Did you have a blessed 2022? Mine was the best ever! Here are a couple highlights.
January-March: I enrolled in an online American history/government class entitled “A Republic if You Can Keep It!” David Barton of Wallbuilders teaches American history/government from the original documents of our founding fathers, which means from a Christian world view. If in a couple words I were to sum up our constitutional republic it would be “God’s Miracle.” I highly recommend that every citizen of the United States take this class. Because it is an online course, you can take it at your own leisure. Here’s a link if you’re interested: https://www.patriotacademy.com/store/product/31
January-February: I also hosted a six-week Constitution class through Patriot Academy in my home. We shared meals and learned so much about how God designed our Constitution…and how far we’ve strayed from it. It’s time to go back to the Constitution!
February: I said goodbye to Sunrise, my nearly 14-year-old golden retriever. For a while Willow, my German shepherd, and I wandered around our hollow house, missing the old gal.
Spring/Summer: As soon as the weather warmed up, I recruited the neighbor with his excavator to dig holes for six more trees, some which will bear fruit for me and some will support honey bees. Daily I thanked God for my tractor, which I used to dig trenches for irrigation water lines to the trees. I also carved out and fenced off new garden spots. It was so fun to sit on the porch eating watermelon and having the juice run down my face!
Summer/Fall: I harvested a nice hay crop then pastured cows into the fall. For fun I tackled some landscaping by building short walls with rocks. Many rocks were so big they didn’t fit in my tractor bucket, so my tractor pushed them in place. Then I filled in with dirt and planted trees, bushes and flowers in my rock walled gardens. The David Austin climbing roses I planted on the arbor last year topped seven feet tall and bloomed nearly all spring, summer and fall. It’s heavenly to walk through my gate, stand under the arbor and breathe deeply of the old rose scent.
Winter: I still enjoy brokering lumber for my regular day-job and on the writing front, once again, I’ve been invited to write stories for Walking In Grace, a Guideposts publication. In my spare time I’m tinkering with ideas for another book.
A couple days ago I reclined in front of the crackling fire and wondered what in the world I did this past year. Then I laughed. I’m sure 2023 will be filled with adventures and I’m not planning on slowing down at all.
Christmas/New Year: The Christmas family gathering will be at my home. I’m looking forward to taking some time off from work while family is here. After all, celebrating Christ’s birth with family makes it the most special time of the year!
Wishing you a 2023 filled with faith in God’s love and with His miracles!
It’s summertime and time to enjoy some campfires! As a child I remember sitting spellbound, listening to tall tales of adventures and roasting s’mores over the crackling fire. Little did I know that all the years I worked in the wilderness, I would sit around campfires nearly every morning and evening.
The campfire was the place where we figured out life. Where we cut our teeth on how to live the code of the West: where a man’s word was his bond and where courage and integrity meant more than money. A life of honor was to be esteemed.
Honor… It’s something seems to be missing from modern-day society. We lost it bit by bit as we removed God from our culture. Can we get it back? I believe we can, but I also believe that it’s going to take each one of us working together as a team to get it done. How? Now, more than ever it’s time to be an example and to mentor people, not condemning them, but instead guiding them with love towards God’s moral law, which is summed up in the Ten Commandments.
First, it starts with honoring the Lord with our lives. This month I’ll be posting thought provoking Morning Ponderings about #Honor on my author Facebook page. You can find it here: https://www.facebook.com/RebeccaOndovAuthor/ I’ll be meditating on those quotes myself and asking myself, how can I change my heart so that I display honor in my life?
What small thing could you do this week to strengthen the value honor in your life? Would you like to be a part of the team to bring honor back into our everyday lives?
Have you noticed that, as every year rolls by, the times are becoming more exciting! I’ve always hated “normal,” so last year was amazing. Some days I woke up and wondered if I was living in the book of Revelations. LOL.
Rebecca & Sunrise
Here’s a snapshot of my highlights:
Winter ’21: a German shepherd puppy wiggled her way into my heart and Sunrise, my golden retriever, and I started training her.
Spring ’21: I learned how to memorize whole chapters of the Bible by following the book “An Approach to Extended Memorization of Scripture” by Andrew M. Davis. I’ve never been one who could do memorization—so this was huge for me!
