Cruising Kansas - Part 1

The past couple weeks I was home visiting Kansas and all its attractions -- always a beautiful time... :)

I am so thankful that we have the opportunity to travel back and be with our friends and family a couple times a year, and as I looked through the photos that I wanted to post, I was reminded again of how it's the people wherever you go that make a "home."

I love the land, too... but it would not hold the same appeal without the voices - present and past - that whisper their observations, their dreams, and their lives in my inner ear.

Thank You, Lord, for this time.

Above, leaving Hazelton and a view of the storm clouds in the East...

Here are some photos of the visit...

Chel and I were able to spend some quality time together during my time at home... quality time like jumping around Dad in a circle and letting our arms flop around and hit him... ;)

Saturday morning down-time; Mom chilled on the big tire/flower-bed while Chel and I took up seats on the four-wheeler and bags of... dog food? I don't remember what it was... lol.

And present -- of course -- was the other grand-child: Dumb Dog Diesel (as he is commonly referred to by Grandpa Bahr). He really is a beautiful dog, and great companion for Chelsie, Mom, and the cats. In fact, I hear he believes he really is a feline... :)

Mom and Chel during our bonfire... we had to move the vehicle two or three times because it was so hot! Thanks Dad for your super-duper-fire-starting skills... you weren't even a Boy Scout, were you?!? :)

Visiting Grandpa and Grandma Frieden in Kiowa -- Grandma makes the most amazing rolls ever, and those alone would be reason to go visit... but it's great being with the people, too... :)

I love going to their house and watching Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? because every time I answer a question correctly, they both tell me I should go on the show -- "You'd just be so great!"

I don't know that I've admitted yet that "educated" guesses have always been my forte! (Guffaw, anyone? Anyone?)

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for everything -- I appreciate you so much!

I was also able to do a roundabout tour of Kansas... starting by going to Gridley and visiting my Grandma Bahr. At the end of the visit, it was a great moment to realize we hadn't really done anything except sit and chat... and it was totally worth it! Thanks, Grandma... especially for the pumpkin bread pudding. :)

(Do we notice a pattern here of great food and grandmothers?!?)

I was sad that I didn't get a photo of my friend Sarah and I... or my cousin Vanndy and I... or of my friend Alan and I... lol. However, I got to visit all of them during my time in Kansas City, and I enjoyed every minute! Thanks to each of you for taking the time...!

After KC, I headed down to Lindsborg; the world of academia, good coffee, and great conversation... ;) This photo is atop Coronado Heights -- a favorite spot for me during my college years, and a great view of the surrounding countryside.

Below, all of we friends got together after the college's Interterm musical production.

Good times... thanks guys!

While home, there were also some neat opportunities for community service. The Kiowa Young Group (this consists of my sister Chelsie... cough), the Stewart family (this makes up almost the entire Sunday school... cough, cough), and the rest of us all headed to Cherokee, Oklahoma to work at an organization called Kids Against Hunger. We measured, sacked, and boxed meals for low-income families... what a blessing to work together!

Above, left -- Chel and Dad. Two peas in a pod... :)

Above, right -- Allyson Stewart. As Mom says, "Just a doll!!!" And she rivals Candi for personality... ;)

Above -- Kaleigh Stewart; I love this photo, because her expression is AMAZING. She was concentrating really, really hard! :)

After looking at this photo of Staci Stewart, Chel and I, my adoringly tactful sister decided that we should never ever have white hair... or look forward to it. I told her... "Too late."

About 8 years too late, in reality.

Sheesh.

The whole group at Kids Against Hunger.

We (true to good Apostolic Christian form) went out to eat afterward... ;)

At Pizza Hut -- which did make me excited, since it's not everyday that I eat there.

Above -- Mom and Grandma walking to the Pizza Hut entrance; when Tif saw this picture she said, "Oh! Our cute little German grandma!" ;)

I don't know what's happening with this formatting (I'm sure I messed it up somehow)... but we'll just go with it! These two pics are from when Dad and I went to Newton, KS for a workday at the Mennonite Center with other AC church volunteers. At left, Dad and I took a picture with "Grandma Greiner"... my great-Aunt, but certainly a "grandma" to anyone who needs one... ;)

At left (below?) again, Dad and I working on the assembly line. If you notice, I am concentrating really hard to put the box in the exact spot so it hits Dad's hand at the right point. "What dedication to her job!" you exclaim... or... it could be that my immediate superior (a.k.a. Dad) instructed me to put the boxes three inches closer and I then knew that I had entered the danger zone of assembly line perfectionism... ;)

I love the Stewart kids... I really do! They brighten the church in Kiowa and bring a lot of joy to the older folks! Above, we were... well, I told them to look like we were facing a firing squad, but we didn't exactly get there. :)

Left to right: Staci, Carter, me, Ali, Sterling, Josh, Kaleigh, and Gabe

We decided to take a "normal" shot -- which ended up being super-hilarious because the kids thought it would be super-funny to try tipping me over during the photo... and they came pretty darn close to it! I think I had... maybe one boot heel on the ground? Something like that... :)

My last day in Kansas, I went up to this place we farm called "The Top of the World" -- yes, we name our pieces of ground, our vehicles, and our medical difficulties... ;)

It's a nifty little spot that has a great view of the surrounding countryside. I was thinking... "peaceful, fantabulous hour or two sitting atop a terrace and praising God." Instead, I found "freezing, windy five minutes hurrying out to the terrace for a photo, and praising God that I could go climb back into a warm vehicle"... :)

However, I took this photo, and as I look at it now, I realize how much of a "horizon" photo it is. I've had many conversations lately about the uncertainties, the unknowns, the what's-next?s... the distant horizon, basically. And I have no idea. And I am perfectly content not knowing. Does that sound insane? Compared to my past assumptions about where my life would go, it does... but more and more it makes no sense to me to detail a plan for my future that God hasn't specified. I want to live deliberately for Him... but I don't believe that presupposes a life map drawn out, duly noted, and then stored away... :)

Dad always says that it doesn't hurt to plan, as long as you are open to changing those plans and doing what God directs -- I agree; but I don't even have a plan, now!

But I'm thankful that He does... and I will keep following His row to the next field, through the next harvest, through the life and death of every season; not blindly... but trustingly.

Waiting on Him... and for Him!

Part 2: Cruising Colorado coming soon... ;)