One Prayer

I read yesterday that Beth Moore is encouraging others to devote the month of July to prayer. She wrote this full post with prayer prompts for all kinds of things, people, and places. Lots of good ideas in there! 

But one of the things I've been pondering lately is praying fervently over one thing for a length of time. It's not that I can't think of more to pray for, but I feel the need to dedicate my time to one specific thing for a period of time. 

Seeing her post made me think that July is a good time to do just that. 

It also reminded me of a meme I've seen circulating that says, "It's hard to hear God's voice when you've already decided what you want Him to say."

Truth.

Praying means keeping my heart open to whatever God has for me, even if it's not the same as what I want for myself.

I already know my one thing I'm going to pray, but I have no idea how God might mold, shape, and change that prayer in a month's time. I have no idea how He might mold, shape, and change me in that time.

My prayer plan may not be as grand or long as what Beth is calling for, but it is what I know God is drawing me to for the month, and that is what matters most. 

Think about it today, will you? Maybe this isn't what you're convicted to do at all for the month of July, but maybe...just maybe...it is. 

My thoughts are short today, but I hope you'll think about it and follow whatever God prompts! 

Let's Talk About Ice Cream!!

We did it! We made it through our work stretch and into our beautiful evening of pizza and rest! It was a slightly less restful than I hoped, only because somehow I ended up with a solid dozen mosquito bites. It's been ten years since I had that many all at once. And I never saw, heard, or felt a single one of those pesky guys until it was too late. Most of the bits are conveniently located right where some piece of clothing rubs so they itch all the time. 

I'm a mosquito buffet and always have been, but it's true that I haven't struggled nearly as much with them in the last few years. Guess that's over!! But in between lavender oil applications and mind-over-matter-refusing-to-scratch, I'm loving my weekend!!

It's not just been buggy here...it's been HOT!!! I'm guessing the same is true where you live. I've read about crazy hot weather all over the place. I drank a full 32 ounces of water after we got home from a walk at 10 pm last night because it was still almost 90 degrees outside! So of course, hot weather has me thinking about one of my most favorite things in life, which is ice cream! 

I am sure most of you know that I absolutely adore ice cream and could eat it three times a day year round. (I actually think the perfect shop combo is an ice cream/coffee shop!) 

It's been five years now since Ryan and I found an ice cream shop on vacation that made the most perfect salted caramel ice cream, and I was willing to move to that town, solely for that. I've wanted to try to make my own version of it, but I'm so scared it won't be as tasty that I haven't attempted it yet.

It's been probably 10 years since I had the most perfect homemade ice cream at a friend's house. I was brave enough to ask her for the recipe, and she was kind enough to share it. It's a basic recipe, so it's easily modified with mix-ins. And that led to my ice cream inspired secret Pinterest board, where I've been hoarding ideas of different perfect ice creams...

As you can see, this whole ice cream love has taken on a life of its own.

So here are some of my ice cream faves and quirks:

* Salted caramel anything. And the creamier and thicker the caramel, the better. 

* Oddly enough, I usually pick chocolate syrup over hot fudge. It's not that I don't like hot fudge. It's that it's usually so rich and thick that it impedes my ability to focus on the ice cream! 

* I love themed ice cream and can even be persuaded to order something based on a cute name. I'm a marketing director's dream.

* I usually pick candy mix-ins over fruit, but I always pick real fruit over fruit flavored anything. Too many of the flavors aren't accurate, it seems. (This was totally proven wrong when Sean and Sarah had us over for dinner the other night and served an Amish homemade black raspberry ice cream. That flavor was perfection.)

* Ice cream in a waffle cone is the BEST. 

* I have a recent fascination with homemade ice cream sandwiches that use cookies. I am pretty sure I actually made such sandwiches once as a kid. (Found a recipe in a kids' cookbook and tried it.) 

Maybe one of these days that whole ice cream/coffee shop thing will happen. In the meantime, and in this heat, I'll just continue dreaming up my favorite flavors and combos. (And maybe sampling it now and then, though I promise not to do that three times a day.) 

