You Have Asked.....

Wow! It has been almost 9 months since I have written!

I sit here now, looking out my window at the beautiful sun peeking out from the tops of the trees in the back of my house. There is a bit of white snow left scattered upon the cold, leaf covered ground.

I can see the hill in the back corner that is well on its way to becoming the beginning of a running stream and I see the tippy top of my beautiful pond, frozen with the thinnest layer of pre-winter ice.

                                               
Through the window I can feel the warmth of the sun coming in on my face, making it a bit hard to keep my eyes open. The warmth of my face is contrasted to the chill on my toes!

                                             

I have my front door open to just the glass storm door. It is covered with frost so I know that this might be letting a bit of my warm air escape, but I just love letting more light in.

I headed out into the woods earlier to see if I could figure out what a noise was that I heard coming from there, but on the way I ran into a mound of bear skat which was super exciting!

I have a semi warm cup of coffee here that I am sipping on. My friend Becky left some fancy coffee beans here this weekend along with a coffee bean chopper thingy and she said I could use some of it so I tried it this morning! And YUMMY!!!

                                               

My two youngest girls are out of school today for a teacher in-service day.  One is vacuuming their room and the other is trying to get her bed made. The sounds of the dishwasher, washer, and dryer are also humming in the background.

I get to help lead a teen group on the reservation at a super cool place called The Shack. The group is full of energetic 8th - 12th grade teens. 

They are funny, intelligent, and real. They have struggles and pains. But they have life and hope.

Many of them are seniors this year. They are standing at the threshold of adulthood and ready to take it on.

They are inquisitive and open.

They are brave. They will not leave one another behind. During their team sports they encourage one another, whether they are the best player on the court, or the weakest.

They accept loss with grace and they don't allow a scoreboard to steal the joy they find in being part of a team. 

The people I work with are amazing too. 

They exude courage and patience. Persistence and faithfulness. 

They are strong, yet gentle. Shouting from the rooftops, yet soft spoken.

Friends for a short time have become like family.

Accountability partners, yet never judging. 

Loving with a love that is reflective of the One they serve.

So many of you have asked. 

It is hard to answer because what the people here mean to me and the impact they have had on my life is extremely difficult to put into words.

I guess they best way to answer is this...

We have been in Wisconsin for 2 years and 4 days now. It is where we are supposed to be.

It is home.