Cowboy Bud

A cowboy named Bud was overseeing his herd in a remote mountainous pasture in California when suddenly a brand-new BMW advanced toward him out of a cloud of dust.

The driver, a young man in a Brioni(R) suit, Gucci(R) shoes, RayBan(R) sunglasses and YSL(R) tie, leaned out the window and asked the cowboy, "If I tell you exactly how many cows and calves you have in your herd, Will you give me a calf?" 




Bud looks at the man, obviously a yuppie, then looks at his peacefully grazing herd and calmly answers, "Sure, Why not?"

The yuppie parks his car, whips out his Dell(R) notebook computer, connects it to his Cingular RAZR V3(R) cell phone, and surfs to a NASA page on 
the Internet, where he calls up a GPS satellite to get an exact fix on 
his location which he then feeds to another NASA satellite that scans the area in an ultra-high-resolution photo. 



The young man then opens the digital photo in Adobe Photoshop(R) and exports it to an image processing facility in Hamburg, Germany. 


Within seconds, he receives an email on his Palm Pilot(R) that the image has been processed and the data stored. He then accesses an MS-SQL(R) database through an ODBC connected Excel(R) spreadsheet with 
email on his Blackberry(R) and, after a few minutes, receives a response. 





Finally, he prints out a full-color, 150-page report on his hi-tech, miniaturized HP LaserJet(R) printer, turns to the cowboy and says, "You have 
exactly 1,586 cows and calves." 



"That's right. Well, I guess you can take one of my calves," says Bud. 




He watches the young man select one of the animals and looks on with amusement as the young man stuffs it into the trunk of his car. 




Then Bud says to the young man, "Hey, if I can tell you exactly what your business is, will you give me back my calf?" 




The young man thinks about it for a second and then says, Okay, why not?" 


"You're a Congressman for the U.S. Government", says Bud. 




"Wow! That's correct," says the yuppie, "but how did you guess that?" 





"No guessing required." answered the cowboy. "You showed up here even though nobody called you; you want to get paid for an answer I already knew, to a question I never asked. You used millions of dollars worth of equipment trying to show me how much smarter 
than me you are; and you don't know a thing about how working people make a living - or about cows, for that matter. This is a herd of sheep. 

Now give me back my dog.

"Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway." by John Wayne

My last week has been a struggle, sleep was not in my vocabulary and apparently it is right now either while I am  home.  I have taken a lot of test this week and turned in a few papers this past week, so I am looking forward to getting my grades back when I return from thanksgiving! I will be home for right at a week returning to Arkansas on my birthday. I have decided that while I am home it is all homework and not much of anything that takes to much energy. Although, I know mom will pass out a few chores in the morning and friends will be around here till all hours of the night, Life will be all good this week as we celebrate Thanksgiving. As I started my way home it wasn`t bad. When Cody my roommate dropped me of at the Monroe,LA airport, I had to go in and check to see if I was at the right place! It was small to say the least. With the whole building being able to fit on a football field it was a quick walk to the one gate in the terminal. There was a man behind me as I went through the good ole` TSA check point, there was a man behind that was making me a little nervous. No, we wasn`t from Iraq or wasn`t a Muslim. He was an African-American in his mid 20`s, in need of a butt whooping. He started by cursing his grandma and everyone around him. While even almost not allowed on the plane because of it. As we were boarding a woman and her two kids where in front of me, the mom turned to me and asked that if the crazy black man sat next to her or her kids if I would trade with them. I realize that she did not want to have to face a crazy man or her kids have to do it. But I think she could have choosen at least somebody with a few more steaks in there belly. Lucky, enough we all didnt have to sit next to the crazy man, just behind him. I came home thinking about courage, as John Wayne put it "Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway."  This made me think about Ezra 10:4 "Rise up; this matter is in your hands. We will support you, so take courage and do it.” I don`t think it could have been said any easier kinda like the Nike slogan "Just Do It." I know that there are things that I want to do right now in my life so bad, but just cant. Look at what Ezra has to say and take another look, what about now? Giving it a fighting chance. If your like me its your passion and your hungry without it.