As the weather warmed up, I built a rose arbor archway over the entry to my sidewalk and planted the climbing roses (from my sister Julie and her husband Mike) on either side. They bloomed profusely all summer and one stem is already 7’ tall!
Summer ’21: Landscaping! I shoveled—by hand—over 12 yards of dirt and four yards of rock into a portion of the yard I couldn’t get to with the tractor. It’ll take a couple years to complete landscaping, but at least I’ll be on the tractor for the rest.
Fall ’21: Some friends and I drove over to our state capitol in Helena, Montana and testified before a committee hearing about some upcoming legislation. Wow! Talk about stretching myself—but it’s something “We the People” need to be doing. And we also got a private tour of the Montana State House of Representatives and Senate Chambers. I discovered that outside our capitol building stands a semi-circle of flags: the United States flag, the Montana flag, and flags of the sovereign nations of the Native Peoples of Montana. I searched through them for the flags of a dear friend and texted pictures to her. Honoring people and history is important.
Later in the fall I hosted a Biblical Citizenship in Modern America class through Patriot Academy. All of us came away with awe and wonder of the miracles God performed to create the United States. I highly recommend every Christian to go through this to help understand our responsibilities as Biblical citizens. Did you know that the average constitution for a nation lasts only 17 years? But God gave us this Constitutional Republic, a one of a kind government where “We the People” are the rulers, and it’s worked for 246 years! I believe that our purpose is to share the gospel with the rest of the world. And that purpose hasn’t changed. It’s time for “We the People” to roll up our sleeves and turn this nation back to God!!! Here’s a preview: https://coach.patriotacademy.com/biblicalcitizenship/
Christmas ’21: My sister and brother-in-law from Minnesota flew in to celebrate with my brother, sister-in-law, and me. It was the first time in two years we’d been together. Special!
Winter ’22: I will be hosting a Constitution Alive! class through Patriot Academy. It’s a game changer! Find out more about constitution classes at PatriotAcademy.com. And at the same time I’ll be taking an American history class through Wallbuilders & Patriot Academy.
Rebecca & Willow
I’m still working my job brokering lumber, am under contract to write for a Guideposts publication entitled “Walking in Grace,” and am tinkering on some other book ideas. The word “bored” is not in my vocabulary for 2022!
May your 2022 be filled with excitement & adventures!
What an amazing and eventful year 2016 was—here are a few highlights:
Ever since I moved to this valley many years ago, I’ve leased some land with a little cottage while searching for a place to call my own. I finally found my dream piece of land and bought it in January—Wahoo! What a way to start the year.
Before the end of January I was learning how to write with my left hand. That’s what happens when you break your right arm and have a titanium plate put in—it’s months before you can use your right hand, thus, lots of practice with your left.
I thank God that I was a part of Samaritan Ministries Health Share as every penny of the nearly $25,000 was paid for. My experience with Samaritan Ministries was exceptional.
Had I been on my previous insurance plan, I would have had to pay $24,000 out-of-network—for starters—because I chose a surgeon whom I considered to be the best, but was out of their network. Check out my x-ray—yikes! This was NOT the way to start the year.
The end of January a new book of mine was released—My Horse Diary for Girls: What I Love about Horses. Perfect for those horse-crazy girls.
April, May, and June: my physical therapy was picking rocks out of my new hayfield and putting them in a pile. I decided that from the time God created the earth—until April—I was sure that nobody had ever picked up one rock. My neighbors thought I was building Stonehenge. Yes, I live in the ROCKY Mountains. Through it all, God has blessed me with nearly 100% recovery of my arm.
May through the end of August: while I flood irrigated my little farm, Sunrise, my golden retriever thought she was in heaven. I’m sure that she thinks every golden retriever needs 10 acres underwater. Many days she played so hard, she would barely be able to keep her eyes open on the way home (me too, from irrigating).
July: brimmed with excitement as I stepped back into the saddle with my new “bionic arm” and took in my first crop of hay. I also had a re-release come out with photos in it, which my readers had been asking to see. They’re loving it.
