Why I'm Here

            Thank you for visiting and I truly pray this will bring hope and joy to people as I go.  I promise from here on out there will be ACTUAL content and not just me yapping about me. But I hate not knowing the back story so I'll give you the skinny on why I'm here and then we can get to the good stuff.

         

             It's been a long winter already and we are only 3 weeks in to the actual winter season. (We've had snow on the ground since early October.) I know it's been long because I decided to start this blog. Only shear boredom could have done this to me. I am not a regular blog reader or blog supporter so I truly have no idea what I am doing. What I do know is what I wish there was more of and that is a place for women to be encouraged to be what God has called them to be, to find humor in the everyday insanity and to offer hope to women who are in hard places. As a survivor of domestic violence I have a heart to share my story and to help women who are in or have been in an abusive relationships.  I have come out on the other side a stronger, more confident women and I want nothing more than for all women to feel good about who they are and fight for the life they deserve. 

          Now that I've stated my case I'll tell you a little about me. I am a ranch/farm wife to my most handsome better half and we call rural South Dakota home. I am the mom to two fabulous kids I often lovingly refer to as heathens. They are like cute wild animals and are the reason I do everything. Like hide in the bedroom eating chocolate, drinking copious amounts of coffee (also some wine) and attend regular counseling. I have an obsession with my chicken flock and have a new found love in riding horses. Considering 3 years ago being atop a horse solicited tears, cursing and panic I felt this was noteworthy. Also, I'm not a photographer. Perfectly evident in this picture of our pretty horses.

          As for the reason this blog even exists, a couple months ago I started to feel a deep seeded discontentment with where my life was. We live and work on a multi-generational ranch/farm with my parents and although it is wonderful, I sometimes feel it's not all the Big Man has planned for me. 3 years ago I would have told you this was the only life for me but after joining a women's bible study and being introduced to my own relationship with God I felt a pull to do something more. I have an all-in, feet first approach to most things, which hasn't always served me well until it came to my faith. So naturally when I decided to follow Jesus I thought we should sell all our earthly possessions, buy a ticket to a foreign country and become lifelong missionaries traveling the world with our children, spreading the good word. Thankfully my hubby keeps me grounded and I decided to start by leading a local women's bible study instead even though I had no clue what I was doing. And I loved it. I love the feeling of community it brings, the different perspectives, the laughter, the hard life stuff shared and all the things in between. As a "toddler Christian" I love to share all the new things I am learning and watch others be blown away by His goodness also. 

          So back to the discontentment. I needed clarity for what I should be doing, so naturally I ran away. Isn't that exactly what every mom dreams of from time to time? So off I drove, for 2 days and 2 nights, to an abandoned house my sister has. What I wanted was to rent a cute AirBnB with farmhouse decor for this magical retreat, but due to a lack of overflowing funds I chose a very quiet, creepy, mildy up kept, mouse inhabited house my sister has for free. I pictured this trip happening like a Hallmark movie, complete with me drinking coffee on the porch as the sun rose with a blanket wrapped around me in my cute flannel pj's and scrunchy socks and wine on same said porch, as the sun went down. All the dreamy things, minus the overly sappy man sweeping me off my feet. Some ideas really seem better in my head. Turns out I am scared of the dark and the house didn't even have a porch. Now my sister lives just down the road and assured me that if I got scared I could just mosey on down to her house and stay the night. I assured her I was tough enough to endure. I'm no pansy. Long story short I was brave like Zena the Warrior princess until night fall. The first strange noise I heard (most likely a serial killer living in the upstairs a.k.a a tiny mouse) I was gone. Like a whipped pup I ran to her house to stay the night. But it wasn't a total loss because during the days I spent all of my time with a candle lit, my Bible open, a notebook and a bible study. I wrote down all my things that bring me joy and all my frustrations and it was incredibly therapeutic. While I was there I got the wild hair that people might think I'm funny and smart and I should indeed start a blog. Even if it feels completely narcissistic. I blame this 100% on all the hours of solitude spent in tractors, combines and moving cattle left only with my own thoughts. When I am my only audience I think I am freaking hilarious and a genius. Even thought the idea of a blog was scary, I am a firm believer that if somethings feels right you must do it and God will sort it out as we go. (This is horrible advice and I don't recommend it 99% of the time) The name With God and Google popped in and I immediately found out how to snag the name, even if I never wrote a post, I had it. It as terrifyingly, exhilarating. After I got home I stared at my computer for weeks. Mostly because I am not a words person. I am a use my hands and facial expressions person. So if you could, as you read this, add exaggerated influx and wild hand movements to your visual and it'll be spot on! Also, please note that is my first exclamation point and I am really proud of myself for waiting that long! There's two, things are gonna go down hill from here. 

          Anywho, I digress. This has taken me many days to write and it'll take you maybe 3 minutes to read it. But I will leave you with the story of why the words With God and Google mean anything to me. A couple years ago we were selling hay and they sent me to town to meet the trucker, get him weighed and lead him out to the place. They warned me he spoke no English but I figured he must know a little and we could get along fine. When he arrived I quickly learned that no English meant NO English. I made several attempts to explain the process but all he said was 'No Ingles', and then lots of spanish words I had never heard. High school Spanish failed me. We managed to get Julie (pronounced who-lee) weighed and headed to out place. On the way I was racking my brain how to communicate with this guy. And then I realized Google could tell me! I was a genius! I just spoke into my phone and then read or showed him what it said and it worked great. Until we started to load the truck and Julie' started to shake his head and say "mucho grande". Turns out our super trucker wasn't equipped to haul the hay and we had to unload it all. The last I saw of Julie' he said he was headed to central Montana to load and he had to be there in 3 hours. That sweet, lost man didn't have a clue. When it was all said and done my dad was very frustrated and cursing the wasted day and I told him it was all good cause I learned that 'with God and Google you can do anything!'  I was convinced I had coined the phrase because no one else could have possibly ever uttered the same brilliant words. (insert eye roll emoji). Turns out I was several years out of the loop and it was widely used, but to all of our good fortune no one had used it for a blog! And now it's mine and you all are so much smarter for reading this story. The End.