Weekend Family Retreat
I love fall with its cooler temperatures, lower humidity, fewer bugs, turning leaves, and pumpkins. Last weekend (Oct. 7-9) Phyllis and I planned to take our annual fall family camping trip at a local state park, Cuivre River, but I made a mistake: I did not reserve a camp site and there weren't any left when we arrived... after dark. But God is good and has provided us with a good friend and close brother, Emerson, who rescued us from my own bad planning. Emerson and his wife have a farm near Cuivre River and they graciously offered their place for our weekend retreat (they do not live there).
The weather was perfect. When we arrived and got unpacked, we spent a while just enjoying the brilliant constellations and the Milky Way winding its path across the sky. It's too bad so much of the night sky is lost from sight in the suburbs where we live. The next morning it was chilly and I made a fire in the wood stove while the coffee brewed. We brought our favorite fresh ground coffee, which in this setting was even tastier than usual.
Emerson stopped by the house to check on us, then headed out to do some trail work. After he left I was running some water in the bathroom and when I shut off the water, I could hear water running elsewhere in the house. Andrew alerted me to water gushing everywhere in the utility room, where the water filter had popped its top. After a quick search did not turn up a way to shut off the water in the house, I ran out to the well and found a shutoff switch there (about 100 yards out back of the house). We were able to get the water mopped up and take wet items outside to dry in pretty short order. No water damage resulted.
We went hiking and found Emerson clearing fallen trees from one of his trails. He and I went to the hardware store and bought a replacement filter, which was simple to install and did not require any extra trips to the hardware store. Emerson says that if the water filter had broken when no one was there, it would have flooded the house causing water damage, and then the well pump would have burned out and needed to be replaced at a cost of over $1,000. We concluded the Lord had planned for my family to be there as a blessing both to Emerson and to us. I'm pretty sure we had a lot more enjoyment at the farm than we would have had camping.
On Sunday morning we went to Joy Bible Fellowship for worship. JBF is a church that was planted by our own church, Chatham Bible Church. JBF was right on the way home and it was great to worship with good friends there. God is so good!
After church we stopped by Cracker Barrell for brunch, a family favorite. We got back home in early afternoon and had time to take a Sunday rest after unpacking.
Some photos Andrew took at the farm (click on each picture for better resolution):
The weather was perfect. When we arrived and got unpacked, we spent a while just enjoying the brilliant constellations and the Milky Way winding its path across the sky. It's too bad so much of the night sky is lost from sight in the suburbs where we live. The next morning it was chilly and I made a fire in the wood stove while the coffee brewed. We brought our favorite fresh ground coffee, which in this setting was even tastier than usual.
Emerson stopped by the house to check on us, then headed out to do some trail work. After he left I was running some water in the bathroom and when I shut off the water, I could hear water running elsewhere in the house. Andrew alerted me to water gushing everywhere in the utility room, where the water filter had popped its top. After a quick search did not turn up a way to shut off the water in the house, I ran out to the well and found a shutoff switch there (about 100 yards out back of the house). We were able to get the water mopped up and take wet items outside to dry in pretty short order. No water damage resulted.
We went hiking and found Emerson clearing fallen trees from one of his trails. He and I went to the hardware store and bought a replacement filter, which was simple to install and did not require any extra trips to the hardware store. Emerson says that if the water filter had broken when no one was there, it would have flooded the house causing water damage, and then the well pump would have burned out and needed to be replaced at a cost of over $1,000. We concluded the Lord had planned for my family to be there as a blessing both to Emerson and to us. I'm pretty sure we had a lot more enjoyment at the farm than we would have had camping.
On Sunday morning we went to Joy Bible Fellowship for worship. JBF is a church that was planted by our own church, Chatham Bible Church. JBF was right on the way home and it was great to worship with good friends there. God is so good!
After church we stopped by Cracker Barrell for brunch, a family favorite. We got back home in early afternoon and had time to take a Sunday rest after unpacking.
Some photos Andrew took at the farm (click on each picture for better resolution):
posted by Mark at 7:00 PM
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