October: my literary agency had a conference in Monterey, CA where I hung out with incredible authors and learned about the latest trends in the industry.
November: Dad and I celebrated Thanksgiving together at his home in Minnesota.
What an incredible year I’ve had—and this is only a small sampling.
2017 brings fun ideas to the drawing board: I’m considering turning my books into audio books; I’m still writing away on a spec movie script; and my mind whirls with ideas of more books and movies.
I’m praying that your 2017 is abundantly blessed with His love, peace, and joy!
The next couple weeks are jam-packed with chances to win oodles of free books–including my new re-release Heavenly Horse Stories. Wahoo!
So many of you readers have asked to see photos with my stories, so the publisher and I put our heads together and repackaged Heavenly Horse Sense with the new cover and title, and YES! there are photos sprinkled in too. You can check it out on my Website: http://rebeccaondov.com/Books.html
The great news for you is that Heavenly Horse Sense will be faded out–making it acollectors’ book–and in a couple days I’ll be giving away 7 autographed copies during the 3 Days~21 Free Books event I’ll be hosting July 14th-16th.
Then to wrap up the fun, the Grand Finale–the week of July 17th-23rd–is the Annual Christian Author Network’s Scavenger Hunt, where, through a “blog-hop,” you’ll be able to meet dozens of Christian authors and have more opportunities to win free books.
To top everything off–now through July 25th the E-bookGreat Horse Stories is on sale for only $0.99. What a great way to take a book on vacation–as an E-Book!
Are you wondering how you might have a chance to win one my books?
Here’s the scoop. On July 14-16th I’ll be giving away 7 books each day. I’ll post a question here on my blog each of those days at 12:01 am Eastern. There will be an answer box for you to fill out then click “send.” The answers to the questions can be found in my books (I might even give some hints too.) I’ll randomly choose 7 people who answer the question correctly as the winners.
On July 14th I’ll be giving away 7 autographed copies of Heavenly Horse Sense.
July 15th I’ll be giving away 7 Kindle Versions of the E-Book Great Horse Stories
July 16th I’ll be giving away 7 autographed copies of my new re-release Heavenly Horse Stories
So, for the opportunity to win one of my books July 14th-16th come back here–to my blog–and submit an answer to the question.
Yes, it’s April and I’m boxing up my Christmas decorations and tucking them away in my storage shed. Have you ever heard that before? No, it’s not because I wanted Christmas to last forever.
It’s because the weekend in January when I was going to do it I fell on the ice and broke my arm. Not just my arm, but my right arm. I’m right handed. And not just a simple break. I sheared the bones in two.
For the last couple months I was unable to do anything with my right hand or arm. My life stopped while I cradled my broken arm next to my body to protect what was left of it and waited for surgery.
A couple weeks later, in February, my doctor helped me become a bionic woman with a titanium plate and screws to put everything back together. When asked what color of cast I wanted (I’d already used up my favorite colors on the splints I’d had). I jokingly said, “Glow-in-the-dark.” Guess what? I got it–and it did GLOW when I turned the lights out.
To my shock, I discovered that, throughout my whole life, my left hand had hung uselessly by my side. I laughed my way through the last couple months as I trained my left hand to put the toothbrush in my mouth and brush my teeth. Have you ever tried tying shoes with one hand? Opening a jar? Or writing cursive with your off-hand? I couldn’t even jot a note to myself. Or how about opening an envelope? I felt vulnerable when in public and helpless at home.
Gradually my left hand and arm became productive. Now, I’m nearly ambidextrous.
It was a wild ride, living with one useful arm until just a couple weeks ago. I’m still under weight restrictions, so this is the first weekend since Christmas that I’ve been able to lift lightweight boxes. Thus the box of Christmas decorations is still sitting on the living room floor.
Through it all I’ve discovered that I have amazing friends and that I live in a community filled with kind and helpful strangers. And my heart is filled with a deeper compassion for those who struggle with physical restrictions.
There’s something that you can do too. I’d like to encourage you to do a simple experiment. Take your dominate hand and put it in your pocket for an hour–and do not use it–no matter what–not for anything.
Afterwards, reflect on how would your life be different if you only had one arm. Life can change in a split-second, in ways that we don’t like.
