Tag Archives: friendship

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How to Bless a New Home: A Spiritual Journey

We prayed over dirt, rocks, and the squared-off location of a foundation for a new home. Just close friends and family attended this blessing. Today, will you join us? C’mon, you’re being invited!

How do you bless a future home? How can someone ask God to bless what’s not even there yet?

My prayers must be more substantial than a simple “God is great, God is good, let us thank Him for our food.” It needs to be special. Special, like how this young couple has become to Staci and me.

They’ve moved into this Wet Mountain Valley by way of California! They definitely are “riding different horses” on their journey than this old country boy from Mississippi.

For years I’ve said that we all ride a horse on this spiritual journey. It’s my way of explaining our personal journeys. While we all ride different horses, we are all headed in the same direction.

Some, like my young friends here, had “horses” that carried them on journeys in the big concrete cities in our country. My “horse” carried me to adventures in small-town Mississippi. My friend’s “horses” carried them into the corporate world to make money/hay. Me? Well, my “horse” carried me into the literal hay fields to provide money/hay. Guess I grew up more of a cowboy than I thought.

Our “horses” propel us on our spiritual journey by giving us everyday experiences. This helps us grow our very personal beliefs in a Higher Being.

You’re riding your horse, and for no reason she spooks and throws you. Or maybe she’s stubborn when it comes time to open a gate. Perhaps more common among us all is this. You lack direction, thus your “horse” is lost.

I’ve ridden that horse many times in my journey through life.

What gets lost on this trail of life are all the things we have in common. Seems like the world today wants us to focus on our differences rather than what we have in common.

The differences? This young couple is from California! I’m from Mississippi. They worked and lived in huge concrete cities. I worked barefoot in the mud. (I didn’t want to get my shoes dirty, ha)

They are healthy and choose to eat healthy food. I eat Cheetos!

I could go on and on about how different we are. But then again, I won’t. Why? Even with all the differences in our “horses”, they are so much like Staci and me. I hope in their eyes that it’s a good thing.

Our “horses” provide a way of giving and receiving love with our family members. We have a love for the land and wildlife that we get to enjoy. Laughter is something we all enjoy. Spending time in nature is something we love. We choose to live life to the fullest. We love the outdoors. With prayer, we thank God for all that He has provided.

This might explain their asking me to invoke blessings for their new dwelling.

By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures. Proverbs 23: 3-4.

Symbolic meanings filled my prayers. That’s why I wove a rope decoration for their new home. Everyone there tied a small piece of cord to each other, forming one unified rope. This demonstrated community support for their new home endeavor.

I wrapped a gold cord firmly around the balled-up cord representing all individuals connected to these couples. This demonstrated God’s provision and protection for residents plus this house being built.

The cross in the decoration is symbolic of how Jesus is the go-between for me and this Holy Omnipotent Being that I’m asking for blessings. I can talk to Jesus just like I can talk to a horse. What’s crazy is that I can hear from them both!

All this symbolism and me saying a prayer wouldn’t give a raindrop’s amount of blessings to this new home. There was even another great prayer given by someone who gave such meaningful words.

Our prayers asked for peace, joy, happiness, love, laughter, whew, and a higher way of living for this future home.

To show respect to this property and realizing we weren’t the first people to ride “horses” on this ground, I gave a lot of the blessing using Native American language. It gave it an organic, authentic voice, asking for blessings on their time spent on this mountainside.

This home will be blessed. Not from my praying, but who we prayed to. Not from our prayers, but from our God because of Jesus. All who enter my friend’s new home will feel His love, His mercy, and His protection.

I can’t wait for this house to be built and truly become a blessed home. I bet they’ll let me walk in barefoot!

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Bearing One Another’s Burdens

I’ve been asked to be a mentor at the church camp. I’m guessing what qualifies me for that is that I’m an older guy with experiences in life (both good and bad). So they match me with this younger guy from Arkansas. Hey, at least we can understand each other being from the South and having the same “accent”. Hmmmm,…… what should I say to a younger person who is looking at me as his mentor. Does this make him my “mentee”? Should I invite him over for coffee and share our life’s stories? Staci would be so much better at small talk than I. I’ve always had a dread for that “awkward silence” that shows up when I’m trying to lead in conversations with people. Well, Dan being Dan, I did what seemed to me to be the best way to get a conversation (and hopefully a new friendship) started. I asked him a question. A most unusual question…….

