Ranch Devotional

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Cowboy Church

cowboy-church-front

Cowboy voices united in singing country hymns such as the “Old Rugged Cross” set the tone for the Annual “Cowboy Church” hosted by Clark Ranch on a recent summer evening in Arroyo Grande. The delightful evening punctuated with Cowboy Poetry, enhanced with a devotion and highlighted with delicious peach cobbler or apple crisp drew young and old together.

cowboy-church-skit

Grieb Ranch was represented with Connie in attendance and Stan bringing the devotion. Connie’s thoughts focused as Stan spoke,

Unfortunately, on this side of eternity, things often are not right. Oh, it’s not that we don’t mean well, or intend for things to go right. Somehow, in spite of our best intentions and plans, things go wrong. Now, it’s often certainly not for lack of trying that things go wrong.

I remember putting in hours on the ranch to get a big water trough plumbed, and the float adjusted so it would fill just right. Now those cows and calves will have no problem getting water, right? Well you can probably guess what’s coming.

That night, a bear decides that my trough is its own personal water park! He tears up the float, breaks the delivery pipe, and in less than a day I’m left with a muddy mess, an empty trough, a drained storage tank, and thirsty cattle.

THINGS JUST GO WRONG!

You make the list: Not enough rain from 2011 to 2016, Too much rain a flash flood/mud slide all in 15 min. winter of 2016, Cow prices too high when you need to buy back after the drought, favorite heifer miscarried . When things go wrong, something deep inside us cries out “How Long?” How long until things go right. We long for what the bible calls righteousness.

Even when life is hard, we know that following God will be worth any trouble we face in this life. Jesus endured the greatest pain at the cross to bring about our greatest good: salvation from sin.

That is why we can claim Romans 10:10 for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. Can our longing for righteousness be fulfilled? Yes, it can by receiving the free gift of God’s righteousness through Jesus Christ.

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Give you Hope for the Future. . . Simple Trust

Embroidery front

My sister Margie is an amazing person in many ways and one of her many gifts is to do  embroidery/stitchery.  I thought of Margie when reading Hope for Each Day by Billy Graham and it said,

We can trust that God is doing what is best for us.  God says in His Word, “I know the plans I have for you…plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope for a future.” (Jer. 29:11 NIV)

As Corrie ten Boom once explained “Picture a piece of embroidery placed between you and God, with right side up toward God.  Man sees the loose, frayed ends; but God sees the pattern.”

God is in control. Whatever comes into our lives, we can confidently say, “We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”  (Rom.8:28)

Embroidery back (1280x872)

I just pray that I am called according to His purpose.

Margie gave me this embroidery over 30 years ago. She and Aunt Lorna have created many beautiful works of hand art.

Devotion by Connie Grieb Willems

 

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Where Heaven is Breaking Through

Sunrise 2016

Happy Easter from the Grieb Ranch!

“In the midst of the busyness and stresses of our days, there are patches of beauty all around us, glimpses of God’s goodness that we catch here and there along the way. These are the places in the walls of the universe where heaven is breaking through—if only we will take the time to stop and to reflect upon God’s love for us . . . Sometimes in life we must hurry. But overall, life should be less hurrying and more noticing. Life is the present. Life is being aware; it is seeing God’s love breaking through. It is turning aside to the miracle of something like a sunrise. Something transitory, yet symbolic of the eternity that awaits us.” Taken from  “Sunrise”  David Roper/Our Daily Bread

2016 Grieb Ranch Spring 2016-03-12 004For us here at Grieb Ranch, it is turning aside to the miracle of a beautiful sunrise over the ranch, appreciating the grass and mustard covered hills after several years of drought, caring for a new healthy grandchild, and enjoying the distraction of little chicks hatching as I type.

Logan babyMost of all though, it is taking time to celebrate the miracle of our risen Savior.  May we take to heart Ps. 119:18

“Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.”

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A Verse For My Mother

Lorna and Sandi
Kind and gentle, loving and giving,
She is truly a model for daily living.
Compassionate, selfless and caring,
She lives her life entirely by sharing.

