CATTLEMEN OF THE BIBLE

by Molly Noble Bull 

www.mollynoblebull.com  

                                  Cowboy in South Texas herding cattle. 

The dictionary defines a cattleman as someone who raises cows, bulls and steers, but at one time, the word cattle applied to all domesticated animals, including sheep and goats. By the old definition, Abraham, David and others mentioned in the Bible were cattlemen. So what is it about cattle raising that would cause so many of the old patriarchs to choose it as their livelihood? Nobody knows. But I would like to make a guess. 

Remember the song, Home on the Range?

Give me a home where the buffalo roam and the deer and antelope play. Can you think of a more peaceful setting? 

Gone are computers, the blaring sounds of a radio or a television set, the maddening scramble to get to school or work on time. Traffic. Horns honking. Brakes squeaking. Schedules. Pickups and drop offs. Meetings and sports events.

No wonder we don’t have time for God.

But if a cattleman is riding his horse across the open prairie with the sky above and the earth beneath or watching a herd of sheep by night, he has time not only to pray but also to listen to God—and expect an answer. In fact the Bible says that Jesus, the Prince of Peace, and his saints will return to earth riding white horses, and as a cowgirl of sorts, I like that promise.

In our busy world of today, let us all spend time with God as the cattlemen do. Another song says that there is a place of quite rest and that the place is the heart of God.

  

Recovery-how long does it take?

In the beginning...I unpacked in the first hotel room getting ready to compete for Mrs. International. Little did I know how much energy it would take to get through the week!

We had early mornings and some late nights. Lots of rehearsing a dance number and meeting new people. We had personal appearances, interviews and a constant sense of stretching. I had a wonderful week in Chicago even though, no, I didn't win.


Behind the scenes: my feet hurt like crazy! Living on someone else's schedule is hard. I had to switch rooms mid-week when my hubby came. Learning new things outside of my experience kept me in constant fascination but also in constant awareness. That in itself draws on energy supplies.

Back at home, I thought it would take a day or two to reacclimatize to my regular schedule. Oh was I wrong!

Although playing with my grandson brought my head and heart right back to reality and how much my family means to me! His smile is so sunny, his joy chasing my exercise ball and just hugging him infuses me with energy.

Today, almost a week later, I'm feeling a bit more back to normal. I started thinking about why it took almost as long to recover as it did to compete. It was the lack of private recovery time. I'm a huge people-person. But one thing I do back at home is take private time to recharge. So home is a very quiet, peaceful place.

Ah, the energy. One week of constant, non-stop "up" energy. It's totally me, no problem, to visit and enjoy all the people I love meeting. The normal daily life allows time away, time to think, time to sleep! But it also allows down time away from people. No matter how much we love others, we still need our time to refuel and refresh. One week of solid drawing on those reserves depletes them completely. Not because it isn't fun or exciting, but because anytime you deal in non-stop people-it takes a different kind of mental energy.

When you are feeling drained, I'd like to suggest getting away by yourself and refilling your energy reserves with quiet, private time.

Angie
PS Please come visit www.MyGemofWisdom.com and see the jewelry that helps support the Sanctuary of Hope orphan homes in Kenya.

Battle Your Inner Pirates--And Win!

Today I sent the class introduction for Battle Your Inner Pirates and win! to the members of the American Christian Fiction Writers free online class.

ACFW offers free courses 10 of the 12 months to its members. We have about 1900 members now and many love to take advantage of this free benefit. If you are not a member, you can join by going to www.acfw.com and then after signing up, you can find the course links on the member home page to join the classes.

I'll be teaching a one week course starting tomorrow so you have time to join ACFW if you want to take it :-)

As a life coach, I help people battle their internal pirates--all those negative attitudes, beliefs and behaviors that hold you back from reaching your goals and dreams.

Our topics this week will be:
Monday - Friday instruction days. Tuesday/Thursday discussion. I teach this in 17 chapters or in life coaching at your personal pace. It's obvious we can't do it all, so we will do our best to do justice to what we can. We'll try for 3 of the topics and a quick wrap up on Saturday.

Consider this as a way to find what is blocking you, yes, but also consider it a study in characterization. If your main character were going through some of these mental/spiritual issues, how would they respond?