Chain of Love

Most of my time that I spend at work is with a set of head phones on, simply jamming out to what ever radio station I can pick up. At home I love it because you can listen to Tampa radio station when your in Cocoa. Monticello, Ar is a whole different ball came, there aren`t more than a few stations to choose from and they rarely ever come in clear. However, my attention was brought to Clay Walkers song Chain of Love. As it came on the radio, I stopped for a brief moment. I am sure that I have heard this song before, it just has never hit me the way it did today. If you take a close listen to it, can you not totally relate this to our lives as Christians? Or what about just being a good ole` Southern person? One of the first things that came to my mind when I heard this song was a time when my brother Ben and I were trying to get my first ever calf crop of there Mommas. As we pulled up to the gate we found portable Classrooms in the way (It was right next to school,) Our top of the line 1973 A1 horse trailer wouldn`t make it in. Off on foot we went the first calf was easy, calf number to was caught down in the pond. It was Spring in Central Florida and very dry. While Ben backed the truck done the side of the pond I was holding the calf. Our goal was to get the calf in the bed of the truck simple right? Sure, minus the fact that we found the only mud whole within fifty miles of there. We called everybody we knew that lived close. All were out of town, but willing to come get us any way. A friend of ours John was way on the other side of the county when we called, but jumped in his truck to come get us out. It took a hard pull, but he got us out. We were so grateful that we didn`t have to call dad and tell him that we were stuck in mud, while there was a drought going on. Needless to say as Christians we should look at Clay Walkers song, because we can learn that lending a helping hand to some one may lead to a blessing of more than we can imagine. Or what about giving a helping hand even though we may never meet that person again? Could we have an opportunity to share the love of Christ? As Christians even though we may not want to or are afraid to we need to steep out of our comfort zone and reach out to others. For God the Farther calls us to!

Joey & Rory - Chain Of Love

Most Important Lesson I have learned in Rodeo

As a first generation cowboy, or as Floridians would say “Cracker”, I have had to seek guidance to become the Cracker I am today. From learning to ride a horse, to gaining weight, it has been a challenge, but one that I would face again any day for the knowledge I learned along the journey. It has only been four years since I started rodeoing, and on December 2, 2010, I will celebrate two years of be in the family of bulldoggers, a family unlike any other. Most people are unable to recall how many buckles or saddles they have won. I on the other hand, only have a hand full, but am proud to wear each one of them. This includes the Champion Buckle I won last April with a time of 6.2 in the steer wrestling at Green Cove Springs, Florida, which is no doubt the most difficult arena to bulldogg in Florida. Ultimately, there were two choices as I entered that rodeo. First, I could gable and take a gable and win the rodeo or maybe even miss for a chance to go to nationals, or just be another bulldogger and go out there have fun and just merely get the job done. I did not have any buckle proving my rodeo success by my third year of high school and decided that winning this rodeo was going to become my ultimate goal. I also desired a shot at Nationals and winning the Green Cove rodeo was the only way to see this goal come to fruition. State Finals was all business knowing I had to be one of the top four. I had to throw each steer as well as be in the top for the average. After my run and the third round was over, I knew it would be a challenge for the competitors in front of me with their draws, but they overcame it. I received second in the average and seven points away from nationals. I often think of all the runs I made my senior year of high school and everything I could have done differently. Those seven points that I lacked were one steer – one that I missed. Following State Finals, I often asked God why it was that I tried so hard, but never made it to the big dance? I practiced more often than most other bulldoggers, while some did not practice at all. I, on the other hand, was in the practice pen at least four days a week. I found that God was and continues to prepare me for better things in this life than to be a High School National qualifier. I not only want to be “one of the five” in steer wrestling, I want to be “one of the five” in life, in God’s eyes. So on that day, when I have reached my ultimate goal of heaven, I know that my entry fees have been paid, with or without a gold buckle.

A Cowboys Prayer

If you rodeo you have heard this a million times. It still sends Chills down my back when I here it. Does anybody know who wrote it?
**A Rodeo Cowboy's Prayer**

Our gracious and heavenly Father, we pause in the midst of this festive occasion, mindful and thoughtful of the guidance that you have given us.

As cowboys, Lord, we don't ask for any special favors, we ask only that you let us compete in this arena, as in life's arena. We don't ask to never break a barrier, or to draw a round of steer that's hard to throw, or a chute fighting horse, or a bull that is impossible to ride. We only ask that you help us to compete as honest as the horses we ride and in a manner as clean and pure as the wind that blows across this great land of ours.

So when we do make that last ride that is inevitable for us all to make, to that place up there, where the grass is green and lush and stirrup high, and the water runs cool, clear, and deep -

You'll tell us as we ride in that our entry fees have been paid.

These things we ask - Amen.

Things I have done since I broke my Collar Bone!

I wrote this about a month after I broke my Collar bone, but just found it and thought I would share it with you!
Things I have done.

