This ain’t your first rodeo!

This month is rodeo month for me. I’ve never been a real cowboy, but I’ll wear a hat while at the rodeo. Does that hat mean I’m a real cowboy? Of course not. I wear many different hats as you do. I have special hats for different occasions. I can’t forget my hat because the sun is cruel to my bald head. I choose carefully….purposefully…..with much thought and discernment. Hats are a part of my uniform. It defines who I am at the moment…or does it really? I am the same person regardless of which hat I’m wearing. I simply have a variety of work, casual, leisure and recreational activities that determine which hat I’m going to wear.

I’ve been wearing a few hats for several years now. Sometimes I put a hat away for an undetermined amount of time. Perhaps I’ll never put that hat on again. Some hats are worn almost in secret.

For some time now I’ve labored in the field with grass, trees, irrigation and flowers while more secretly building a business that is indoors sitting in a chair noodling with my brain. My main hat worn everyday has been a stinky sweaty cloth hat proving my worth as a laborer. My secondary hat has been more of a fedora. It’s a church or music festival sort of a hat.

My hats will soon be reversed. My main hat will be the fedora and my secondary hat will be the stinky sweaty cloth hat. Growing my business over the years has credentialed me to switch my stinky sweaty cloth hat with the fedora as my main hat. My old cloth hat will be on my head as I work in our yard and gardens.

My dream has been realized as America has given me the opportunity to grow with hard work to meet a goal I have had my eyes set on for a very long time. Happy birthday America, and thank you for my freedom! Have a beautiful Independence day, and my you be blessed as you work toward your goals with the freedom you have in this great country!