Dear Ropers,

We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Year. We were able to take a little time off and spend time with our families and rope a little ourselves. But, now it is time to get geared up again and start the 2004 roping season. I want everyone to take note of a major change this year. At just about all our #4 ropings this year we are going to start Saturday off with a #6 roping. At this roping we will only be taking 200 teams. (Top % from roping will go to finals in the #6 shootout!) This will be a enter with 1 draw 1 for $100 enter 4 times for a total of 8 runs and $400. You will be able to pre-enter for this roping the Monday before. If pre-entries don?t fill we will take them Saturday morning up to 30 min before the #6 starts. We imputed this #6 for several reasons. One is the great turnout at our finals and the requests from all our #3?s, another is lots of USTRC numbers were raised this past year. This will enable all of our #2 ropers that got raised to #3?s to still be able to rope with us. The first roping that you will see this at is Tunica Ms in March on the weekend of the 6th and 7th. But, before that we will be in Ada Ok on the 7th and 8th of February. On that weekend we will have a #9 with a #7 incentive Saturday morning while entries for our #4 are being taken. You number 3?s take note of this! Our #7 incentive has fallen apart on the last two roping like this. And as usual the payout is great! The entry is enter with one and draw one for $100. You must have a partner for the #9 with #7 incentive. We will have a partner finding system to help you but there will be no draws. And sorry but no #1?s can enter the #9. And for you faithful goat ropers Justin will have his goat roping at Ada in February! 
As for our schedule for 2004, the first four ropings are February 7th & 8th at Ada, March 6th & 7th at Tunica Ms, April 3rd and 4th at Ardmore Ok and May 8th and 9th at a new arena north of Clarksville Ark called the Foothills Arena. Make sure to attend all of our ropings and acquire shootouts to the AATRC Finals. If I can help you with some other dates just email me at fearnot@brightok.net. Also you can visit our website for more info on the ropings at AATRCROPE.COM. If the info you need is not there please feel free to email me. 

As I close I want to leave you with the word for the month. The word is choices! What comes to mind when you hear this word? Maybe it is the choice of what?s for dinner or what you will wear. Maybe which guy you will enter the roping with. These examples are daily choices we make. I want to tell you a story from the Bible about a choice that a man had to make. (Genesis Ch. 4) There were two brothers one named Abel, who kept flocks and ones name was Cain who worked the soil. Back then God required a sacrifice offered to Him of your best. Abel sacrificed some fat portions from the first fruits of his stock and God was very pleased and Cain brought some of the fruits from his soil. For whatever reason Cain?s offering was not his best and God was not please. Well, Cain got really angry and jealous because God was pleased with his brother and not him. God saw this and told him that he had a choice. He could go and make things right by a proper sacrifice or he could let his anger overtake him and he would fall to sin. Here we are at the crossroad! God laid it out on the table to Cain. What will he do? Will he take the easy broad road or will he take the narrow road, the one that the Bible talks about not many will find? (Matthew Ch 7 verses 13 & 14) Yep, you guessed he let the little devil on his shoulder convince him that he should kill his brother. And that is the choice he made. He invited his brother into the field and killed him. Well that choice got him cursed, kicked out of his families land and from God?s presence to be a restless wanderer. And on top of that God put a mark on his forehead to tell everyone not to kill him or they would be cursed seven times worse. So he lived in misery the rest of his life! Wow, look what one choice got him! You say well that was stupid he should of made things right and everything would have been ok. Easy to say isn?t it? But when we are faced with choices and anger, jealousy or maybe strife is upon us how do we act. Do we think about the consequences? Do we listen to God or the little devil on our shoulder? These choices come to play daily. Maybe with your kids, spouse or even your boss. How many families have been wrecked by one making the choice to forget their marriage vows or making a business decision that might not be on the up and up or that just might not be God?s will for your life. These examples are major ones that you might not face daily. But there are situations that most of us do face daily. Will we choose to talk hateful to our family and friends? Will we choose to stretch the truth or tell something that might hurt someone else. Will we choose to find the bad or the good in people and daily situations? You see you are faced with choices everywhere you turn. And we can not make the right decision without listening to God. You might say I can?t hear God. Well then you probably have not stopped talking or dwelling on the situation. Try reading his word and praying, then comes the Einstein idea, of LISTENING. You will probably make a choice this week that could effect the rest of your life. Lets stop and seeks God?s wisdom before we act on it.
God Bless You,
The Normans