A beautiful, pure, saintly soul,
A woman with a heart of gold.
A wonderful mom and grandma too
Who unconditionally loves her babes no matter what they do.

A lady of many talents is she,
Like cooking, sewing, quilting, all three.
She may call or visit to bring homemade bread
Or a handmade gift sewn with golden thread.

She knows how to balance her work and her play,
And save a task for another day.
Contented to curl up by the fire with her kitty and a book
On a quiet day in a cozy little nook.

She tenderly shares her Godly heritage now
And shines God’s light upon all of us somehow.
And hopes all will receive faith in the Word
By hearing the good news of the truth they have heard.

She is loved by her family ever so dearly.
Her inestimable worth is seen very clearly.
So these words to her I now send
To show that my love to her will never ever end.

My love to you mom from your daughter Sandi

“Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised.” Proverbs 31:30

(Sandi’s Mother was Lorna Grieb. Sandi currently is the owner/operator of Grieb Farmhouse Inn)

Grandma Gertrude Grieb and her daughters.

Grandma Gertrude Grieb and her daughters.

Four Generations Lorna, Sandi, Julie, Lily

Four Generations
Lorna, Sandi, Julie, Lily

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When The Going Gets Tough . . .

Carl, JR and Gene - Ranching friends through the years.

Carl, JR and Gene – Ranching friends through the years.

“When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going!”

Yes, we have all heard that phrase but have you ever thought of that when you are sick or on vacation? Well consider the life of a rancher or farmer . . .

Ranchers can’t call in sick. There are no such things as “sick days” or “sick leave”. The animals always need to be fed several times a day. Rain or shine, freezing or scorching weather, holiday or weekend, whether the farmer is sick or feeling great, the animals must be fed. Farmers can’t call in sick either. Harvesting and irrigating crops at the right time is crucial. The harvest won’t wait.

In addition to trusting in God and a lot of prayer, the farmer or rancher has to decide on priorities. What has to be done today, what can wait and what can be put off indefinitely. Then he or she has three options; tough it out, hire employees or rely on family and friends.

Ranching friends help each other out.
“We are here to help.”

A support network is so important that banks do not like to lend money to buy a ranch outside of a person’s current area or state. They feel farmers and ranchers have a better chance of surviving if they have a network of family and friends to rely in the rough times.

Even the toughest farmers and ranchers will experience sickness sometime in their lives. They need to be prepared by planning ahead, building a reliable support network and always trusting in God.

How can you fill in for or pray for a farmer or rancher today?

How can you help a rancher today?

How can you help a rancher today?

By Margie Grieb Runels

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Friendships

We have been very blessed in the past week by our many friends who have extended comfort as we process the passing of Stan’s father.  Your friendships are the sunflowers in our life’s garden. Thank you.

You are sunflowers in our garden.

Friendships

– by Margie B. Runels who wrote this for her sister Connie’s 50th Birthday

Friendships are like Flowers
In the Garden of Life

They are watered with tears
Of heartache and joy.
And warmed by the sunshine
Of love.
Some are delicate and must
Be handled with care.
Some are short lived
And fade quickly.

But others last a life time
And each year as life’s
Pruning shears cut deeper,
The friendship and the
Friend become more beautiful.
The roots grow deeper
The thorns are easier to
Overlook and the
Beautiful fragrance like
Pleasant memories lingers on.

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Friendship Baskets

Friendship Basket

Friendship Basket – Pineapple Guava and Vine-ripe Tomatoes. Fresh produce from Grieb Ranch.

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 1 John 4:7

I (Connie) had a dear friend, who was from the “South”, come into my life who refreshed me.  Her “Southern Charm” –  making a person feel good when they are around you; serving others and doing the right thing – simply warmed my heart and others who experienced her.  Her charm continues to pour into my life with her incredible friendship and hospitality through her open heart and home.

One of the fun benefits of this friendship was the birth of the concept of the “Gift Basket.”  We decided to share a part of our world with each other through randomly filling a basket with samples of our corner of the world and passing the basket back and forth.  I would send samples of produce off the ranch that is in season:  apricots, avocados, pineapple guava, eggs and more.  She in turn would return the basket with sorghum, steak sauce, a devotional book or some fun goodie.

