Four long years since I have posted on this site.  A lot has happened and a lot of it I have forgotten about. 

We have been busy working on the ranch, running the post office and getting involved in our church.  We have had good times and we have had tough times.

In July of 2021, we had to let Jake, our Corgi go.  He was very much loved and we miss him a lot. One night he came to us almost begging us to let him go.  It was best for him.

We were not going to get another dog, but in January of 2022 Beau came into our lives.  He was a little grumpy at first.  He would growl if we walked by him.  Now he is becoming more like Jake--Sometimes he is called Jake-and loves being with us.  He is a high energy dog. 

 Due to the many coyotes in the area and raising sheep, we also have two amazing guard dogs. Zorro came to us first.  He watches the sheep dutifully.  Then we got Bear.  Bear doesn't leave the sheep at all.  He is always between us and the sheep, but he likes to be petted before he eats his food.

   

 When Bear arrived, Beau was the bigger of the two.  Now Bear and Zorro are pretty much full grown.  All three are amazing dogs  and they all get along.  I actually believe that Zorro and Bear watch out for Beau who thinks that he too is a guard dog.

More on these amazing dogs all under 18 months and the winter of 2022 in future blogs.

Big Red

 

Last week we said Good-bye to one of the most amazing steers that we have had on the ranch.  He lived to be about 19 years-old.

Work Begins

We have begun the work of building the new barn--the one that the straight winds from the tornado destroyed this past summer.

Tornado Hits Montana

Life has been very busy since the tornadoes went through S.E. Montana the end of June.  We went up to the mailbox and watched it start to form.  By the time we were back to the house the winds were blowing branches all over the yard.

We were thankful that we only received the straight winds and were not in the path of the tornado. Those in the path of the tornado lost a house and a tractor was dismantled and was found miles away.  We are thankful that we had some great help to clean up our mess.

I will attach some photos from that day.

 



Then came the cleanup:

 

 

Mom

    

                       Mom

So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and

you will be saved, you and your household.”

—Acts 16:31

Let me tell you a little bit about my mom. When I was a little child, my mom was very quiet and shy. Then the time came that we could afford the wonderful invention of the telephone, and she started to talk to friends. By the time I was in high school, she was talking to people every day. She went from being a shy person who was afraid to stand up for herself and her family to a person who would not waver in her convictions.

 

While living in Terraville, South Dakota, she started a weekly Children’s Bible Hour for the children in the community. She also directed two Christian plays in the Terraville School gymnasium. While living in Nevada Gulch, she enjoyed her animals and raised goats for milk and meat. She was often heard talking to her milk customers about the Lord.
 

Mom took a firm stand for what she believed was right and wrong. Those unwavering convictions made me wonder if she was placing her salvation in her own good works. I knew that Mom loved the Lord, but I had heard so many messages about the correct way to accept Christ that I wondered about Mom’s salvation. One time I heard a preacher say that if a person couldn’t remember the date and time that they accepted Christ, that person wasn’t a born-again Christian.
 

In 2000, Mom developed macular degeneration. I was impressed with the patience she had with her inability to see. Many times, when I would walk into their house, Dad would be sitting next to her reading the Bible to her.
 

My siblings and I moved them to Littlefork, Minnesota, to live with my brother and his wife in February 2005. Dad passed away a month later, and Mom was alone. As she said, “Dad never talked much, but at least I knew that he was in the room with me.” She started a new chapter in her life that day and was able to spend many happy hours with her grandchildren.
 

Mom had a heart attack in June 2006. We almost lost her in the hospital, but the Lord knew that I needed her around for a few more weeks. Mom never wanted to be in a nursing home, but we had to place her in one. When my brother and his wife went on vacation at the end of July, I was asked to go up and stay near Mom. I spent twelve days in the nursing home with her.
 

Remembering how I had wondered if she was placing her salvation in her own good works, during one of our conversations, I asked her when she accepted Christ as her Savior. I needed to know that she was trusting in Christ and not in her own steadfastness to her convictions. Her reply was, “I don’t know.” Due to the message that I had heard, fear rushed through me. I replied, “What do you mean that you don’t know?”

Here is the story that she conveyed to me when I asked her that question.

