life & company

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fall has crept into this north west arkansas land

the trees have started to take on the most incredible colours. 

the weather has changed & the air has turned crisp. 

darkness falls earlier

october has come & is almost past. & i wonder where the time has went. 

the 29th of september through the 1st of october the gentry congregation hosted a youth rally. 

las vegas, new mexico. hiawatha, kansas. jonseboro, arkansas. & west point, mississippi attended. 

i was so very grateful that i had the oppurtunity to attend. this was the first youth rally experience for me & well it was so great & very inspiring. 

mom & dad arrived on the 2nd. i highly anticipated their arrival & it was hard for me to keep my focus here at the ranch. at around 3:30 that very familiar yukon popped over the top of the hill & at last they had arrived. those hugs felt really nice. a quick tour of the house & then to sit on the front porch because that's just a good place to talk. ranch duties do not end. a rancher finds herself out at the swings separate from the group in school so i find myself walking over to her to see what she needs & get her back into the school house. we walk down to the tack shed & i feed brandy & just talk with folks. & then mom & i go & make a chicken stir-fry for supper. it was fun to be in the kitchen with her. after circle prayers folks left for mr. todds. i followed them over there & we all sat outside drinking tea around the fire. ms brooke filled in for me on tuesday so i journeyed over to mr todds for breakfast & then folkd & i just spent the day together. coffee shop. antique store. a neat italian lunch place. mom & i worked on a new pattern & ms. regina prepared us a delicious supper. this night i stayed a little late. it was hard to leave. plus the dog had fallen asleep with his head on my lap & it was just comfy. wednesday was horsemanship. folks came to watch. & it POURED. so they stood in the trailer door as we became drowned rats in the arena. & then good bye. o ugh. the worst part. 

the rest of the week consisted of normal ranch life. until friday rolled around.parent seminar. miss katie & i left at 9:00 to attend. miss sam stayed with miss sharla & the ranchers & took a long ride down the road & had a packed lunch. i headed back to the ranch for 4:00 chores. showers & then load up into the chariot (the big van) for supper was at church. all the ranchers got to say hello to their parents for a few moments then we ate. said goodnight & left. prayers were said. a rancher was not doing ok this night. so i sat with her after prayers & though tears usually do not flow freely for her. they flowed freely this evening. in these moments i realize how heavily i rely on God to give me words. 

saturday morning. the skunk smell of the last few days was no better. & as miss katie looked out our door she saw the culprit. lying there on our porch very dead. so i found a big ole shovel & that skunk went a flying somewheres into the neighbors cow pasture. & when the girls wake up we start out with a round-up. do some airing & sharing about the week & discuss a few other matters. we do chores. have breakfast & then the suitcases come out. after all have packed we head over to church for a delicious lunch of hamburgers. check-out visists for two of our ranchers & then just like that the ranch is empty. 

home visit week. 

& i filled it up. 

canadian thanksgiving. i was just sitting this day & got this idea that i should journey to goltry to see uncle scott's so 30 minutes after getting approval away i sped. this was a nice time. the ditches in this oklahoma land were filled with the most gorgeous dried things. so ash & i went a picking. & then we went a hiking up gloss mountains. i left by 3 so i could make it to supper at the teacherage. wednesday we had team training. & then us mentors drove up to joplin to have supper with mr. marjo's children. they are board members from walker. we found ourselves bowling this evening as well. thursday i was incredibly lazy. ms. sam & i went & got library cards at the gentry library. took some things to the giant washers at the laundromat. & found a thrift store. & then. at 8:00. haleigh laurén arrived. how could i be so lucky?! the next 2 days were filled with SO many good conversations. laughing. & much adventure. saturday night we saw shepherd of the hills in branson. & as we journeyed our way home an unsuspecting armadillo out for a midnight stroll lost its life. i now am curious how many of these things will loose their life because of me in the next year? 

& now home visit week has come to an end. 

all the ranchers are making their way back to this place. 

this next session has began. 

please continue to pray. 

until next time. 

ms. tif. 

. & for those curious about my off days. during this next session. which is till christmas. sunday & monday will be the days.