were not built to carry the

mountain of fear, pain, worry, or stress …. You were created for an amazing life, full of adventure, love, joy, peace, and happiness. While your journey may intersect with pain and suffering, you were not meant to stay there and you are equipped with everything you need to succeed – financially, emotionally, spiritually, physically, and relationally. It’s time to let go of the past, open your hands, heart, and mind to a new way of life!

You are who you want to be, so it’s time to step up buttercup and be the person who makes you proud!

My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys

This is dedicated to my Grandfather. The world’s greatest cowboy, rancher, grandfather, father, husband and friend. Without him, his love and support I wouldn’t be half the person I am now.

Everything I need to know I learned from my Grandfather
Milo E. Wilson Jr.
1919-2004

There are not enough hours in the day to relive all the wonderful memories, good times, and stories he had to tell. His life story was the making of a best seller Louis L’Amour book, his love for his wife a hundred country songs, and his honor as a man countless cowboy poems. Milo was an amazing man…with his gentle manner and twinkly eyes you just knew there was something special about him. He was down to earth, modest to a fault, friendly, and always had a hug, kiss, or pat on the back for you anytime he saw you. Some of the things I’ve learned about my grandfather and the truths he taught me about the real world:

• He didn’t fancy labels or titles, his family called him Milo , and his buddies called him Wilson.
• He liked the finer things in life such as smoked oysters, a good prime rib, and three fingers of whiskey in his glass.
• There was never a problem too big a peppermint lifesaver or tic tac couldn’t cure.
• There really is such a thing as true love.
• Real cowboys know how to waltz, take their hats off when they dance, and always stand up when a lady enters the room.
• He loved to go for a drive…anywhere, anytime..and that’s when you received history lessons that you’ll never read about in a book.
• He taught me to always bet on the gray horse.
• I learned to play gin rummy before I knew how to count.
• He never talked to be talking, well unless he had just a useful little bit of trivia to share.
• Respect is earned.
• Brownies were made to hold up the chocolate frosting, and potatoes were created to hold up the gravy.
• The surest way to get on Milo ‘s bad side was to eat the corners out of the brownie pan (that’s where the most frosting was).
• It took more than a good tee off to beat him at golf, and the Canadian geese on the green really didn’t care that they’re sitting on your golf balls.
• I learned respect for the land.
• He taught me that you take care of your family even if it means swallowing your pride or your hurt feelings.
• It’s not what you are in life; it’s who you are.
• Some things in life you don’t skimp on just to save a few cents, such as good work gloves, soda pop, or cheese in a can.
• The best things in life aren’t things.
• You can always find a story and a friend in the face of a stranger.
• You’re only as good as your word.
• I learned he remembered not the times I’d failed, but all the good things I’d done and the person I had become.
• When you’re as smart as Milo was, it’s ok to do the crossword puzzle in pen.
• He taught me a man’s worth is not measured in gold or silver, but in the family and friends he has.
• That I am my mother’s daughter.
• And that no matter how much you’ve prepared yourself to say goodbye, you never are ready to let go.

To know me is to know my grandfather, or about him at least. To know my grandfather was to also know the most amazing woman, my grandmother Ann, or at least hear stories of the love affair of the century that all started with that kiss in second grade. To ease our own grief, we believe that my grandmother has spent the last 5 ½ years getting things ready, preparing Heaven, and finally decided it was time for him to come home.

 

 

 

In honor of their memory:

The Cowboy’s Last Ride
“Grandpa’s Poem”

By Diane Baumann

The cowboy strode up and mounted his horse,
and turned his tired head toward the hills.
He didn’t feel the wind, nor notice the cold,
he’d many times suffered worse ills.

He rode and he dreamed of a time long ago,
before he was left all alone.
The Colorado * sun shone and the flowers all bloomed,
but that was before she was gone.

He closed his eyes as he rode and could feel her touch,
just the way that it all used to be.
Now he’s riding alone, to find her again,
together once more, he and she.

