It all came together this morning…
The views are amazing with mountains looming large. You can see them from anywhere on the ranch. They are breathtaking and make me feel small and amazed yet comforted and safe in their shadow. The gravel driveway is lined with grass and large weeping trees. As I walk up the drive way it sweeps up to a gently rolling hill with a lodge style home on it. It looks so inviting as it overlooks the shallow valley below and mountains in front. The grounds are lovely and inviting. They look refreshing like a little piece of heaven.
In one of the large pastures I can see horses grazing lazily in the sun, available to go for a short jaunt or a long leisurly trail ride. On the back side of that pasture sits the stables, headquarters of a small riding/training facility for those staying on the ranch to enjoy. A little girl with a bald head is giggling as her older brother squirts her with the hose he is using to bath the pony she has been riding. She feels normal for the first time in a while.
Just down the isle is an older gentleman who has lost his ability to walk but hasn’t lost his passion for those four legged beauties he has spent his life admiring. The ranch hand gently lifts him into a cart being pulled by two majestic draft horses. They are getting ready to take a country drive, old style and fulfill an old mans final wishes. Out behind the stables a menagerie of animals are waiting to fed and loved on by ranch guests. A couple of little goats play and butt heads as a rather cumbersome pot bellied pig looks on with little concern. The geese scramble to get out of the goats way and honk there dismay. A ten year old boy sits on a bail of hay in the corner telling an old miniature horse his lifes secrets and heartbreaks. The little horse listens with patience and understanding, never saying a word but sympathizing with her eyes.
As I continue to walk I notice a large pond with fish leaping for their afernoon meal. The stream that feeds it is ripe for fishing and some take advantage of the facilities fishing equipment.
As I scan the hill I notice a few small homes discretely tucked away in the trees. Each one with a little different style to meet the needs of those who would be guests. As I walk back down toward the main house I notice that off to the side sits a humble little building with beautiful stained glass windows and an unabstructed view of those majestic mountains. Someone is inside playing the piano and singing an old hymn with one of the most lovely alto voices. There is passion in that voice as if someone is singing for there very life. It seems like a restful place, a place where a person could meet God and comfortably tell him everything and know he is there, listening, crying, rejoicing, comforting.
As I walk into the main house I notice that it is open and friendly with lots of windows to let in the sunshine a large river rock fireplace for cold evenings and many nooks and crannies for a person to sit quietly alone with a book or have an intimate conversation. As I am contimplating my surroundings I hear thunderous laughter coming from one of the rooms off the main hall. As I peak around the corner I am astonished to find a multipurpose room that is playing host to a rousing game of charades. I am sure any game could be played in this room as there is a game closet stuffed full of every board game, card game or any other game I have every seen. I guess laughter is the best medicine and the walls of this room appear to be privy to much laughter.
A lovely smell begins to permiate the premises and my nose leads the way. Before I know it I am standing in a lovely kitchen that boasts something mouthwatering. The chef is preparing the meal as a little lady who appears to be elderly, yet so spry and full of energy flits around the kitchen asking the chef a million questions a minute. He gently answers and allows her input into his culinary delights. She feels young again, like the cares from her years on the mission field have dropped away and she indulges in her lifelong passion of cooking. She lends a hand to make this sumptuous meal for the guests at the ranch. I hear the chef telling this new friend that the guests on the ranch have the option of eating in the main house with the family or preparing their own meals in the cabins prestocked kitchen.
The little old lady kindly asks about the other guests and the chef begins the long process of explaining that the purpose of the ranch is to give people who are on a rocky road in life, a place to be normal and outside of the stress of their everyday lives. It’s a place for families to come together and grow, ministers and their families to rest with no expectation, missionaries to debrief, cancer patients and their families to come and get away from it all. It is a place to rest and meet God. I hear him begin to tell her that the family who started the ranch wanted a place for people to come and get soul rest. They wanted the guests to experience joy and participate in activities that they love. That is why their are horses and farm animals, a room full of games, a chapel with a library and musical intruments, a room full of every kind of art and craft supply anyone could want, a green house and a pond. He also told his new friend that the grounds have miles of walking trails, strategically placed benches, meandering streams, a pond and a cool meadow. As the guests begin to file in to sit down at the large oak table, I am left alone with my thoughts and dreams. Can a place like this exist?
Thanks for joining me on a journey I have been pursing for 14 years with Todd. We sat on a rocky bluff looking out over the Bitter Root Valley in Western Montana on our honeymoon and began to dream of a retreat. Through some huge ups and downs in our lives, many hopes and dreams have come and gone but this one has only gotten more intense in detail and desire. We have often wondered why on earth God has put us in the places he has and honed the skills in us that he has. As I was standing in the bathroom this morning curling my hair, it seemed to come together. We are praying hard over this dream right now and depending on God to help us make it happen or completely make it go away. We have begun to put things in motion in order to move toward this goal. I have shared only a few pieces of the details and desires we have for this ranch.
We have no idea where it is or how it will take shape but we know that God has allowed many things in our 14 years that are beyond what we could have thought we would be able to endure. The kinship I feel for those who are suffering through cancer is real and tangible. I have struggled to find a way that I can use my experience to bring some measure of normal and comfort to those I meet who have gone through cancer or are in the middle of it.
In addition, Todd and I have had a heavy burden for those families who are in the ministry, whether they are pastors, missionaries or whatever. We have had little glimpses into the hurt and unrealistic expections put on those families and would love to have a place where they could come and feel no expection but be rejuvinated and allowed to just be who they are as individual people. This is our dream and our hope. We have no idea when this will take place, whether it is in a year or two or whether we will be dead and gone and one of our children will make it happen.
