Day of Beauty

Tuesday morning, I woke up and repacked the car to head for Wisconsin. I surprise even myself at how perky I am in this picture, considering I'd not yet had any coffee:

Never fear. I remedied that quickly.

I had prayed so hard before my vacation that God would make it a time of healing. I even packed several worship CD's so I could listen to great praise songs in the car. And I have to say, the driving stretch from Jenna's to Glen and Allison's was filled with MUCH singing. MUCH prayer. It was beautiful. Beautiful.

As was the scenery...

I told Allison later that it was not lost to me what a privilege it was to take this trip. A privilege to have the days off work to allow me the freedom to go. A privilege to have saved up enough money to pay for gas and meals. A privilege to have not one, but two sets of friends who welcomed me very lovingly into their homes. A privilege to be able to make the drive after months of being unable to do much at all. Over and over during the drive, I thanked God for all these things...and for the beauty of His creation. Gorgeous trees and hills and beautiful blue sky. (FINALLY! A vacation with good weather!!)

I arrived at Glen and Allison's with no problem. I guess I haven't really told you yet who they are! Twenty years ago, Jody and her fiance-at-the-time, Jeff, were the youth pastors at my church. They left for the summer to get married, and while they were gone, their friends Glen and Allison led our youth group. We were such a tiny group, but Glen and Allison loved on us anyway. I remember them teaching us the importance of scripture memorization and putting on the armor of God.

We stayed in touch - mostly through Christmas and birthday cards - all these years, and more recently, we found each other on Facebook. That was how I began to see pictures of their beautiful home and how they came to know about my desert journey. And it's how I came to visit their house.

I was a tiny bit nervous driving up to their house, wondering what it would be like to see them again. Allison walked out to my car, looking exactly as I remembered her twenty years ago, she gave me a HUGE hug, and from that moment on, we didn't skip a beat. It was just like we picked up our last conversation, only this time I wasn't sporting poofy bangs! What a beautiful, beautiful sister she is!

This is one of their daughters, Gabi. She's quite a good artist...and she also takes horseback riding lessons. Allison and I took her to a lesson just a bit after I arrived. The day was beautiful and we sat on a wooden bench nearby and shared our hearts over travel mugs filled with (of course) coffee.

I'd never been to riding lessons before...Gabi did a great job! The horses were so gorgeous. Loved seeing them up close!

After we left the lessons, Allison and Gabi took me to a cheese house. Hadn't ever been to one of those either. It was so cute. Had a little area with tables and a huge fireplace...and oh, the cheese!! I l-o-v-e cheese.

This was the cheese store and it was fun to visit! The owner even drove out to the cheese farm to get fresh cheese curds for us. I'd never had them before. Have you had them? Oh my WORD.

When we got back to Glen and Allison's, it was time to gather the eggs. That is a sentence I've never said before. They live on a farm, but they don't actually farm. Does that make sense? But they do have a real chicken coop...with real chickens...and real eggs.

I even touched one. Yes. I, Rebekah J. Freelan, touched a live chicken. Look at me growing up!

Another feature of the property: a real outhouse. We did not have to use it, praise the Lord. I am appreciative of indoor plumbing. :) But in defense of the outhouse...it was a two-seater. Kind of the Cadillac of outhouses!

Glen and Allison have two Great Pyrenees dogs - Butter and Dolly. This is Butter. I loved these dogs. They were so friendly - and so BIG! They like to lean on you. I lost my balance a lot while I was there. :)

Allison's neighbor delivered chocolate milk in a glass jar. How much did I love that! This was from their farm...we even had to skim it ourselves. Oh the things you miss from shopping at Wal-Mart. :)

The cheese curds I mentioned earlier. They were the freshest of fresh. I'd been told a good cheese curd squeaks when you eat it. These sounded like a dog toy. I've never eaten squeaky food before! So YUMMY!!!!!

After dinner (Allison made yummy chili and cornbread!) we went to their neighbor's dairy farm. And look what your Bekah girl got to try!!

Yep! That's me! Feeding a calf! With a bottle! That little sucker was quite the wrestler. I think it thought I was going to take away the bottle. Noper! All yours, baby. So cute, though!!

This may be the first time a calf was ever fed by someone wearing her black work shoes - little ballerina slippers. They were a bit dusty once I got back!!

The day ended with an official cheese tasting. Isn't this gorgeous?

Allison had purchased some different cheeses at the cheese shop, and put together that pretty tray, complete with grapes and pears. Oh and honey! Ever had honey on cheese??

I'd like you to meet Glen and Allison:

And our Tuesday was done! I had the opportunity to have my own room, even, while I was there! Their oldest daughter, Chelsea, is away at Ellerslie right now, so I got to stay in her room. Down comforter on the bed and everything. (Heaven on a bed.)

Yes. A definite day of beauty...and the start of healing.