 

When she was young, she had heard a message that touched her heart. When the pastor gave an invitation to accept Christ as Lord and Savior, she raised her hand. She was crying, and apparently the pastor didn’t notice her. She said she made the decision to follow the Lord that day. The decision didn’t last only during her childhood. She wanted to continue to follow the Lord into adulthood. When she and Dad got married, she said to Dad, “Let’s not do anything that will hurt our wonderful Lord.” After she finished sharing these things with me, Mom and I continued to talk about salvation and the Lord. Mom was longing to go to her heavenly home to see Jesus and Dad.

I learned that it isn’t the words you say or remembering the date and time of one’s salvation that makes the difference in one’s life. What makes the difference is deciding to follow Christ. I believe Mom made that decision when she was a young lady. When she and Dad got married and started having children, she prayed diligently for each of us to choose to follow Christ as well. As I look at my siblings and their families, I am truly blessed that God answered my mom’s prayers as each family loves the Lord and has taught their children to love Him as well.

On July 24, Mom once again asked why she couldn’t go to her heavenly home. I didn’t have the answer but asked her if she wanted me to pray that God would take her home on Dad’s birthday, which was the next day. We thought that would be a great birthday present. On July 25, Mom’s heart started to beat irregularly. When the doctor checked her heart, he told me to make her as happy as possible as there wasn’t anything else that he could do to help her.

On August 11 at about 2:00 a.m., Mom put a beautiful smile on her face and went to meet Jesus. She was finally happy again. I knew that she was in heaven because of her choice to follow Jesus, not because she had placed her salvation in her own good works or because she had said some special set of words that convinced a pastor that she was following Christ.
 

When I left Mom for the last time, she told me not to cry for her because she would be in heaven. I am human and there are still many tears, but I rejoice that Mom is with her Heavenly Father. As the Bible says, “You have heard Me say to you, ‘I am going away and coming back to you.’ If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, ‘I am going to the Father,’ for My Father is greater than I’”      (John 14:28).

I remember my mother’s prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life.

—Abraham Lincoln  

 

 

Taken from Life on the Ranch: Life Lessons I Learned on the Ranch

 

Thank You Christian Faith Publishing

Headline



Drusilla Dye’s newly released "Life on the Ranch: Life Lessons I Learned on the Ranch" is a heartwarming devotional to the God-given lessons found in everyday ranch life.
Summary of the release

"Life on the Ranch: Life Lessons I Learned on the Ranch" from Christian Faith Publishing author Drusilla Dye is a captivating collection of forty-five devotionals that illustrate the lessons and insights the author received from God during her exciting years of adventure living on a ranch in eastern Montana.


Full release text

"Life on the Ranch: Life Lessons I Learned on the Ranch": a moving devotional inspired by life in rural Montana. "Life on the Ranch: Life Lessons I Learned on the Ranch" is the creation of published author Drusilla Dye, a Christian teacher and author of the "Life on the Ranch" devotional series who was born in Clear Lake, South Dakota, moved to the Black Hills where she enjoyed a simple childhood before moving to Minnesota for sixteen years where she attended college and taught school.


Dye shares the ever-present reminder of eternity that the ranch presents, "I find it easy to talk about the good times on the ranch or the places I have been in my travels. I talk about the great friends that I have; but I find myself hesitating to share what my best friend, Jesus, has done for me. I hesitate to talk about the place called heaven where I will spend all eternity. Heaven, or the ‘New Heaven and New Earth,’ as the Bible refers to it, will be an amazing place. We will meet Adam and Eve, Abraham, and many others. We will meet Jesus face to face. Since I gave my life to Jesus, I knew that I would be going to heaven. I just didn’t share heaven and Jesus with a lot of people. I was pretty selfish about that part of my life.

Just like Dan invites all his friends and relatives out to the ranch for the big annual branding and docking reunion, so should we invite all our friends and relatives to join us at the big reunion in the clouds when Jesus comes back to take us home for all eternity."

Published by Christian Faith Publishing, Drusilla Dye’s new book is a beautiful homage not just to the wonderful gift of creation given to the care of mankind, but to the Creator himself.

Started in 2000 as a simple newsletter series encouraging family and friends, Dye’s book expands her reach to touch everyone—whether they live on the countryside or in the city.

View a synopsis of "Life on the Ranch: Life Lessons I Learned on the Ranch" on YouTube.

Consumers can purchase "Life on the Ranch: Life Lessons I Learned on the Ranch" at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or inquiries about "Life on the Ranch: Life Lessons I Learned on the Ranch", contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919.

Website for Life on the Ranch: Life Lessons I Learned on the Ranch

http://www.christianfaithpublishing.com/books/?book=life-on-the-ranch