Would You Rather...House Edition

It's your Monday...it's my Friday at last...and both of us need a brain break! So howsabout we have some fun today??

I found this "Would You Rather" for houses, and I thought it would be fun! What it turned out to be was hard! There are only a couple of these that were easy answers for me. How about for you?

1. Would you rather have a walk-in pantry or a kitchen island?

First question and I'm already stumped! I have actually always wanted a walk-in pantry, partly so I can organize it. Ha! But ultimately, for as much as I'd love a walk-in pantry, the truth is I really don't want a huge house, so having that is rather unlikely. And furthermore, Ryan and I have completely fallen in love with our peninsula in our apartment's kitchen (almost like an island, right?) and will probably always have to have one in all future houses. We had no idea how much we would love it. 

2. Would you rather have a separate dining room or eat-in nook?

Aggghhhhhhh! Why are these so hard?? :) Ryan and I had a separate dining room in our Marion house and rarely used it. So we didn't even blink when our Kokomo house didn't have a dining room...and proceeded to do the most entertaining there that we've done in our entire marriage. We transformed the garage into a space we could use for dining. Now we have a dining area in our apartment and have rarely used it. Can't win, right? I think my final answer is going to be eat-in nook. I'm a sucker for a cute little eating nook. And if we don't have a very big house, I think a little eat-in nook would be the best thing. 

3. Would you rather have a drop-in tub or a clawfoot tub?

Finally! An easy one! I would adore a clawfoot tub. We had one in our Airbnb last year (remember the adorable loft above the coffee shop?) and I decided it was as delightful and useful as I had always imagined it would be. Most definitely a clawfoot tub.

4. Would you rather have an en suite bathroom or extra bathroom?

I was a little confused by the question, actually. If there is only one bathroom in the whole house, I don't really want it to be an en suite...so I'd rather go with the extra bathroom. But I don't need 100 bathrooms in the house. If I have two to choose from, then yes! Absolutely an en suite. (Meaning I would take an en suite over a third or fourth bathroom.) 

5. Would you rather have a bedroom balcony or bedroom fireplace?

This was an easy one for me. Balcony! Despite watching the one episode of a Mike Holmes show where the lady's balcony completely fell OFF the side of her house while she and some friends were on it, I still think having a balcony would be grand. And since I pretty much only use bedrooms for sleeping, I wouldn't be awake enough to appreciate a fireplace in there. But morning coffee and devos on a balcony?? Oh yes, please. 

6. Would you rather have an epic play space or cool bunk beds?

Well, we don't have kids, so neither is overly necessary, but I would absolutely choose a cool place for kiddos to play when they come to visit. Since no one lives with us on a permanent basis, I don't think anyone would miss the cool bunk beds!

7. Would you rather have a wine cellar or walk-in closet?

We don't drink, so a wine cellar seems like a waste. And while we are getting along just fine with a regular closet, I really did love having the walk-in closet we had back in Kokomo. It was fun! (Are closets fun?) 

8. Would you rather have a home library or home gym?

Gulp. I'd pick library and Ryan would pick gym. I know I should pick home gym! (And in Marion, we did designate one of our bedrooms as the home gym for a while, and I really loved it. It was nice to have a space to work out in, day or night.) In the end, I don't think I could pick on this one! (Good thing our someday house is small and won't have room for either, right?) 

9. Would you rather have a dreamy flower garden or gorgeous pool?

Both?? :) I do love a dreamy garden. I really do. But I don't know that I'm enough of a crazy plant lady yet to make it work. But Ryan and I have often talked about how much we'd love a pool on hot summer days (like the ones we're having right now), so I'd go with pool!

10. Would you rather have a self-cleaning bathroom or self-cleaning kitchen?

It feels like cheating to answer this one, since Ryan is a better housekeeper than I am any day of the week. But bathrooms trump kitchens on grossness, so I'd say bathroom!!