I have extended this idea to other friends. I fill a small basket with some ranch goodies and an encouraging note, then ask the receiver to fill the basket up and pass it on to someone else.

It only takes a spark to get a fire going and then all those around can warm up to its glowing. That is how it is with God’s love once you’ve experienced it.  – Connie Grieb Willems.

 

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The Gift of Hospitality

Grieb Family Fun

From the time I (Sandi Ferrio a Grieb Family member who runs the Grieb Farmhouse Inn) was a very young girl, my grandmother Grieb was my model and mentor; kind, generous and steadfast in her beliefs. Best of all, she was a woman through which the light of God shone. There were no more joyous moments in my life than time spent with her. As I assisted her with household tasks preparing and serving meals, greeting guests, friends and family I observed how she moved with ease, balance and grace. Everyone felt welcome, valued and loved.

“Be not afraid to entertain strangers for thereby some have entertained angels.” Hebrews 13:2

Her life verse, Hebrews 13:2, was played out to perfection. She was always friendly to those she did not know as she believed that any person she met just might be one of God’s chosen messengers as told in the Bible in Genesis 18, (Abrahams’s encounter with God’s messengers). The love of God overflowed in my grandmother’s conduct in all she did. She was neighborly, charitable and hospitable. Her hospitality required generosity in loving her fellow man and following the commandment to love your neighbor as yourself.

Grieb Family Dining Together

I am sure my grandmother never knew all the lives she influenced during her time on earth. The way she fed the homeless hot meals who came to her door during the Great Depression or how cheerfully she daily fed drop-in visitors her delicious brand of food and modeled godly principles of hospitality. The soup pot was never empty, the cookie jar was always full. An offer of a cup of hot green tea and a warm cinnamon roll was not uncommon.

She was a woman who made a deep and lasting impression on my life. It is no accident that in my own way I chose follow in my grandmothers footsteps and more importantly the leading of God in my life by extending hospitality to strangers at the Grieb Farmhouse Inn. It is a joyful thing. “ I thank my God upon every remembrance of you.” Philippians 1:3.

A Hallelujah Christmas

Merry Christmas from Grieb Ranch

Enjoy this song with lyrics by Lance Stafford of Cloverton

We have every reason to sing Hallelujah!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43OQi0KJC8g

“With every breath I’m singing Hallelujah . . .”

“God’s only son was born, oh Hallelujah . . .”

“Emmanuel and Savior Hallelujah”

“I know you came to rescue me,

this baby boy will grow to be

a man who one day died for me and you.

My sins would drive the nails in you

that rugged cross was my cross too,

still every breath you drew was Hallelujah!”

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A Christmas Gift That Keeps On Giving

A Very Special Gift
By Margie Runels

Grandma and Grandpa Grieb had lots of children and grandchildren. At Christmas time they remembered each one of us not with fancy or expensive gifts, but with gifts of love. Every family would get a big tray of mouth-watering cookies and candied walnuts, plus a subscription to National Geographic to enjoy all year.

But the best gift that Grandma and Grandpa gave us, still lingers today. Years after they are gone – their love for each other demonstrated commitment and faithfulness.

Grandma and Grandpa Grieb sitting in their rocking chairs.

Grandma and Grandpa Grieb sitting in their rocking chairs.

One example etched in my memory is: Every Saturday night they would pull up their old wooden rocking chairs in front of a small black and white television. The T.V. sat tucked in the corner; silent the rest of the week. They would hold hands and enjoy a whole hour of the Lawrence Welk show. My grandparents just may have created the original date night.

Grandma and Grandpa Grieb with Connie and her parents.

Grandma and Grandpa Grieb with Connie and her parents.

Even after being married almost seventy years they still held hands and Grandpa still looked at Grandma with a twinkle of love in his eyes and brought her wildflowers out of the yard.

Thank you Lord for blessing me with such wonderful family memories and examples of enduring love though my Grandparents. Please help me, Lord, to strive to pass on to my children and grandchildren the same gift.