Be sure to make notes on a different sheet than your personal journal for your character's responses. By doing this, you allow your character to answer differently and grow or become more complicated.

As you work through those pirates that hold you back from your goals, you will be battling for a gem of wisdom. Our goal this week is to win 3 for your treasure chest!

We will deal with these battles on M-W-F:
1. Reframing-- Our Pirates: Rumination, Destructive Scripts, & Assumptions -- Awarded Gemstone: Garnet
2. Ownership vs. Empathy-- Our Pirates: Ownership-- Awarded Gemstone: Opal
3. Courage-- Our Pirates: Fear & Short term thinking -- Awarded Gemstone: Obsidian

Here's a glimpse our treasure hunt together. You may find some of these landmarks mapping the journey in our class this week. It's based on life coaching from, Insanity Rules: Gems of Wisdom, while we battle those internal pirates that hold us back from reaching our goals:

Pique Points: Thought-provoking questions to discuss.

Ponder Points: Tidbits to entice an open mind.

Personal Places: I may share a tender and true story, from the heart of a research volunteer, shared to help others.

Pirates: Those cutthroat negative attitudes, situations and feelings that get in the way of healthy living and healthy writing presented through fictional allegory. In this one week class, we won't be able to deal with all of them, so we will give our attention to the three listed.

Putting It All Together: Tying all the loose ends together in each lesson so it’s easy to understand and easy to then put into practice.

Polishing Point: Real life options to solve real life dilemmas and suggestions on how to put them into practice.

Gems: Gems of wisdom awarded as new concepts are learned along the treasure hunt route.

Definitions: A little more perspective on some words and ideas.

Tips: Tried and true, these are little gem chips that have worked for others. AND these may very well come from you or your classmates!

Ahoy there, Matey. Welcome aboard.

If you are more interested in personal life coaching rather than the spin towards writers, you can contact me here or go to the www.MyGemofWisdom.com site for more information.

New Technology for Mrs. Montana International Interview Tonight!

One of the most exciting new methods of communication today is the Internet teleseminar. This is similar to a radio interview but much, much simpler. A teleseminar is an interview that is broadcast over the phone lines and the Internet at the same time. The speakers are using their the telephones. To attend, all you need to do is dial into the special conference number and put in the ID code. You'll immediately enter the conference and hear the entire interview. You can even listen on your cell phone while in the car.

Or if you'd rather, you can listen from a special web page. The interview will come over your computer speakers just the same as if you were on the phone, but this method is free to anyone in the world--no international charges. People on the web page can also ask questions and hear the presenters answer them right there from their computer speakers.

Tonight, I'm going to be interviewed via teleseminar with Rosey Dow. Please join us and see how this amazing technology works. It's as simple as making a phone call or clicking a web link. And if you can't be there for the live event, you can listen to the replay. It will be up almost immediately on the web page.

To attend, just go to:
http://tinyurl.com/mrsmontana

and enter your first name and email address. Once you do that, you'll get the phone number and also the web page information via email. The interview is tonight. I hope to meet you there.

Your Invitation to join me tomorrow night :-)

Just a few weeks ago I was thrilled to be crowned Mrs. Montana International. In this position, it's my pleasure and blessing to help bring awareness to the work of Hope's Promise Orphan Ministry, the American Heart Association's Go Red for Women campaign and the Jadyn Fred Foundation.

June 15th as Angela Breidenbach talks about filling your treasure chest with Gems of Wisdom and her passion for helping children at home and abroad through Hope's Promise Orphan Ministries, The Jadyn Fred Foundation, and promoting healthy lifestyles with the American Heart Association.

In addition, I'll be encouraging personal growth, healthy lifestyle, and intentional living by uncovering the unique purpose knit into each person’s DNA through uncovering your own gems of wisdom.

You can sign up on facebook here:
http://www.facebook.com/n/?event.php&eid=93005522242&mid=9e39d3G249c312dG1e9b78cG29

Or you can go directly to the page online and listen in here: http://tinyurl.com/mrsmontana

I would be really honored if you would join me on the teleseminar tomorrow night at 9 p.m. Eastern.

Thank you,
Angie