Whew! Harder than I thought! But how about you???? Any of these particularly easy or hard for you??

Sunday Sentiments

 

Tomorrow night.

It's when we start our weekend. It'll be our first break since we returned to work, and I already have such grand plans for it. I told Ryan the only thing I want for my "Friday" night is to order a pizza, get a big ole pop, wear jammies, and scrapbook. (Okay so maybe that's several somethings. But they're all to be enjoyed simultaneously.)

This break for us feels very full-circle. It will mark one year since we officially ended our previous jobs and prepared to come to WillowBridge. It will mark our new team members' first solo shift and entrance into the next season of teamwork. It will mark a time for us to reflect on this first year and evaluate what things we need (and hope) to change for year number two. 

I love new beginnings like this. This one comes complete with a fresh day planner to begin marking time in new ways that will hopefully be more manageable than what we did over the past year. It comes with a meeting that will help us reminisce with Rob about the year we completed and dream and plan for the year to come.

I love moments like this. I love the end of something and the start of something weaving together like this. 

And to further punctuate the full circle moment, last night we had the chance to hang out with our little buddy who used to live here with his mom. He came over to spend some time with us, and I sent his mom a picture Ryan took of me holding him while he slept. She wrote back, "Awww, I am looking at the photo and it reminds me of when you held him like that when he was just three months old." 

I'd been thinking of the same picture, actually. 

Back then he was all scrunched up against me, tiny as could be. He's a big boy now, no longer able to fully fit on my lap. Back then his little life was brand new and we were brand new and all of this was brand new. We grew up together, it seemed. Having him back here for a visit and getting to see how he's grown and changed since he moved out was so sweet. 

I'm grateful for this year. Grateful for the people who have become part of our lives. Grateful for the people who have helped me grow and change. 

I'm grateful for reflection and fresh starts.

And I'm grateful most of all...for my night of rest. Tomorrow. 

The Saturday Six

 

One.

It looks like this bed and breakfast isn't completely back to all its normal offerings just yet, but when it is...wouldn't this be SO FUN to go to? And why has no one else thought of a chocolate themed B&B??? (I mean I'm sure they exist. I just haven't found them yet.) 

Two.

This house has a two sided fireplace, which is something I've seen before in houses, but this one goes from the inside to the outside! I love it! (Side note: Wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy back in the day, when I was just starting out at the station and hoping to move to Fort Wayne, I fell in love with a house that had a two sided fireplace, and I was just devastated when that house did not work out. I have actually never forgotten that particular house, and even took Ryan past it once when we were driving around town. Maybe someday, a two-sided fireplace will be in a future home of ours!) 

Three.

And while we're looking at little houses...this one is JUST delicious. They had me at the bookcase. (There are faint arrows on either side of the picture for you to scroll through. It took me a minute to see them, so I thought it might be the same for you.)

Four.

I am working on organizing our personal lives, which have been a bit of a disaster for the last year. I never imagined that it would be so hard (and in some cases, impossible) to keep up with regular life while navigating the job we took, but it has been. I realized I spend an extraordinary amount of time deleting emails every day from lists I've landed on over the years. So I've been having an unsubscribing party, and it has been SO FREEING!!!! I don't read these emails anyway, so why have them land in my box? Just thought I'd share in case you need to clean up your email life, too! 

Five.

I bought a new day planner this week! My one from last year had been an academic year version, so it was time for a new one! I really like this new one, because it's delightfully simple and yet has everything I need! I've been having such fun filling it in. (They also have multiple covers to choose from, which is another good bonus!) I stayed up for two hours after Ryan went to sleep, color coding it!

Six.

I had a swing when I was growing up, and I LOVED IT!! My parents had this perfect-for-swinging tree in the backyard, and Dad made me a swing  that I spent hours upon hours enjoying. I've discovered I actually still love swinging, though I no longer have one in the yard. But look at these cute swings!! I love them! I'm a sucker for anything with a personal touch. 

