The Prudent Considers Well His Steps

Today, we made the trip over to Paige with our tools and trailer, expecting to meet with the Tough Mudder guys, but they cancelled last minute in an effort to chase a plane that was eventually grounded due to the snow in New York.  So, needless to say, we decided to pull out the quads and "survey" the course!  Now I haven't had much experience on atv's, but I jumped on headstrong, thinking that I can handle whatever comes my way. HA!  Immediately, I went for a jump on the motorcross full force.  I quickly learned that I need to respect this very powerful machine as I launched off and came smacking down hard enough to presume that I just busted my rib cage against the handle bars!  As I just curled up on the quad holding my chest, wind knocked out, not being able to speak and in a terrible amount of pain (while Rick decided to follow me in the same manner, luckily a bit lighter so he didn't experience the same suffering), I began to consider just what kind of idiot I had become!  A verse in Proverbs (14:15) ends by stating that a prudent man considers well his steps.  I certainly had not done that!  Now I am suffering the consequences.  No, I do not believe that my ribs are broken, but I am in an immense amount of pain and soreness.  All this and I haven't even begun to assemble the mudder coarse!  

 I am glad that this happened though, truly I am!  It has reminded me that I am here to work and need to be prepared to sweat and exert much energy into the next few weeks, I cannot be acting foolishly.  Oh, it could have been much worse, and I am thankful to the Lord for His protection over me and at the same time thankful for the quick lesson in life.  I do look forward to the work ahead and I wouldn't be a bit of worth to anyone laid up in a bed with cracked ribs or something!
BUT THIS IS TRULY FUN!  We had a blast running around the coarse in a more responsible manner after this.  The weather cleared up, it is still a bit chilly.  I am hoping next week will be a bit warmer, as the forecast is saying it will be.
We finished the day by heading to the church and framing a bit, pulling some electric wires and getting the drywall loaded into the building.

 I do want to be a man that considers his ways in all things.  I know God has allowed this day to pass as a reminder that every moment is a gift from Him and that I want to be considering all that I can do to glorify His name in my life, to share His love with all around, to direct as many as I meet to Christ, and to be prepared to meet Him soon!  He's coming, are we considering our steps, are we redeeming the time He has given us?  I want to be...
Tomorrow we meet with the excavators on site to schedule the Mudd moving!

Back To Normal, Well Almost!

Today we made an effort to bring our lives back into some sort of schedule.  It is an interesting challenge trying to do all the things you do at home in a different place and still call it home!  I took the morning to catch up with work in NJ via email and phone while Christine made an effort to school the kids!  She is wonderful and is doing quite an amazing job with this being relocated to the sticks in Texas for a month!  The kids were altogether well responsive to the idea of school here, although I think the challenge for them is that this seems like a vacation time, but indeed it is not.
In the afternoon, I left for a bit to meet with the Tough Mudder guys at the event site.  We left from there and, believe it or not, Rick and I did the food shopping!  The grocery store is about 20 miles from home.  Quite a difference for a bunch of people that have 5 grocery stores within 5 miles of home in NJ!
I was glad that we were able to bring our evening focus back on the Lord with family devotions.  The last few days of travel threw us all out of whack.  Jesus is faithful to comfort the downcast, displaced, disorganized and frustrated!  I thank the Lord that He meets us, He has been our only source of sanity and peace at times as we have been challenged in many ways.
The cabin is about 6 miles into the woods between two state parks.  We have NO neighbors.  Dense woodland surrounds us.  It is quite freaky at times, but serene and peaceful at others!  The sinks drain into the backyard, as well as the laundry water, HA, I wanna see you get away with that in NJ!
They voted in a burn ban for Bastrop County today, this means that no outdoor fires are allowed at all.  A little bummer for the family, we will have to make smores over the wood stove I guess.  I little more challenging for Tough Mudder.  Their signature obstacle is the Firewalker, 2,000 bales of hay burning up in two days as people "courageously" run through it.  They asked if I can design something special in it's place.  I have some ideas.  I pray that God would grant me wisdom and the capability to complete such a task as the coming days are already jammed with intense demands!
Oh, and by the way, it is Rickey's birthday!  24!  YEEEHAW!  Enjoy this clip as we celebrate the day.

Home Away

I can say that God is always seeking to secure us in His grace and His love.  We met up with Cowboy Church and now attended our first service with them.  It was quite a wonderful time.  They just upgraded from a dirt floor in the last few months!
The body of Christ was so friendly, loving and considerate toward us.  It reminds me so much of the wonderful bunch of people God has brought together back East, at Crossroads Calvary.  There is something to be said about the love of God and His people!  I miss my family, but thankfully, till we return, God has blessed us with a family here.
Pastor Bubba introduced me by saying this, "Well, today we have some guests with us from New Jersey.  You can tell that they must get a lot of snow up there."  I replied, "about 36" right now!"  He said, "I don't mean that, but you can tell that they get a lot of snow by just looking at the front row, their all his kids!  This man must get snowed in quite a bit!"
It was a wonderful experience.  Pastor Bubba asked if we would sing a bit, so I couldn't refuse the opportunity to glorify the name of our Lord in song.  Rick and I sang a couple songs that we wrote, the people were extremely blessed!
God has sent us here, not only an answer to prayer for us to find a church family, but also answering prayer for them as well.  They are in need of finishing the bathrooms in the church.  To date, they have a porta john for the men and an outhouse for the ladies!  The new bathrooms need the electric, drywall, paint, tile, fixtures set, etc.  They haven't had anyone there that knew what to do at this point.  Just as well, we are looking for ways to be of use for the Lord and His ministry, so I offered up our abilities to help them over the next few weeks.  Pray that we get much done!

