Down Memory Lane

Terraville

This past Sunday, with my husband by my side, I mustered up my courage and we headed to the Terraville Reunion in Deadwood.  I had not seen the majority of these people since 1967 when we moved to Nevada Gulch just outside of Lead, SD.   Some of them had moved out of town before we did and then there were those who lived there before or after we did. It was not that I was afraid to meet these people; it was that sometimes I just don’t know what to talk about.

I found this reunion to be very exciting.  We all had one thing in common and that was Terraville.  One lady, who lived there before my family did, told me where she lived.  It took a minute for it to register and I said, “That is where I lived!” I am a little slow these days and I finally figured out that she lived there before we did, because I knew that no one lived there after we did.  We not only had the town and the house in common, we both remembered wonderful Christmases with the bay window.  (I came home and asked Chip if we could have a bay window!) We both had 4 siblings and remembered the yard and the outhouse.  Thankfully, we had indoor plumbing when we lived there. I asked her if she had left a poster behind called “Pharaoh’s Horses” and she did not remember it.  My brother and sister very carefully took the poster off the wall when Dad tore the house down.  I still have it!  Guess I will have to take it to the next reunion, which just may be where Terraville was located.

Special thanks go to Melody Shoop Helsing for preserving the history in photos and newspaper articles, and for the yearly planning of the reunion.

Someday there will be a reunion in Heaven. Thankfully, I don’t have to muster up courage to go there since I don’t know the day of my passing.  There will be a lot of people there that I haven’t met, but we will all have one thing in common and that is Jesus. I am sure that we will share our testimonies of how we came to know Christ as personal Savior and how He led us daily in our Christian lives.    We will have so much to talk about with all the saints of the past.

I am sure that many plans have been made for that special reunion in Heaven when “The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ will rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.  Wherefore comfort one another with these words. ( I Thessalonians 4:16-18) 

Tears

Tears seem to be something that we all dread.  I, for one, hate tears, but I have an overabundance of them.   Do we dread them because they are there due to pain or that they make us appear weak?  I believe that tears are an unspoken language that the whole world can understand.  We understand tears by the actions of the person before the tears begin.

When a person laughs so hard that they cry, we know that the person thought something was funny.  If a person hits his thumb with a hammer and cries, we know that it was a very painful hit.  If a person hears sad news and the tears flow down his face, we know that the person is sad.  If we attend a funeral and do not know what words to say, a hand clasp, a hug and tears tell the person that we grieve with him or her.

So for those of us, who seem to have an abundance of emotions shown by tears, please don’t dread them.  God made us that way and tears can say just the right “words” to the person who sees them and wants to understand them.

Life on the Ranch

Two weeks ago I was barely able to walk into my chiropractor’s office.  I was in very bad shape and a lot of pain.  I was given strict orders to stretch and to lose weight.  Hmmm! Both are a tough assignment to do, but I am now able to touch my toes again.  The back is feeling a lot better, but does not do well sitting in a car.

Branding and docking started on June 15^th with the arrival of my sister Sharie and her friends Carl and Jackie.  Sharie, Carl and Jackie spent Sunday in Deadwood visiting with friends and attending church at the First Baptist Church in Deadwood.  This is the church that she attended when she was a year old.  From there she celebrated her birthday with our friends Harold and Marge.  Thank you H & M as all she got from me was “Happy Birthday” and that might have been a day early.

We spent the week preparing for Branding and Docking (B&D).  Carl mowed our lawn and Sharie and Jackie did the cooking.  Every time I walked into the kitchen, Sharie would kick me out.  I did notice that Carl did wash a lot of dishes during that time.  A big thank you goes to all three of you for your help.

The Minnesota group arrived on Thursday this year.  That made for a relaxing day of resting and visiting.  They set up panels for the branding and had things ready to go for Saturday.  One by one people started arriving and all were here by Thursday night.  We were truly blessed to have Tya with us this year.  She was a foreign exchange student from Indonesia.

Friday everyone was up early for the docking and all went well.  That night a new game was introduced to everyone called “Spoons”.  From what I hear, that was a good time had by all. I do know that if a person was looking for a quiet place, that building was not the place to go.