“Hey Chris! I’m going on about a five mile hike in 10 inches of snow to find a dead elk, cut his stinky, rotten head and horns off, (elk had been dead close to three weeks), then bring the trophy horns out, clean them up, and have them on display at my house. You want to come help?”

I hadn’t gotten the words out of my mouth before these thoughts hit me. First of all, this guy doesn’t even know me. Who wants to hike with some guy he doesn’t know five miles into the wilderness? Second thought is why would he even WANT to help me haul out a dead elk. (Did I mention this animal had been dead and had a very putrid smell.) I’m almost regretting asking him, well, because I probably put him on the spot and everything. I’m already expecting to hear him say he’s already got plans, or he’s got work to finish at camp. But his reply is this. “Haul out a dead elk? That’s right up my alley! Count me in! Yes Sir, I’d like to go!” ……And this is where today’s story begins…..

I had a group of hunters up this week for Archery elk hunting (and fly fishing). Shout out to C J, Tyler, Jody, Wendall, and Dave. These guys are super fun to be around! They are also top notched hunters and fishermen. Even where we hunt in the wilderness, you can still send out texts. They informed me that they were in elk, and while hunting they walked up on this dead elk. They also sent me a picture of his horns. Once I saw the picture of the horns, I told them keep hunting, but tell me where this animal is because I didn’t want to see those horns go to waste.

Now, I’m realizing as I’m looking at the map that this is going to involve a fairly long hike in the ten inches of snow that hadn’t melted from the storm a couple days earlier. Traveling in the wilderness by myself is no problem as I have gone many times in the past. But I’m not stupid. I probably lean more on the cautious side. Trips I make by myself are always on specific trails, going to specific lakes to fish. If something were to happen to me, twisted ankle, some type of physical ailment, a bear attack(just kiddin’) someone would know where to find me. On this adventure, no one would know how I’m going in, or how I would be heading out. I need a safety net. Someone would need to go with me. Hopefully someone with young legs and strong muscles to help carry this twenty- five pounds of horn and bones of a burden that I’m wanting to haul out. The mentor’s “mentee” will fit this position perfectly.

The first couple of miles were not that bad. Horses and hunters had already established a trail which we gladly followed. Once we reached the top of the pass (see picture above), we were on our own. We now had to bushwhack our way to the coordinates my hunter buddies had given me to get to the dead elk and those horns.

The storm that came two days earlier had dumped up to two feet of snow. What made my footing so treacherous, was that the snow had melted, refrozen, and was melting again. Every time my hiking boots landed on a smooth sided rock underneath the snow, I fell. Probably fell fifteen maybe twenty times before we made it back to the established trail. I was surely glad I had my “safety net” of a guy there with me.

When we were within a couple hundred yards of our dead elk, we ran into a lot of these………

Mountain Lion Tracks!!……. and lots of them. They actually led us straight to the elk carcass. Hey, it looked like the mountain lion himself had fallen a time or two in the slippery snow. I didn’t feel quite so bad about my capabilities of hiking after seeing that. 😉 As we approached our target, closing the distance to about fifty yards, the smell became overwhelming. The ravens let us know where they were feasting, so we knew right where to go. Now the fun begins………

I have a picture of the carcass, but Staci said don’t show it because someone’s probably eating breakfast. I will just describe the scene for you. Picture a dirty diaper, a dead mouse caught in a trap for 3 days, Sour milk, my son’s tennis shoes, and road kill……. all put into a blender and poured out onto the snow. I then kneel in this substance as I cut the head and horns from this mixture. Lots of gagging, and grimacing going on, but hey it was worth it. You never know what goes on behind the scenes of a picture!