~Walt Sr.

Cabin Cleanup and Treehouse Layout

When we finally got to the treehouse, It was a MESS! There were old food, piles of dirt, messy floors, and even someone's ladies, dirty underwear and shorts under the sink! We had to do a big cleanup! We were preparing for a good, nice rest, but what we got was a big mess! Mom and Dad were running around the house cleaning left and right. All of us kids and Rickey unpacked the trailer from all of our stuff. We all had to remember the verse Philippians 2:15, 'Do all things without complaining and disputing.' We tried our hardest to follow this verse. Without God's provision Dad would have had to go to Texas without us for four weeks. Even with all the messes, we all are extremely blessed to have been able to come.
Now I will describe the layout of the treehouse. First you drive in on an bumpy, dirt road. When you pull up you go down some stone stairs and walk into the door. Once inside there is a single room with a living room and kitchen in it. Also there is a door where you can go onto an outside, screened in porch. In the main room there is a table and chairs, sofa and two easy chairs, a TV stand, and a wood burning stove. Also there is a flight of steps that go up into a loft. Up there you will find a bathroom, a big computer desk, a queen sized bed (we also added two additional beds and a crib), and a book shelf. Mom, Dad, Markie, Jofey, and Jacob are sleeping in this room. Once in this room you can go onto a second-floor, bridge-porch that connects to yet another room. In this room you will find a dresser, bed, and a TV. Chris Dubeck, Who is one of my dad's workers, will be sleeping in this room. On the opposite side is a door that leads to a flight of stairs. If you go down the stairs you will end up on a deck. Then you go forwards and then turn left and you will find another room. In this room, there are two twin beds (we also added two additional beds), washer and dryer, and a bathroom. Anneliese, Daniel, Rickey, and Me are sleeping in this room. That is the layout of the Treehouse!

*Walt Jr*

First Things First

Matthew 6:33 says, seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. We were about 5 miles from our cottage when I heard the Lord speak to me.We were passing a church that I had seen and it caught my curiosity on my last visit to the Austin Area. The church, Cowboy Church! I passed this church while scoping places to stay last visit, I wasn't sure I would ever see it again, but it reminded me of a video interviewing this type of church during our Saddle Ridge Ranch VBS for the kids last year.

Well, I noticed the guys were out working on the ranch, which is the church also, and knew that the Lord wanted me to stop by. After 42 hours of travel, we were all real tired, but I knew we were supposed to make this stop. Sure enough, the pastor, Bubba Fowler, was working on the water pump house when we pulled in. It was quite an amazing opportunity for us, the kids had time to stretch out and play on some tractors and ranch equipment, while Rick and I gave a hand to fit the door for the pump house.

This truly was God's desire for us though we in the flesh were not happily responsive, but what a

great blessing to find Bubba. His like-mindedness in Christ has given us immediate comfort and fellowship in the Lord. He is our Pastor in Texas! What an amazing Texas experience! Honest to goodness cowboys, loving Jesus! We were sure that this would be the church we visit the following morning.

~Walt Sr.

Our Trip Has Begun!

On January 6, 2010, our family began our adventure to Austin Texas. Our objective: to build Tough Mudder Austin. Just what does this mean? Well, the total head count in our van was 9, Myself, Christine, Rickey Lyons, Walt Jr, Jacob, Anneliese, Daniel, Joseph, Mark and our dog Daisy, to drive 1,800 miles south!We left our home at 5:00 p.m., after a full day of packing our 20' enclosed trailer with household items, clothing, mattresses, all our tools, materials for the event, and of course some big toys, two quads!

The travel was tough, we made it only 500 miles the first night. The next day, after hearing of major storms that will be passing through the south, we decided to drive the 1300 mile balance of our trip straight through.

Exciting events and challenges on the trip, YES! Mark threw up all

over himself and his car seat early on our second day. Rickey was given a great opportunity to strengthen his gag reflexes as he cleaned Mark up until we could pull over safely. Ha, what a mess! But we cleaned up and moved on within an hour. Second obstacle, a blow out at 6 a.m. in Louisiana. The rear trailer tire gave up after a long hard trip! Thankfully, we were prepared for this kind of thing! Up an running in an hour. After 42 hours of travel, we made it to our destination, Smithville, Texas.

~Walt Sr.