Rain!  It rained Friday night, but we were still able to brand on Saturday morning.  We started breakfast early so that we could get the day’s work finished before the Peterson side of the family left for the wedding.  Thank you all for getting the job done.  Then it rained again!

The Wedding!  It was probably the shortest wedding I have ever attended, but thankfully someone was listening to the weather forecast.  The wedding started at 3:56 (my watch, my story) and was finished by about 7 minutes after four. (I didn’t look at my watch.)  We were down in our vehicles and headed for the reception when the rain and hail hit.  I must have been in the right part of town as less than 20 hailstones hit our vehicle.  There were those who were less fortunate and now will be purchasing new windshields and probably fixing dents in their cars.  I have learned to think that hail damage happens so that I don’t get all bent out of shape on the little things that happen to my car. Living on the ranch allows for all kinds of little things to happen.

Sunday, we watched Angela and Mike open their wedding presents and then had a great time with family.

On Tuesday, Chip took Jo and Lizzie to a branding way back yonder.  They came home tired but excited. (At least Lizzie was excited)  I spent the day trying to figure out if our water softener was working or not.  Then I washed sheets and made a few more beds.  I did rest a lot as well.

It is now Wednesday and I am starting to feel like a human again even with a sore throat.
So once again, thanks to all that made our 10^th Branding and Docking a real success.

I did find a pair of sun glasses, but can’t remember who lost them.

 

 

New Life

Spring is a time of new life. A time when ranchers anticipate the new arrivals of calves and lambs.  It is a time when there is hope for the future.  As we look at the cute babies, we know that they will grow up and eventually sell.  They represent food on the table, wool for clothing and leather for gloves or chaps.  They represent a paycheck for the rancher.

Spring is the time of year where new kittens arrive.  They too are very cute, but have a special job on the ranch of getting rid of mice and moles.  I must admit that my cats spend more time begging for a free handout.

This spring we have not received the moisture that is so much needed to raise the babies to market weight.  The fish have died in many ponds, the geese are inhabiting the area, making a mess of the water and the water has gone bad.

Zechariah 10:1 says "Ask rain from the Lord in the season of the spring rain, from the Lord who makes the storm clouds, and he will give them showers of rain, to everyone the vegetation in the field."

 

 

Ranchers are already taking weigh up cows to market.  Every cow that is not producing or has lost a calf is not worth keeping around.  Without rain, more cows and calves will be headed to market causing the rancher to change their operation.

 

 

Please pray that we will get rain to bring new life to the grass in the fields.

Happy New Years

January 1, 2013

As another new year begins, my thoughts turn to both the past and the future. 

I look at 2012 and can honestly say that I don’t remember a lot about it.  I know that it was a very difficult year for me, but at the same time it was a year of learning.  Without experiencing 2012, I would never have been able to understand people who suffer from depression.  Without going into detail, I will just say that it is not a fun thing to experience.  The person who experiences depression cannot control those feelings, they are not trying to get out of something or trying to get attention, and they are not out of “God’s Will”.  I also attended a record number of funerals in 2012.  I have learned that everyone honors their loved one in their own way.

 In my brother-in-law’s testimony he asked the question, “What is success?”  He gave a lot of examples and ended by saying that success to him was standing before Jesus and having Him say, “Well done, Soldier; you may now enter the gates of Heaven.”

I have given that a lot of thought this past week after attending his funeral.  Success here on earth is so different to everyone.  I have a brother who is very successful in his job, a job that I don’t totally understand.  Another brother is very successful in his grocery store—I understand that one a little better.  My husband would not do well in either of those businesses, but he does run what I consider a successful ranch.  My two brothers wouldn’t know where to start in the ranching business.  So with that in mind, I question myself with “Am I justified in calling someone a loser.”   Wow! Even after what I have seen in the past week, I would still have to say “No!” Since God created all of us, I can’t believe that he created any losers.  But…. there are those who are walking down a losing path.  There are those who are not making right choices.  No matter how wealthy a person is, without Christ that person will lose in the end.  No matter how poor a person is, if that person gives their life to Christ they will win in the end.  As a friend of mine said, “It is the eternal that counts.”

