92 County Tour: LaGrange County

This past weekend was a first for us in the 92 County Tour...more than one day in one county! As you might have seen yesterday, our whole family converged for a vacation to celebrate my parents' upcoming 60th anniversary {yes, that was a SIXTY in there}, so Ryan and I decided to turn the outing into a 92 county tour for ourselves as well!

So...without further ado...

LaGrange County is in the far north section of Indiana - borders on Michigan on the north, actually. It is best known for having a large population of Amish people living there, and Shipshewana, the town where we spent our time, is a tourist attraction built around the Amish community. The county name came from the French hometown of Revolutionary War hero Marquis de la Fayette.

Shipshewana has a HUGE flea market, and I've been to it before, but it's only open Tuesdays and Wednesdays, so we didn't get to see that this time. We rolled into town on Thursday.

Since starting our county tours, we've never spent the night in any of them yet. We did this time...stayed at the Farmstead Inn, which is a large hotel and conference center at the edge of town. This was Ryan's first time to the Farmstead, but I've stayed there 3 times before, and I've always, always enjoyed it. It's clean, safe, and has a variety of room amenities and a really nice breakfast with hot food.

So many people are fascinated by the Amish lifestyle, thanks to the books, TV shows and movies made within the last few years. I could never be a hard enough worker to pull off what they do, but what LOVELY, lovely homes and yards they keep! Here is a sample of some of the life we captured through our lenses throughout the weekend.

Biking...

Horses and buggies:

Immaculate gardens:

Tiny schoolhouses:

It's beautiful country, for sure.

We didn't take the whole tour, but much like Marshall County had a barn quilt trail, LaGrange County had a flower garden quilt trail. Gardens of flowers fleshed out to look like quilt squares. I couldn't get tall enough to fully capture this one, but you get an idea:

Downtown Shipshewana is made up of all kinds of tiny shops - like the kinds that inhabit regular houses - and at the end of town one HUGE building called the Davis mercantile. It had a ton of stores inside - and some other fun features, too, like a tree that they left when building the place...built the stairs right around it:

The building also has a carousel inside. If those things didn't make me so blessed dizzy, I'd have tried it:

Of course we had to have a coffee date while we were in town, and my niece accompanied us on that one! We went to the Hitching Post frozen yogurt and coffee shop!
 

Look at that! Outdoor seating with fans above and a cute trash can {it's in the silo in the middle}. Anytime a place has a cute TRASH CAN...that's pretty amazing.

This was the inside...

Ryan liked the horse sticking out of the wall. :)

They had a full frozen yogurt selection. Cassie got the birthday cake flavor, and I got salted caramel pretzel:

 And their topping selection was pretty wonderful. :)

 And this is what makes a good appetizer to lunch on a Friday: yogurt and French Vanilla Fresh Brew. Man it was good.

Ryan got a latte - and it was peanut butter and marshmallow creme - and it tasted like liquid Amish peanut butter. If you've never had that, it tastes like fudge. Also like heaven. I had a taste of his latte and it was SO GOOD.

 Here are the two of us with our yogurt. {If you've not met her before, this is my niece, Cassie.}

 We ate outside, because it was a nice day. But they had tables inside too, including these two nestled in Amish buggies! Of course we had to do a little photo shoot!

We were happy to again find a place with great character and good coffee!!

This post is long and I'm going to spend a few more days telling you about our family vacation, so I won't go into HUGE detail about the rest here, but just to be sure to have it in the official LaGrange County post, here were a couple more things we did for fun in this county!

Bike Riding on the Pumpkinvine Trail:

{That's my sister and brother-in-law with me}

Lunch at the Breadbox Cafe:

And dinner at the Blue Gate Restaurant. {Basically we ATE.}

Thanks, LaGrange County, for keeping us entertained for a few days and for being so driven with character!!

The Shafferland Shuffle

* Last Sunday was Father's Day, and we enjoyed spending the day at Ryan's mom and step-dad's house with his family AND mine! So much great food - REALLY great food - and a perfect weather day. We sat around enjoying food and fellowship - and we even got to watch Ryan's uncle in action as a beekeeper for a while! So thankful to have married into a family that loves to be together. :)

* Monday was a relatively uneventful day in Shafferland. We don't get many of those. We went to work, of course, and just had a pretty relaxing evening at home. It was our first REALLY hot day of the year - like hovering around 90, so we went for an attempted run, late in the evening, armed with water bottles and my pretend ponytail. I had a miserable run...my knee started acting up again as soon as I ran. It's fine when I walk but it is rebelling against running, it seems. So we didn't excel in time, but we did get a 5K down pat.