He bode no ill, but he couldn’t stay here,
away from the one that he loved.
He had family and friends that would miss him he knew,
but he needed her love from above.

The weather got worse; it got harder to move,
but he knew that he must stay astride.
His longing for her welled up in his soul,
and he knew that this was his last ride.

He spurred his horse on and picked up the pace,
for he felt that his time was now near.
He whispered her name as he galloped along,
and he knew that somehow she would hear.

She opened her eyes and looked down from the sky,
and she smiled when she saw it was him.
She couldn’t see his face, but she knew who it was,
by the shape of his beat up hat brim.

She reached out her hand and she grabbed hold of his,
and she helped him to sit by her side.
With a smile on his face and her love in his heart,
the cowboy completed his last* ride.

• Originally written as Montana

• ‘Last’ was not in original poem

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

I will be the first to admit that I am FAR from perfect. Nothing about me, my life, or the way I look, act, or talk is perfect. Nothing visually 20180204_160940says she is imperfect like looking at a woman’s manicure. I just looked down and realized how badly I needed one! And then I struggle trying to figure out where in my day I am going to fit an extra hour and a half into my overly crowded schedule. Sometimes, I look down and think, “oh my God. My grandmother would be SO ashamed of me and the way in which I have maintained my nails.” Sometimes, my nails are chipped or broken or dirty. Some days, I walk into establishments dressed as the girliest girl in the place and other days, I look like…poop. Sometimes, I am dirty like a man. And I’m not just talking about my mouth (and for the peanut gallery out there, I have managed to reduce the number of bad words that come out of my mouth each day). If you’ve ever worked cows or welded, you know what kind of dirty I’m talking about. I can feel people looking down at me with a lack of respect because I don’t fit into “the box.”

But is that cause to be disrespectful to someone? Because they don’t fit into the same box or the same socioeconomic class or the same group of people or the same political party, church group…the list goes on. I have very strong opinions about what respect is and, like many, sometimes feel that I deserve respect because of how hard I have worked in life and what I have overcome. But sitting in church a few Sundays ago, I received a HUGE lesson on respect and what it means through God’s eyes. Not only was it humbling, it was disturbing.

We often think that respect is something that we are due. How many of you remember growing up and your parents would tell you that respect is earned- by the way you treat and interact with people. I don’t know about you, but I think we’ve lost that philosophy in life. We treat people how we feel they should be treated…based on how WE value them. We never give consideration to the fact that they are valued. No matter what. They are human beings. They have their own baggage and their own heartbreak and their own issues they are dealing with or going through.

We don’t give any consideration to the fact that they are divinely created and incredibly loved by our heavenly father. We don’t look at people and give them respect because we don’t stop and look at them through His eyes as being created in His image. We look at them and either disregard them or disrespect them because we look at them through OUR eyes. Through a worldly lens. We no longer give people the benefit of the doubt to grow into who God has destined them to be. We pigeonhole them into where we feel they should be 20180224_150848on our ladder of success or political gain or social status. We don’t give people the chance to be people. We treat them like…well, I was going to say, like animals, but if you’ve been in this house, you know our animals live like kings.

And don’t think I’m writing this because I’m immune to this. Actually, most of the stuff I write and post is because of something that I have done/seen/felt and God is trying to change my heart and the way I look at people. My life is anything but perfect, and that includes me and my actions towards others. I know I need to have a change of heart towards some, and that is something I pray about every day.

My takeaway from all of this is….RESPECT (and showing respect to others) says more about you and your heart and very little about the person with whom you are interacting. Do I DESERVE respect?  Probably not. Do I DEMAND respect.  Probably more than I should. Do I GIVE respect without hesitation? Yeah….anyway. Let me get back to you on that one. You don’t have to like or approve of someone to show respect. And just an FYI, respect and kindness are two completely different things. That’s another topic for another day. So my hope is that as the lines become more clear, and the divisions more radical, that we can learn to be kind again. Nice. Respectful.

Love, Peace, and Pie.

~RED