Today, I read the Jan 1 devotion in Henry and Richard Blackabys’  1997 book Experiencing God Day-By-Day.  Its title is “Resolutions.”  (How appropriate for January 1^st.)  They used the scripture reference John 21:16 that says “So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?”  Please remember how Peter had messed up by fleeing from the garden when Jesus needed him and later by denying Christ three times.  The devotion goes on to say that “Jesus has a wonderful way of restoring us when we fail Him!  He does not humiliate us.  He does not criticize us. He does not ask us to make a resolution to try harder.  Rather, He takes us aside and asks us to reaffirm our love for Him.” Peter seriously failed Jesus a couple of times, yet Jesus asked for his love.

 I know that I have seriously failed Jesus so many times in the past, yet He will not humiliate me, He just wants me to tell Him that I love Him.

“Jesus does not need your (my) resolution, your (my) recommitments, or your (my) promises to try harder this year.  If your (my) resolve to obey God last year did not help you (me) to be faithful, it will not make you (me) successful this year.  Jesus asks for your (my) love.  If you (I) truly love Him, your (my) service for Him in the New Year will be of the quality that He desires.”

I usually don’t make New Year Resolutions so I won’t start this year, but it is my desire to Love Jesus with my whole heart. That our ranch will be used for His honor and glory.  I know that I have a lot of changing to do and it should start with loving Jesus more.

David Dennis Dye

 

David Dye

I remember the day when I had no idea who David Dye was and tonight I mourn the death of a brother and friend.  Let me start from the beginning!

The Fourth of July 1995 was spent at Mom and Dad’s house.   Chip had driven down to Belle Fourche to take us to the Black Hills Roundup.  We were eating lunch when there was a knock at the door and Chip yelled out, “Come on in!”  That was not what I really thought should have happened.  That stocky young man opened the door and walked in.  Mom in her own way said, “Who are you?” and the reply was “An encyclopedia salesman.”  Well I knew that there were two old sets in the house already.  So Mom replied, “We don’t need any encyclopedias.”  That guy smiled and sat down in my grandma’s rocking chair, and as always Chip started talking to him.  Now I was getting a little frustrated with the situation until Chip made a comment that made me realize that this “salesman” must be Chip’s brother.  That was my introduction to David Dennis Dye.

Sometime later I was out helping Chip at the ranch when his entire family came out.  With the entire family helping a lot of brush and tree limbs were taken to the dump and the yard began to look very nice.  After mowing the lawn for a couple of hours, David brought me an ice cold glass of water and we sat on the grass and talked.  I watched as he shared his glass of tea with his two dachshunds. That was the day our friendship began.

In 1999 Chip and I were married.  David gave us his blessing and I appreciated knowing that he approved of his brother’s future wife.

After our marriage, David would call or come up to the ranch to visit.  I always appreciated his sense of humor, smile and laugh.  One day I called him and asked him to join the family for Thanksgiving at the ranch.  He asked what he should bring and I replied, “Bring your great personality!”  Hmmm!  He had added a little “buzz” to his personality before he arrived.   I informed him that it was his personality I wanted, not one that came from a bottle.  He laughed and the family had a great time.

David, Chip and I took a trip to Arizona to their nephew’s wedding. David liked to be in control and to be behind the steering wheel. That was fine. When we reached Colorado, he was ready  to let someone else drive. Unfortunately it was in the Rocky Mountain National park and although I had driven it years before, I froze up on that trip. I was driving 5 MPH and my knuckles were white. David said, “You are making me nervous!” I am sure the ten cars behind me were nervous too. It could have been a long trip up that mountain at 5 MPH. I pulled over and David drove again. I was sitting in the passenger seat but leaning over as far as I could to the middle of the seat. He said, “Dru, leaning over isn’t going to help.” I replied, “Oh, yes it is! I can’t see the bottom of valley.” It was a long trip! We had fun times and frustrating times, but we became better friends because of it.

