It is hard to believe that another month has already passed here. I continuously feel grateful for the opportunity to be here, and I definitely feel that this is where God wants me to be right now. It is so good to be with the community of the Tanis family, my college friends, and Second City Church, especially during this strange time. Over the past month, I have tried to savor my experience here as much as possible.
Dave and I tackled a lot of administrative tasks this month, which wasn't quite as exciting as leading adventures, but felt productive and important. We lined up some adventure facilitations for this spring that we are really excited about, as well as started putting groups on the calendar in the fall. We have further developed the website, worked on logo design, obtained permits for wilderness areas, organized emails, and much more. It has been helpful to see and experience this administrative side of running an adventure business, and I have appreciated being a part of laying the foundation for Yellow Breeches Adventures.
I have probably most enjoyed the everyday rhythms of work and family life. I appreciate learning from Dave and Tricia as they navigate family life together, and it is special to bond with Hannah and Peter (and increasingly, Muffin the cat).
I have also been learning to find balance in my life. I have always been a person of diligence, always wanting to achieve more and more and do everything that I can. But continuing to have a break from the busyness of college (which was still quite toned down from my overcommitted high school lifestyle) has prompted me to prioritize what is important to me and make decisions that feel good. In the fall, I filled up a lot of my free space with practices such as journaling, reading, reflecting, meditating, and doing yoga. All of these practices are wonderful. Here, however, as I make space for moments like helping Peter with an essay, cuddling with Muffin by the wood stove, helping with dinner, and having good conversation, I recognize that having this flexibility and freedom requires giving up something. It doesn't require changing my values or who I am, but it means that I might not be able to read every book that I want to read this month or journal as often as I might consider ideal. And that's okay. Trying to find this balance feels valuable to me, and I am thankful to have this gap year to explore things like this.
The month ended with a week with just Peter, Hannah, and me, as Dave and Tricia were out of town. We had a lot of fun together, though the house was a bit lonely during the day with just Muffin and me while Peter and Hannah were at school. We decided to do a 7-day Polar Plunge throughout the week, so each day, we jumped into the Yellow Breeches (the creek that runs through Messiah). We added an interesting twist each day, like wearing costumes, running to the creek and back instead of driving, and going over the giant snow pile by the creek beforehand and afterwards. We also cooked an array of national cuisine throughout the week: Australian (fish and a dessert called lamington), Indian (tikka masala), Mexican (empanadas and Spanish rice), Italian (herb-crusted chicken with pasta, homemade tomato sauce, and garlic bread from scratch), and Greek (gyros). I enjoyed cooking and bonding with Peter and Hannah through eating delicious food together and freezing in the creek.
This next month brings some exciting adventures including teaching a canoeing course for the last class of Messiah Adventure Education students and facilitating some caving events for homeschool students. Please pray for us as we seek to provide meaningful adventure experiences and continue to live and work together.
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