* Tuesday evening, Ryan and I went to the viewing for one of my Dad's very best friends, who passed away last week after a brief battle with cancer. We hurried home from that so Ryan could do yard work and so I could lead the second meeting of our Beth Moore study. SOMEONE...ahem...Braeya Jo...felt that Bible study was the place to be, since there were snacks. She made her rounds cleaning up our plates. Shaking head. It was a crazy busy night...we were TIRED when it was over!

 

* Wednesday was my last day at work for the week, so it was b.u.s.y. Right when it was time to leave, this MASSIVE storm blew up and made for a white-knuckle drive home. Not a fan.  It was kind of a rough night - I won't lie. It was one of those worst-self-esteem-ever nights, and I was kind of a mess. I hate days like that. Ryan was kind and understanding, and I consoled myself with a night of folding laundry and packing for our first ever Freelan family vacation!

* Thursday, Ryan and I took the day off work so we could make the trek to Shipshewana {in northern Indiana for those of you who don't live around here} for the first ever family vacation with the Freelan clan! My parents are celebrating their 60th anniversary this summer and wanted to have a family get together to commemorate the occasion! We spent the afternoon shopping, went to dinner together, and then had some fun in the hotel pool! Great day!

* Friday was family fun day in Shipshewana! Everyone was able to wander of and do whatever....but Ryan and I ended up spending most of our time with Lori, Jeff and Cassie...shopping around town and going on a 14 mile bike ride. WHICH ended...well...I'm telling you about that later. In the evening, we all went out for dinner together and took new family photos. I was EXHAUSTED by the end of the day, but it really was wonderful.

* Yesterday we came home from our family vacation. Always sad to see those times come to an end, but also great to be back home in our own space!! We came home by way of the Rise n Roll bakery in Middlebury - which is a whole building full of pastry heaven!! Loved that treat!!! Braeya was happy to see us {in a furious-with-us-for-being-gone sort of way}!

The Saturday Six

One.

Source

If you're in a season of life where you're planning a lot of baby showers for your friends, this is a pretty cool deal! I'm all for free printables, but this is a pack of a ton of shower themed printables that you can buy {through Wednesday} for $20.00. Not a bad price - and you can have them to use more than once!

Two.

My Dad lost one of his best friends last week. The two of them taught school together forever and were also wood cutting buddies. They worked together to take down the neighbors' tree that fell into my yard 3 years ago (story: here) and I love this picture of the two of them. Totally in their element - and if you look closely, TOTALLY UNSAFE. Dad is standing on a kitchen step stool with a chain saw, and Mr. Frakes is holding a limb with a bungee cord. Those two....but yet what a neat friendship.

Three.

 Source

I found this blog post enlightening - even though I don't have kids, and that's mostly the focus of it. Y'all know I'm the Bekahrazzi, and even for as long as I've been doing that, I still get flustered sometimes when I'm taking pictures and I know people are staring. This has some great tips on taking pictures in public and doing it well.  

Four.

 Source

I always love KariAnne Wood's stories. I really do. But being the occasional victim of Pinterest fails myself...this story was one of my favorites from recently. KariAnne wins this week's invisible award for the best recovery of a disaster. {Standing. Clapping.} 

Five.

A couple of weeks ago, my sister posted this photo from 1986...and this week were all together again and we did a Pinterest-inspired recreation. Like it??

Six.

And whilst we were together - we got a new family photo. A few, actually, but here is a sneak peek!
 

Slow and Stop

...Another peek into my lessons in the prayer chapel from a few years back. If you're trying to hurry God along right now {ahem...not that I would know anything about that...}, I encourage you to read what I learned that day.

My attention was pulled away from the green slate tiles because of the yellow shadow that began to fall across them as the sun peeked from behind a cloud outside.  Six stained glass windows lined the sides of the tiny chapel:  three on each side.  From my seat at the end of the pew, I had prime viewing of the pool of yellow that melted into red a few inches away. 

I glanced up at the windows, paying special attention to the detail that had been poured into their construction.  The careful choosing of the glass, the way the grain of color matched perfectly from piece to piece…I couldn’t imagine the hours of planning, choosing, cutting, soldering…what an amazing talent.  And to make each window so like the ones around it – it took great skill and patience.

But God drew my attention back to the floor – to the melting pool of colors.  I noticed the two colors:  yellow and red.  No others.  Just yellow and red.  Like a stop light.  Minus the green. 

Ahhh.  That is the next lesson.  There’s no green light cast on the floor – and not because it blended in with the green slate tile.  No green – and I knew in my heart that as desperately as I wished I could move into a relationship – in fact, the relationship – I did not have a green light yet.  All I had was yellow and red.  Slow and stop.  Those were my instructions for now.  Unlike the modified prayer dates of months gone past, these days were not to be about figuring out a specific man or pestering God about this choice or that.  No green lights existed just yet. 