1) Been bucked half way across the pasture by a colt.
2) Gotta down treadmills, weight benches, and a whole bunch of other stuff at work.
3) Unloaded feed a lot.
4) Rode plenty of horses.
5) Worked on the tractor.
6) Be unsuccessful at pushing the law mower.
7) Put up about five of dads signs.
8) Moved a sign across the street and down the road.
9) Cleaned stalls.
10) Saddled horses.

Things I cant do according to the Doctor.
1) Everything above and to many to list.

Things the Lord kept me from doing while I didnt no.
1) Steer Wrestle!

Thank You Lord for protecting me from hurting myself even worse!!!

Are you a Sinner?

As I was listening to the radio at work on Friday, I heard Josh Thompson`s "You ain`t seen country yet." Good song, but what about his song "SINNER?" It hit me like a freight train would. As I listened to him sing, I thought about my life. Not so much about what I have done wrong in my life, but what I haven`t done in my life. No, not what things I have done wrong, but what I have done right. At least I did the last half of the song. I realized that no matter what happens in my life the Lord will always be there for me. It isn`t about how far we can get away from the Lord, but how close we can get to him. You can ask about anybody when they spend time in the word of God everyday, they are more generally happy. Happy and not afraid to share the word of God. So why is it that as Christians we don`t seek Christ, but flee from him? Honestly, I think because we are afraid of what good might come of it. I know that is the case for me at times. So how can we as Christians over come this? By doing what we don`t wanna do!! Seek the Lord and spend time with him daily! It might be hard at first....wait all the time to set aside everyday to spend with him, but do it.


Website of the week is:

www.gracelanding.com

Striving For Excellence

Often times we are faced with uncertain times. Times that are hard to understand, times that we wish not to face, or times when our lives are not going as we please. Or for me now a time when I am hungry for my passion, Rodeo. It has been a challenging first semester at the University of Arkansas at Monticello. I came here with a broken collar bone from the IFYR, and by the second week of practice I had sprained my knee. Followed by a concussion by the end of September. It had been my second concussion in a little over two months, so for once I listened to the doctors and took a month off from riding and practicing. When I was able to practice the pen was too wet due to rain and practice was called off for a week, and now the steers are gone till the first of February. It has now been four months since I have jumped a steer, four months to long that is. I tried to take advantage of not practicing, now I know that doesn`t make a whole lot of sense. Look at it this way you cant compete to the best of your abilities with out a few key things. One being completely in tune with your horses. Riding in the woods and just "tuning" on them just helps them to relax and let them realize that not every time they get saddled they aren`t running there heart out for you. Second, is being fit. Lets just say at 5ft 8in tall and weighing in at a whooping 148lbs, I am not the most ideal bulldogger. while balancing College, homework and a job. I have also been doing my best to better tune my body. I don`t want a 6 pack like some guys. I want to be able to handle steers one thing that I have heard many times while practicing with Ivan Nelson and Darby Hunt is "If you had a belly like mine, you would be better off" and in alot of cases there right. I am focusing on my arms and legs right now, those are my weak points and most important for bulldoggers. Third, is spiritually strong I can tell a big difference in my doggin when I am tune with the Lord and what he wants from me. This has been the biggest struggle for me. Never in my life did I attend a public school until college. It was a big shock to me. I am getting better about my prayer life and reading of Gods word, but still not where I should be. I am very thankful that the accountability partner that I had in middle school and high school is still there for me and still calls to check on me through out the week. Through my reading this week I was up lifted about my bulldoggin and in general. In 1 Timothy 4:6-8 is says "<sup>6</sup> If you point these things out to the brothers and sisters,<sup>a]" style="font-size: 0.75em; line-height: 0.5em; font-family: 'Charis SIL', charis, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; ">[a]</sup> you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, nourished on the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed. <sup>7</sup> Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. <sup>8</sup> For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come." Keyword being trained not just in the word of God, but in everything you do. I have asked myself lately and in the words of Rope Myers "am I Physically strong, emotionally strong, and spiritually strong." what about yourself? Are you? To all my fellow "Crackers" I cant wait to see YA`LL in just less than two weeks.



Goals for the week:

1. Work horses.
2. Slide Steer Saver.
3. Get more in tune with God.
4. 2,000 Push ups.
5. 3,000 sit ups.
6. Ball basketball at least three times.
7. Lift weights at least three times.



Give this a look to!
http://crosstrainingjournals.blogspot.com/