Goals

 Every month, we meet with each of our tenants to set goals for the month ahead. We ask the tenants to come to the meeting with some personal goals in mind, and we (the team) also come to the meeting with some goals for them. We talk together about how they can achieve the goals, and then we celebrate the successes at the following month's meeting.

We're having just such a meeting today, so over the last week, I've been making notes and working with Sean, Sarah, and Ryan to think  of how we can challenge this particular tenant to grow and succeed in the days ahead. 

Last night, though, as I scrolled through social media, I found a verse shared by my friend Sonja. 2 Chronicles isn't often the most quoted book of the Bible, but the verse she shared and the simple note she wrote to follow stopped me in my tracks.

Nevertheless, the heart of Asa was wholly true all his days. 2 Chronicles 15:18. And then she added, "Lord, let it be so of me."

YES.

I pulled out my Bible to read the rest of that passage, and another part hit me. A few verses earlier, it says the Spirit of God told Asa to take courage and not let his hands be weak. And then it says, "As soon as Asa heard these words...he took courage." 

He didn't delay. He knew what God was asking of him and he did it without even pausing. And what he had to take courage to do wasn't exactly easy. He had to put away the idols that had taken over the land. He had to repair the altar. He made sacrifices to the Lord. He made a new covenant with the Lord - and not just any covenant. He made a covenant that said he and all the people in the land would seek the Lord with all their heart and soul. 

It went on to say that in taking courage and making these radical changes, he had to remove his own mother from her position in the kingdom because she had made an idol to a false god. (That probably effectively ruined family get-togethers.)

And then it said that Asa's heart was wholly true for all the days of his life.

Now there are some goals. 

When we meet with our tenants, our goals usually have to do with life skills, and those are important. We'll keep making goals like that with them. But what matters most for them and for us is to hear God's promptings and immediately take courage to do what He asks, even if it's hard and uncomfortable. It matters that our hearts are wholly true to God for all the days of our life.

THESE are the things that matter. These are the true life goals.

Things that convict me today...

Slowing Down

Ryan and I enjoyed our vacation so very much. But the whole time we were gone, we knew that upon our return, we were going to hit the ground running. So. Very. Much. You've seen the people in the gym who turn their treadmills on to the fastest settings and then hop on? That was us returning to work. 

Our new team members moved in while we were gone, and we've been working to train them so we can shift back to sharing the work load again. They're learning quickly, and we are looking forward to taking a weekend in a few days. It will be our first time away since we came back, and we're so excited for it. I have grand plans to stay in my jammies all day and scrapbook. 

But for this middle time, the days are very long. There are all the things we plan and then all the things we can't plan but still have to work through. There are new relationships to build. Things in the building to repair. A variety of things to prepare before more new tenants move in. Errands. Meetings. Training. Conversations. Answering questions. Anticipating questions. 

Yesterday I was driving one of our tenants to an appointment, and we had to stop for a train. We arrived at the tracks just as the arms were sliding down to welcome the train. And trains around here are legendary in length. You might as well just put the car in park, because you're going to be there for a while. 

At last, the train passed, and we crossed the tracks and continued on our merry way. We hadn't gone too far when a guy in an old van pulled right out in front of me and then proceeded to drive v.e.r.r.r.r.y. slowly. I didn't want to pass him because that road has a lot of Amish traffic on it, and it's not unusual for a bike or buggy to just appear from nowhere. 

I slowed down and did my best to maintain a positive and exemplary attitude with the tenant sitting beside me. She giggled as I tapped on the steering wheel and said something like, "Oh bless you, little van!" 

Then she said, "Maybe the Holy Spirit just wants you to slow down for a minute."

She's not wrong. We've been running...gulping in our quiet time far more quickly than we like. We've been running...not able to fully invest in relationships as much as we'd like. We've been running...you get the idea. 

I'm sure the Holy Spirit does need me to slow down a bit. He'll send trains and vans all day long if it lets me catch my breath. (It wasn't the last train I stopped for yesterday, either.) 