This time was about slowing and stopping…and then cautiously starting up again.  My mind (led by God, no doubt) wandered back to my days of Drivers Ed when I had the “honor” of being the last driver of the trio of students in my car one particular day.  We were almost done with class and were headed back to the school we’d left a couple of hours earlier.  I was hungry and tired of driving.  As we approached the sole stoplight in our town, the green light turned to yellow.  Determined to end my misery of being the driver of the hour, I gunned it through the light.  I made it before it slid into red, but I did receive...admonition...from the teacher that yellow lights are meant to cause you to slow down, not to speed up. 

And so it seemed to be today.  Slow down.  Stop.  Don’t search for green lights.  Don’t try to hurry this process.  Just let it be. 

Satisfied that I had learned my lessons for the day, I raised my gaze to the front of the chapel.  On either side of the center alcove were two long, thin pieces of art.  On the left, red flames.  On the right, a silvery cloud.  I remembered from a tour of the chapel when it was first constructed that they represented the pillar of cloud and pillar of fire God used to lead the Israelites out of slavery and into the Promised Land.

God spoke again.  Are you ready to let Me guide you on this journey?  I glanced back at the yellow and red floating in and out of intensity on the floor.  I knew the answer to that question would determine much about the outcome of this adventure of obedience.  I knew that to say yes would mean that at times, I’d see God’s direction so clearly.  Just like the flaming pillar that burned each night.  No mistake.  There it is.  And at other times, that direction wouldn’t be so bright.  It might just be a hazy cloud.  But it would still be.

Okay.

If God wanted to guide me through whatever means He thought best, I was willing to look for the direction.  Okay.  I will slow.  I will stop.  And I will look for Your direction.  Teach me to recognize the pillars You plan to use in my life so that I do not miss them and I am not pulled aside by imitation guidance thrown at me by Satan.

I learned that day that once you give God permission to lead, He doesn’t waste time getting started.

Green Slate Tile

A few days ago, I began peeking back into a season of my life...eight years ago, actually...when God took me through an exercise He used in preparing me for Ryan. I took a break from it for a few days while I caught you up on life in Shafferland, but I wanted to share a bit more today. Hopefully God has something tucked in this just for you!

***

By the time I actually walked up to the door of the prayer chapel, a small amount of confidence had entered my heart.  The Naaman story had spurred me to follow through.  I ached to find heart healing as much as he ached to find physical restoration.  I pulled open the heavy wooden door and peeked inside.  No one was in the tiny chapel – and it was so quiet.  I tiptoed to the second pew from the back. 

Just like church.  Why go to the front?  I sat down, placed my purse on the pew beside me and stared ahead.  I had no idea what to do – and I felt rather lost without my journal.  What did God want?  This had the potential to be the lunch hour that lasted a year. 

I glanced around for a few minutes and then decided I should at least assume a posture of prayer, just in case someone came in.  I glanced up at the altar that lined the front of the building – but this wasn’t altar material.  I eyed the kneeling bench attached to the back of the pew in front of me and toyed with the idea of kicking it down and kneeling – but decided against it.  So I just folded my hands and bowed my head…

…And stared at the floor.  The green textured slate floor seemed oddly familiar.  Where had I seen this floor before?  Then I remembered.  It resembled the floor of the coat-room entrance at the church where I grew up.  As is typical for me, the thought of the old church sent me down a rabbit trail of memories. 

Almost nine years had passed since I left the church where all my spiritual foundation was laid.  Even now I miss that church.  I knew it was right to leave when I did – much prayer and advice had led to that decision.  But even as I sat there in the chapel, I could see that beautiful big building where I learned about God.

I could see the altar where I know from Polaroid pictures and the stories of my parents, I was dedicated to the Lord almost twenty-eight years earlier.  The same altar where I knelt in junior high during my first participation in a church-wide altar service.  I remembered shifting from one leg to the other as they alternately fell asleep, and I remembered the shrugs and smiles I shared with the equally clueless foreign exchange student who had accompanied me to the front that day. 

I could see the grand piano hidden behind paneled walls where I played solos during my eleven years of piano lessons – and I could envision the choir loft and those baby blue robes that never zipped right.  I wore robe number four during my years of choral participation.  It was the shortest – mine by default. 

I could see the red padded pews – third pew, organ side was where our family sat every Sunday morning, Sunday evening, and Thursday night.  I could see the Sunday School classrooms and remembered the years of opening exercises when all the kids gathered in the big assembly room to learn “I Will Make You Fishers of Men” and memorize tiny verses from the Psalms.  

I remembered the nursery where I loved to work – and willingly offered to take any shift not wanted by any of the other workers on the rotation.  I could even see the library where I used to check out books to devour during the week.

Sorry, God, I said.  Guess I got busy thinking about the good old days.  I’m focusing now.  What is it You have for me?