Then, I’d like you to apply what you learned to help someone else. Out of consideration, first ask if they’d like you to help and how. It might be as simple as opening a door, or retrieving a can of soup off the top shelf in the grocery store, a shelf they can’t reach.
I firmly believe that together we can make the world a better place by being kind to those around us.
It’s time to go get that box of Christmas decorations out of the living room and put it away–after all, it is April and I can use two hands and arms. Wahoo! Thank You, Jesus!
I feel blessed to be surrounded by family and friends who made my year so special—thank you! I love catching up with you on Facebook, by email, and snail mail. And I want you to know that I pray for you in the mornings—that God pours out His peace, love, and blessings on you and your families.
Here are a couple highlights from my year:
In July I flew to Alaska with my brother Chuck and his wife Cindy, where we met with several friends and fished the salmon run on the Kenai Peninsula.
With fish everywhere you’d think it’d be a snap, but I was skunked a couple days before I finally got the hang of how to catch those illusive fish!
I was thrilled to bring home a box of salmon and am planning on smoking some for Christmas. See the grin? I was one happy girl that day.
Cindy and I had some great “sister time” hiking up to a glacier AFTER taking a Kenai Fjord tour where we learned that July in Alaska it is only 30 below zero! Just kidding. But we did have to bundle up aboard the ship while we were entertained by the interesting sea animals and by the jaw-dropping scenery.
In August I celebrated the release of the book of my heart, Great Horse Stories for Girls. The goal is through my true-story devotions my horses, to help the reader discover what a treasure God created them to be. Don’t be fooled by the title; I’ve got gals in the 60’s and 70’s who have fallen in love with the book.
I’m excited that in February of 2016 my next book My Horse Diary for Girls launches—yes, it’s what the title says, it’s a fun diary for girls that has some horsey quotes in it.
I also have a re-release (with photos) of Heavenly Horse Stories coming up and I’m thrilled and honored to be one of the authors in the Daily Guideposts 2016.
Whew! It’s been an amazing year for which I give God all the glory and thanks.
Wishing you the very best Christmas ever–and an incredibly Happy 2016!
Today is the Last Chance to Win! 10 Days ~~ 10 Free Books
The question for Day 10 is: What is the name of my all-time dream horse?
Enter your answer by clicking on the link below (make sure you read the directions from the first post “10 Days~10 Free Books” first.)
You can find the answers on my Website: http://rebeccaondov.com or in my books (hint: you can access a lot of the stories by going to my website and clicking on the “Books” tab, then click on the online retailer tabs where they show the books where you can look inside).
The question for Day 9 is: What is it called when you make a pack that goes on a mule by wrapping your gear & duffel in a canvas tarp? (You _____ the load. The rope that’s used is called the same thing, a ______ rope.)
Enter your answer by clicking on the link below (make sure you read the directions from the first post “10 Days~10 Free Books” first.)
You can find the answers on my Website: http://rebeccaondov.com or in my books (hint: you can access a lot of the stories by going to my website and clicking on the “Books” tab, then click on the online retailer tabs where they show the books where you can look inside).
The question for Day 8 is: What did I give the mule that made its teeth stick together (be specific)?
Enter your answer by clicking on the link below (make sure you read the directions from the first post “10 Days~10 Free Books” first.)
You can find the answers on my Website: http://rebeccaondov.com or in my books (hint: you can access a lot of the stories by going to my website and clicking on the “Books” tab, then click on the online retailer tabs where they show the books where you can look inside).
Happy New Year!!
The end of January a new book of mine was released—My Horse Diary for Girls: What I Love about Horses. Perfect for those horse-crazy girls.
July: brimmed with excitement as I stepped back into the saddle with my new “bionic arm” and took in my first crop of hay. I also had a re-release come out with photos in it, which my readers had been asking to see. They’re loving it.
Cindy and I had some great “sister time” hiking up to a glacier AFTER taking a Kenai Fjord tour where we learned that July in Alaska i
t is only 30 below zero! Just kidding. But we did have to bundle up aboard the ship while we were entertained by the interesting sea animals and by the jaw-dropping scenery.
Rebecca Ondov: Talk Around the Campfire 