Slowing down is good for us. And maybe some of those "obstacles" in our path were meant to be there. You think? 

Our Thoughts on RV Life

I have to start by telling you this...hope it makes you laugh. Earlier this week, we were over at the Gateway Campus for an event, and one of the house parents found out we had an RV. Her husband wandered into our conversation and she said, "Hey! They have an RV!" Then she turned to me and said, "Abby, right?"

Her husband said, "You named your RV?" I said, "Well, we don't have kids, so we name everything. You know...RV, TV, mixer...." He did not know what to do with that! I'm pretty sure he'll think I'm weird forever. He also asked if I carried pictures of the mixer. Well played!! ;) 

But one of the questions we've had multiple times since coming home from our trip is about what we liked about RV travel...or if we liked it. Have we found Abby to meet our needs? Do we wish for something different? Would we choose something different in a future RV?

So I thought I'd share some of our thoughts on that today!

I'll start by asking Ryan his opinions.

What did you like most about traveling so long in an RV? I liked having all our stuff with us all the time and not moving in and out of places every day. 

Were you surprised by how much you liked a two week trip in an RV? I was surprised at how well I liked the amount and layout of the space. I ended up getting used to showering in a wet-bath. I felt like the on-the-road travel part was a lot more comfortable than I expected. I liked being able to warm up food on the road (at rest stops or wherever). The convenience of our own bathroom was HUGE!

Were there any parts of RV travel you did not like? Managing the refrigerator temperature was the hardest part. We never lost any food, but keeping it running enough between parked times was difficult. 

(For those of you who may not have a clue what that means...the refrigerator can run off propane or electricity. Obviously whenever we're on the road, we can't run the electricity. Not enough extension cords in the world for that! You can run your propane while you drive, but we read a lot of articles from full time RV travelers who cautioned against it, because it could create a fire hazard. We ultimately elected not to run ours while driving, just to be cautious. Because of that, the refrigerator was turned off for all our driving hours. We tried to be careful about how long we left it disconnected and also tried not to open it often during those times. We carried ice packs to help, but it was still a challenge to regulate.)

When it's time to choose Abby 2.0, is there something you would choose differently? I would love having a permanent table, rather than taking one down and putting one up every day. If we were full-timing, I would want a bigger bathroom - and one that isn't a wet bath. 

And now...my thoughts! 

What did I like most about traveling so long in an RV? Ryan's right...it really was a game-changer to just pack one time and not have to pack and unpack suitcases the entire time. But for me, it went a step further, and having a home on the road was amazing in ways I did not expect. This is the first time ever in my life I have genuinely not wanted to come home from vacation. Not even a little bit. And I think the reason I felt like staying out was because I was home. Home in our RV! Abby is SO comfortable and SO homey. 

And I've said it before...I'll say it again. Bathrooms. On. The. Road. Are. Everything.

Was I surprised by how much I liked a two week trip in an RV? I was! I expected to get homesick, and I didn't. I expected to get tired of being in a small space, and I didn't. I was so excited for every new adventure, because we just took our home from place to place. (I will add that it was nice to have our stop at my sister's in the middle, because I was able to do laundry there and reset the clothing part of our trip. AND I got to use her shower - and that was amazing!) 

I was also surprised to see how much I loved being able to IMMEDIATELY be back home after every adventure. Like after we went to the state park, we were super hot (no shade out there!) and thirsty - and tired of walking. But we just unlocked the door, got a drink, sat on the couch, kicked up the air, and sat until we felt refreshed. It was pretty great to not have to drive back to a home base for that part.

Were there any parts of RV travel I did not like? Ryan figured out a system with the wet bath. I did better this time, but it's different for me because: HAIR!!!! Trying to wash and condition all my hair properly (aka giving time for it to sit in between rounds) and conserving hot water is definitely an art form. I haven't totally perfected it yet. But it was a small sacrifice for all the great things we enjoyed in exchange. 