Success! Now to haul our elk horns back out of the wilderness. Chris was great at being a pack mule. He did more than his share of hauling out my burden. My burden became his burden.

Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. Galatians 6:2

On our Christian adventures we should all bear one another’s burdens. We are all in this together, right? The struggles, the battles, the highs and the lows of life aren’t meant to be handled alone. God gives us so many opportunities to see Him when we share. My burden of “elk horns’, may not compare to the personal burdens you are carrying right now, or the burdens of someone you know. But when we share in others burdens, likewise when we allow others to share our burdens, we are fulfilling the law of Christ. What law is that? Loving our God with all your heart, and loving your neighbor as yourself. Truly a Godly way to live right?

So don’t miss out on those Godly opportunities to share with others in their burdens. Also realize YOUR OWN BURDENS may need to be shared with someone else. Again this Christian journey is not meant to be traveled alone. God has His all knowing abilities and power to show us things we need to see. Sometimes He uses other people for His purpose. Burdens whether great or small become opportunities for us to interact with each other while seeing God’s care and helping hand in the example of another human being.

“Dear Lord, thank You for Chris and his willingness to share in “my burden”. May his example help me and my friends reading this become more aware of the opportunities that You God give us each day. The opportunities to help and be helped. Those opportunities to Love God, and to love others as ourselves. Amen.”

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Giving Good Directions

The directions to our “Higher Ground” property says to take the next left when you pass over the cattle gap. We had a missionary from Dominican Republic traveling to our house to spend the week. Late,late at night (2:00 am), he was trying to find our house. He confided with us the next day that the directions were clear,…………. except,……….. what is a cattle gap?

Jim from the Dominican Republic was coming to Westcliffe, Colorado to interact with Blue Fire Legacy, a ministry, get this,………. that ministers to ministers. Staci and I met Mark and Dallas from this ministry a while back. We sincerely believe in what they do. They live their faith, they follow God’s Will, and, ….. they minister to ministers. Pastors, missionaries, church leaders, you name it, Mark and Dallas will “come alongside them” in their ministry as they help others along on their journey. They counsel, they encourage, they LISTEN.

We decided to “team up” with Blue Fire Legacy, so we volunteered to be a “host home” for the visiting ministers (and their families). They have their sessions with Mark and Dallas, then come hang out and “chill” here at Higher Ground. It’s a God thing, I truly believe. Check them out.
https://bluefirelegacy.org/

Back to giving good directions. Jim told us he had never heard of a cattle gap, much less seen one. He spent several minutes and miles riding up and down Reed Road looking for our driveway (and whatever cattle gap). That got me to thinking. How do I tell someone to turn at the cattle gap, when they don’t even know what a cattle gap is. Some of our Texas friends, (shout out to Becky and Earl!) tell us that it is a cattle guard, not a cattle gap. Whatever it is, seems that there is a little bit of confusion to my directions.

That got me to thinking…………. what about my directions to Christians that are just beginning their journey. Directions that some of us take for granted. I’ve got to admit to you my readers, maybe I don’t explain myself concerning following Christ as well as I should. “Cattle gaps” in spiritual terms may be this. The Blood of Christ is all that matters. Put your Faith and Trust in God, or Trust the Lord with all your heart and not on your own understanding. Those sentences may be just words to lots of you. Don’t feel like the Lone Ranger.

It’s a growing process. Actually when Jim told us he got lost because he couldn’t find the “cattle gap”, we all had a good laugh. We also became closer to each other by realizing that we are all in this together.

So, readers, let’s all have a good laugh. Our words we use, our thoughts, and yes, even our beliefs, sometimes when written on paper may actually be “cattle gaps” to other people. Hang in there with me (and each other). Maybe, just maybe you are beginning to realize that we are all in this together.

When spiritual “food” is given to you, and thoughts or meanings are difficult to understand, ask someone. Take time to reach out to others for better directions. Take time to reach out to God Himself for directions. He’s always there to listen and guide. Because of Jesus our Lord, we truly are all in this together.

See Ya! Dan Ainsworth wilderness preacher, giving and getting directions!!