back in the saddle again

the title of this post is such for 2 reasons:
1. I haven't been posting as regularly, or in chronological order (ie this post is from a month ago), in a while and am back
2. The following post is about my adventure to Wyoming and Denver to visit my dear friend Hannah!

A month or so ago I finally made it to Chugwater, Wyoming, home of the Kirkbride/Westerman clan and my dear friend hannah, in particular. Hannah has been a model friend this year in what some may call a "ministry of presence." She is a joy to share space with and she's made a tremendous effort to meet people where they're at, literally. We have friends all over the world and Hannah has visited most or all of them within the past two years. She visited Michael in Italy, Jason and Sarah in the West Bank, met up with me in Germany, Mandy in China, her sister in India as well as the Faroe Islands and the list goes on. During her time in the states she has also made the rounds to all her North American amigos - Laura & Jacob in California, Carli in Charlottesville, aunts uncles and brothers in South Dakota, Wisconsin, Chicago, DC, etc., the whole JBU/SCLE crew in northwest arkansas and again, the list goes on. This is why I say that I FINALLY made it to Wyoming because my dear friend Hannah makes it such a priority there is no way I could let her leave the country (she took a job in Sudan) before making it to her homeland.

While in Chugwater we chaperoned a high school lock-in, discussed life, hiked three peaks around her families ranch and simply shared space for a week or so.

Her family is incredible. While we were at her Aunt Lindi's one night I told her how neat it was to see the devotion and discipline of her ranching family spill over into other areas of their lives. They drive an hour north and south to recycle as much as they can. The pursuit of truth and excellence is visible in their professional lives as well as personally, as seen in their conversations, relationships and family standards. Spending time with them challenged me to approach life from a different perspective and higher my standards. I like the Kirkbride/Westerman clan.