And this has nothing to do with RV travel itself, but I think the part I liked the least about this trip was how quickly we moved around. We didn't get to enjoy the campground aspect nearly as much as I would have liked because we were always on the go. 

When it's time to choose Abby 2.0, is there something I would choose differently? It honestly would depend on if we were going to continue using it as a getaway or doing a full-time RV life.

Ryan's right - putting the table up and down is kind of a pain. (And when it's up, it take up all our walking space.) So it's true that it would be easier to have a permanent table. And if we were going to live in it more than just fun travel, I would really want a standard bathroom. But otherwise, I really love everything about Abby's size and layout.

She's easy to navigate, she has everything we need, and we fell hard and fast for RV life during that trip! If we were ever going to try out a full time travel life, we would probably choose an RV just a tiny bit longer. (Truly, not much longer. We find much value in shorter RVs.) A little extra length would allow us to have a traditional bathroom and possibly a little more outdoor storage. Abby ROCKS the indoor storage, but there is very little on the outside. We made it work with a cargo rack to handle the extra pieces, but of course it would be fun to have all that actually contained. 

So there you have it! Our thoughts on RV travel. We loved it completely, and that is good news, since we spent all those months fixing her up! 

Campgrounds at Last!

I promise to stop talking about our trip. Sometime.

Today is not that day.

I had planned to write about this today anyway, but yesterday one of you asked if we ever got to really set up camp like we hoped, and the answer is YES! If you missed the earlier post, we learned in the first part of our trip that just because something is called a campground doesn't mean it's a warm and cozy space where you can kick back and enjoy. But we were SO EXCITED to discover on the way home our last two campgrounds were all about the atmosphere we craved.

We had to giggle about the first of the two, because one of the reviews we'd read prior to going labeled it as a dump, but it was one of our very favorites!!

This one was in Mansfield, Missouri, and it was actually called the Laura Ingalls Wilder RV Park. It made me laugh, because Laura traveled in covered wagon...I suppose it was the precursor to the RV? The park was just across the street from the Mansfield Little House Museum, so it was incredibly convenient to our travels. (We literally drove out of the RV Park, went about 1000 feet, and turned into the museum lot. Can't beat that!)

This was a family owned campground, and the owners were the nicest people. They were sitting on their porch, just enjoying the evening, when we showed up. They told us we were welcome to settle in and then pay or pay and then settle in. They even said they had extra cord and hose we could borrow if ours weren't long enough. We didn't need them, but that was so kind!

The park was full of trees, and even though our site wasn't level and we had to pull out the blocks to level the RV, we loved the location of our site. It was up at the top of the hill, overlooking a little pond and gazebo!

We were THRILLED to find it had a fire ring, so we were finally able to have our hot dogs and s'mores outside the RV! 

We were able to explore the campground after dinner and then we slept so well. Woke up to a pretty sunrise, too!

Then the next night, we stayed in Casey, Illinois at the KOA. It was our first time to stay at a KOA, and while we found it a bit pricey (for us), we also found it to be a fantastic campground! We arrived around sunset, and the campground host escorted us to our site and helped Ryan navigate backing in. We were right next to a little fishing lake, and I was so happy with the view!!

Ryan was super excited to cook over the campfire, including trying out his new grill grate!

To be fair, we did not put out our awning or lights - or our rug - at either site, simply because we arrived late and left first thing the next morning. We were trying to save ourselves some time. We are hoping to take some weekend trips this summer that would allow us to stay put in one place for a couple of days, and we'll use those things then. But even getting to enjoy trees and lakes and campfires made the end of our trip a true joy. 

And Ryan loved his morning coffee by the lake that final day:

I was so thankful we got to experience these two nights at campgrounds that lined up with more of what we were hoping for!! They were a blessing! 

Remembering Friends

A few weeks before we went on vacation, I received a text from a friend of ours back in Kokomo. I wrote about her late husband, Mike, in this post just over three years ago. Mike was courageous in his last days, and we really enjoyed visiting him and Peggy in their home that summer. 

