"I will take My children into the wilderness and there I will speak tenderly to them. I will restore their fruitfulness and turn their valley of trouble into a door of hope." Hosea 2:14-15a
This beautiful piece of Biblical poetry is the theme verse for Wilderness Fellowship Ministries up in Grantsburg, WI. (Check it out--it's a great & inexpensive place for families or couples to get away.) We had the privilege of spending this past weekend there with friends from church--some are longtime friends and some are newer friends that we've been enjoying getting to know. It was a much needed retreat for all! Grandma P. took the kiddos and we had a whole weekend to just play, hang out, and be kids ourselves. We went sledding (I got a bruise bigger than my hand) and snow hiking, and spent lots of time hanging out playing games as we kept warm by the wood burning stove. We stayed in "The Farmhouse" (pictured below) which has been refurbished & bunked all 17 of us. It was an an old fashioned treat, with no bathrooms and just an outhouse with a metal seat! (What a feat at -13 below!)
Many of us were commenting on how rarely we get away like that. And even more rare is a block of time like that with no agenda or schedule. I was feeling especially thankful for this time with friends and hubby, as there have been several seasons throughout our married life in which we didn't have many friends to walk through life with. Those dry and barren times make us appreciate the blessing of friendship all the more.
Thank You, Lord, for friends, and for beautiful places to share together. Thank You for laughter and snow, for trees and sunshine. Thank You for the warmth of a fire, and the warmth You put in our hearts as we treasure longstanding friendships and make new ones, too.
8 comments:
The crazy thing is, someone from my hubby's work JUST mentioned this place on Friday and sent us the link. He was supposed to use a prayer cabin this past weekend and was offering it to anyone else who wanted it. Wouldn't it have been funny if we would have taken it?!?! I'm glad you had an amazing time.
inthestory, you would LOVE this place--especially the newest prayer cabin ($45 a night suggested donation for a couple, I think). Two mentions in one weekend; it's a sign! And I was thinking about you guys in particular as I pondered who of our friends would most appreciate this place... :)
What an amazingly FUN time with everyone this weekend! I knew you would write up a beautiful post and I've totally leeched it... hope you don't mind. :-)
Awww I love the pic of you and Wade. :)
I was pretty excited about this until I heard the below zero outhouse story.
Maybe in the summer...
I'm glad you guys had a good time. We all need those times away. Looks like you had to bundle up quite a bit though, huh?
Look at all you fun folks!
Yeah, Wilderness! Does it get any better than this? (I think not.) I guess Saturday afternoon and Sunday it could have been a little warmer. I spent a large portion of Saturday night playing Texas hold 'em with peanuts. (yummy profits...)
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