God surprised me.  No, I meant for that to happen.  I want you to remember the place where you got your spiritual start.  Never forget that church.  Never forget the memories…the training…you received there.  The woman you need to be for the husband I’ve chosen for you…began in that church.  And just as you started your spiritual journey within the walls of that church, so you begin a new spiritual journey here, now.  This is a fresh start.  This is your cleansing. 

My attention was pulled away from the green slate tile – but I shook my head. Who knew that God could use tile as a lesson?  These prayer dates – these were going to be full of the unexpected.  I could feel it. 

Wednesdays in the Word: Verse S

I'm terrible at memorizing Scripture. I'm sure somewhere out there is a carefully funded study that shows the average number of times a person has to see or hear something to memorize it. I like to think of myself as above average. Whatever that average is...quadruple it and that's me. On a good day.

But this verse is one I remember memorizing early on...in the oddest of places.

A novel.

I grew up reading Janette Oke novels. {I'm not old, of course, but "back then," she was about the only Christian romance author, and I devoured every book she wrote.}

It was book three in the Love Comes Softly series {vastly different than the movies based on the books} that chronicled the journey of Missie and Willie as they headed west in a covered wagon. And this verse was Missie's verse as she traveled. She quoted it all the time - and even gave their son the middle name of Isaiah based on this verse.

{I cannot remember to call for an oil change on my car, but I recalled all of that off the top of my head.}

I tell you all of that not because you care how I learned verses, but because it gave me such a unique connection to this verse. Obviously the book I read was a novel, but the point was real. The character Missie was fictional, but she represented real people who really did kiss their families goodbye - not knowing if it would be forever - and head west into the unknown. They took all their possessions in wooden boxes the size of one of our cars - sheltered only by canvas and pulled by horses. They faced injuries and disease and death and harsh weather...and had to march ahead with whatever knowledge they had.

And people like Missie really would have clung to that verse - begging God to help them avoid fear and dismay. Looking to Him for strength and help.

Today I'm a modern day Missie. I'm a girl facing an unknown of my own as I wait for God to guide the direction of our future. As I wait for a home to sell. Not knowing when or if I'll be asked to kiss my family goodbye and head into the unknown. Packing up my possessions and moving them to a new place and a new chapter of life.

And I hold to this verse for very different reasons as she did. {Or as those she represented did.}

The verse was true in Old Testament times when it was written. It was true for those headed to the promising west of America. And it is true for this day, for me and for you.

Happy Father's Day!!

We hosted Mother's Day at our house...but Father's Day is always an event hosted by Ryan's mom and stepdad. And it is quite a magnificent event!!

Before I launch into that...check out THIS beauty from 1986 that my sister posted on her Facebook page Sunday!

Random fun fact: that picture was taken at my grandparents' house...which is now our house. We're sitting in the fireplace. :)

And now back to present day...

We had the PERFECT weather day on Sunday for the Father's Day extravaganza. Allen and Nita set up tables in the garage and grill out and everyone pitches in with the meal. The crowd is made up of both of their extended families - and they were kind enough to include my parents this year as well. After growing up in such a small family, it still boggles my mind to go to a HUGE gathering like theirs!

Ryan helped Allen with the grilling. :)

Ryan's Grandpa Cox and my dad are very, very good friends...and have been since I was a kid. So it warmed my heart to see them going through the food line together. So cool how God blends friendships into family.

We sat with my parents...so I snapped this one of Ryan and Mom. Such a good one of both of them.

And he took one of Dad and me. :)

We gave Dad a gift - and this card. I chose it because if my Dad were a dog, he would look just like this.

It's true! The glasses...the plaid...the slippers...the recliner...that would be Dad! He loved it.

We ate lunch - OH my word - so much FOOD!!!! Then we went out for a little photo shoot.

Mom and Dad!! :) 

 The four of us. :)

 The scariest part of my day - using my mother-in-law's fancy pants camera. :)

I learned that there is actually a beehive at their house! I learn something new about them every day. Seriously.

So Ryan and I hopped in the Gator {never been in one of those either} and drove deep into the woods to see the beehive. Ryan's Uncle Dave is apparently a hobby beekeeper!

Um. Ryan's driving was a little faster than I like for an open-sided means of transportation.

But we made it in one piece. Check this out!

I kept a safe distance and just used my zoom lens. :)

 {Yes, that is Allen holding that piece WITHOUT wearing the suit!!}

And as for Ryan...well...his need for a Sunday afternoon nap hit him while we were watching the bees. At least I'm claiming that over being a boring date!!!

After we got our fill of the bees, we headed back to the house and hung around for a while, helping to clean up and talking some more to all the cousins, aunts and uncles.

So that was our Father's Day! :) Long and wonderful.