Peggy texted to ask me how things were going for us, and I told her about our upcoming trip. She told me how much she and Mike had loved road trips together and how she missed him. She asked if we would find a coffee shop to go to during our trip - and to go for them.

I thought it was a brilliant idea, and we did just that.

While in Casey, Illinois, we stopped in this ADORABLE little coffee shop called the Casey Coffee Company. 

It was just as cute on the inside!

We stopped here shortly after we arrived in Casey for our day of fun, and we each got some coffee (mine was iced, due to the crazy hot and humid day) and a donut for breakfast! It was our first and only coffee shop stop on vacation, so I didn't feel bad about enjoying a treat!

We didn't use this because there was a group of women hanging out nearby and we didn't want to invade their personal space, but the shop did have a cute little selfie station, too!

Ryan loved the coffee so much that he bought a bag to take home - which he NEVER DOES.

We enjoyed our time in the shop that morning - and it was extra sweet to think about Mike and Peggy while we were there. Doing coffee stops in honor of friends is a really great idea, and I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner, honestly!

Before we left, Ryan also bought a pottery mug (our latest love) and found out that all mugs came filled with a specialty drink. We were stuffed from our drinks and donuts, so they said we could come back later, before we left town, to have it filled. It was so kind of them!

So we went back and waited while they filled up our little cup with a frappe to share.

Yes, Ryan is snacking on popcorn.

I was super impressed that the barista from the morning remembered us and asked how our day had been - and then the barista that made our drink was so excited that it looked so adorable, so we did a photo shoot with it!

They told us they had a map we could mark to show where we were from, so we did!

So that was our fun day at the Casey Coffee Company...in honor of Peggy and memory of Mike. 

Sunday Sentiments

 

Today is Father's Day, and it makes me think of how much has changed in our life and family in the last year. We had no idea that within a year, we would say our first goodbye to a father in our life. 

Between the two of us, Ryan and I have three fathers in our lives. And all of them have made an impact on us - in years gone by and today.

Ryan's dad, Ryan's step-dad, and my dad have all invested in us. From our childhoods until now, they've taught us purposeful lessons, they've led by example, and they've prayed for us. 

We are so grateful for each of them, but today I want to further say how their impact has gone one step further.

As you know, Ryan and I don't have children. And even though our work does not involve us being parents to the tenants in our building, we do sometimes fall into that role, unofficially. And it has been one of the greatest joys of my heart to watch Ryan fill a fatherly role to the young adults in our care this past year.

* He has sat at the kitchen table, quizzing and studying with them so they could pass their driving permit tests. 

* He has worked patiently to teach them skills of construction, maintenance, and car care, as they have asked to learn. 

* He has fixed a hundred things (give or take a hundred) that they've broken - and they even gave him an award at the tenant-orchestrated staff appreciation night to acknowledge that! 

* He has played endless games, both for the fun of it and for the great conversation that comes along when games are played. 

* He has explained the answers to questions about the Bible, faith, and salvation. 

* He has gone the extra mile - literally - for every single tenant here. (He even once combed the side of a stretch of road to look for a tenant's cell phone that fell off the roof of the car. And they found it!)

* He has prayed with and for them when they're scared, sad, sick, worried, and more. 

* He has advocated for them fiercely - and sometimes he was the only one who showed up on their behalf.

* He has cared for their children when they needed help. (And he is hands-down the favorite.)

Ryan may not have any children of his own, but our tenants have seen glimpses of a father in him. He has shown them unconditional love and sacrifice every minute of every day. He has given them his all, and I know they see it. They call the work phone and ask for him. They seek his opinions and advice. (Even if they don't always take it.) They seek his approval. 

I'm so proud of him. He has stepped into this role so beautifully, and today I want to honor him. He may not be a biological father, but he is a father, and God is using him in amazing ways.

Happy Father's Day, Ryan. I'm so very proud to be on this journey with you.