Things started to change in David’s life and he started asking questions about God and the Bible.  Chip and he would have long discussions on the phone or at the ranch. One day he sat on the couch and Chip went through the Bible with him showing him God’s plan of salvation, but David didn’t understand it.  I asked him if he were to die right now, where he would go.  He didn’t hesitate as he pointed downward.  He knew that he was on his way to Hell, but he wouldn’t accept Christ as his Savior.

A lot happened after that day.  His aunt died and then his mother died.  He thought that his mother would last forever and so wasn’t there with her when she died.

It was about a year later that we received a call from David stating that he had accepted Christ as his Savior and that he wanted to be baptized.  The decision was to be baptized in the reservoir that almost took his life. 

Please read his testimony below.

David Dye

I realize that this is a reprint from a couple of years ago, but today my brother-in-law, David Dye went home to be with the Lord.  The following quote from David a year and a half ago here on the ranch will explain why I can say that confidently.

Having been raised here, I have had lots of fun memories of the ranch and of this reservoir.

I remember riding horses in the water with no saddles, chasing turtles, fishing, evening campfires with marshmallows, and cutting blocks of ice in the wintertime for storage in the icehouse for the summer.

Around 15 years ago while swimming in this reservoir, I found myself halfway across, started to get short of breath and realized I didn’t have a 21-year-old set of lungs anymore.  I had to make a quick decision of going back or to try for the other side. I made the decision to keep on swimming.  I was yelling out for help and thought to myself, so this is how it all ends, done in by drowning?  I actually saw my obituary in the Ekalaka Eagle.  After going under 3 times, I finally reached shore having never been more thankful to land on solid ground.  I remember how small I felt in this vast expanse of water.

Over the years I have thought a lot about some of the decisions I have made and wondered how, or why I made those decisions.

 I finally realized through trial and error that I was allowing the devil too much play time in my life and decided there had to be a better way.  The devil likes to start out the relationship with fun and every time, somewhere, somehow along the line he finally slams the hammer down and sits back and laughs at you and says ha, ha, (got you again) 100% of the time.  I could go to Las Vegas and have better odds.

I have heard that the average person makes three thousand decisions per day or 90,000 decisions per month or around a million decisions per year.  If I live 75 years at a million decisions per year that’s more zeros than I can put on paper and I started to wonder why haven’t I taken the time to make the right decision for Jesus and give Him my heart and soul.  Of all the decisions I have made in my lifetime, this is the only decision that will last for all eternity.

I know that in my life for too long I have been stirring this bowl of soup called procrastination.  I decided that I had procrastinated long enough and that it was time to make a decision.

With all the problems in this world we are having, the warning signs are becoming more and more concerning & I think time is very short.

Jesus promises that if you believe in him & repent he will give you eternal life. I heard Pastor John Hagee say that when a person dies someone will get that person’s soul, Satan or God. For years I have believed in God, It scares me to death the thought of having had the chance to give him my soul and never doing anything about it.  Jesus wanted me to make that break from the devil, finally repent, and accept Christ as my Savior. I made that decision about a month ago with a smile, knowing that I had made the right choice. Heaven is forever and Hell is forever.  The choice was mine to make and I have chosen God’s free gift of Salvation and eternity in Heaven.

Life here on earth is all about choices and decisions.  This is why I’m here today at this baptism.  Today we are gathered here at my baptism as I have finally made the decision to be obedient to the Word of God and be baptized publicly. 

There are many thoughts on how to describe success or being successful.  What does it take to be a successful person? Is it nice cars, big ranches, college education lots of money?  Personally my idea of success is standing before Jesus and having him tell me, “Job well done soldier, Job well done, you may now enter the gates of Heaven.

I want to thank a friend of mine, Perry Elliot who is not here today, for working on me for so many years as we worked together on the railroad.  For years he questioned me on where I stood in life on my thoughts about the Lord.  Finally thanks to Chip and Dru for all the conversations about God that we have had here on the ranch as well as the many phone calls .

So tonight I just want to say that David has now heard "Job well done soldier, Job well done, you may now enter the gates of Heaven."  And on the other side of those gates he had Jesus waiting to greet him with his mom, dad, grandparents and his nephew Wade.

Miss you David Dye, but so glad that I will see you in Heaven someday!