"can anything good come from a storm?"

 "you learn to love yourselves and others who are struggling." said the horse. 

hi. it's good to be here again after a few weeks :)

yes. good things can come from a storm. it has been very dry here. we have received some rain which was very, very exciting ! also, i feel as though i went through a storm. but with jesus and prayer therapy things looked up :) i was feeling down... ms. katie and i did some mentor training with ms. lora. in our training, we did sand trays. sand trays are a type of play therapy. well, that training ended up being a therapy session and it was what i needed. 

to me, this tells a story. 

ms. anna marie took a roadtrip to her nieces' weddings. with her not here, i got to do trading post with the ranchers and it was very fun. 

mr. todd's, ms. sharla, and ms. katie went to the care meeting in detroit, so those days were very low key. ms. jenna and i got to listen in to all of it, which i am very grateful :) on thursdays, ms. judy comes, brings lunch, and does life skills with the girls. so thursday evening when they were gone, her and doyle brought a very yum supper and were here for the evening. ms lora also joined us :)

each day does not go by without some bumps. one morning i went down to horsemanship with the girls. we have working with one to be quiet and only say necessary things. well... she talked to one of the animals and i had her strong sit. i spent most of my morning sitting by her while she tried to figure out what she had done wrong. when they tell you, "i can't figure out why" , it really makes you doubt yourself. but what they want is control. and if you give in, it means they have won. (& no, we are not perfect everytime. you just have to go with what feels right. ) anyway... it ended up that we went back to the tack shed and reinacted what had happened. she was holding a cat and asked it what she had done wrong... and i told her, "exactly that. "

on my last day off, i went to beaver lake and went paddle boarding. 🤍 it made my heart very happy when i seen a sailboat out on the lake too. but also very sad since this summer i missed out on sailing.

ms. sharla, ms. katie, and i got in our car and drove to supulpa. it is right by tulsa. we spent two days there taking a wilderness first aide training. so now i am a certified in wilderness first aide. yay. i learned alot. we got to do role plays and what would happen if you came upon this scene. one of the scenes, i was very upset with ms. katie. we were mountain biking and she made me wreck. so i got to be very dramatic. ha.

another happy thing, i got to spend 3 or so hours mowing the front pasture and around the tack shed. felt very good to come in hot, dirty, and feeling accomplished. :)

this last thursday was family day. any of the girl's family is welcome to come. we want to help build connection between the girl and her parent(s). in the morning we were here at the ranch house. started with one family going down for horsemanship and the other eating breakfast. then we switched. oh, and it rained for a good share of the morning, so out came the raincoats/ponchos. the rancher and her parents were allowed in the arena and the rest of us watched. when the rain started really coming down, we moved to the horse trailer. ha. it is so amazing how much you can see similarities between the rancher and the horse. after horsemanship and breakfast, one family stayed in the house, and we did sand trays. first tray, chose things that represented us. then we did two more. one for the now and another one where we want to be in a year from now. the other family went to the schoolroom. then again, they switched. the board made lunch for us at school. so we went there and spent the rest of the afternoon there. we did brain gyms, rip and snort, and yard blitz. before the ranchers left, we had a meeting with their parent(s). then they came in for abit. they will arrive back here at the ranch the 16th.

so for the next week or so, this ranch will be very quiet. tuesday, we are going to ms. regina's to have mentor training. (this is something we do each tuesday morning with her) we are taking a book called "emotional healthy spirituality". it is a very good book. thursday, we have a girl and her family coming for an interview to see if she will be coming to the ranch in the future. 

this is at a coffee shop i visited. (one of ms. jenna's favorites) thought it was quite impressive. below is their story:)

The Facts

Haiti is the poorest nation in the western hemisphere. A small Caribbean island, it’s people lack the educational opportunities, clean water, respectable incomes, and basic dignity that we so often take for granted. Haiti is an oppressed and poor nation, but not a hopeless people.

The Coffee

Haiti was once a robust exporter of coffee around the world. Today, a very small portion of the nation’s crop ever leaves the island. Together, we can change that. Haitian coffee farms sit on fertile soils within mountainous landscapes, creating smooth blends grown at high altitudes. Our refreshing JoyHouse Coffee is responsibly grown, harvested in Haiti.

Change a Life

It’s true — a cup of coffee here can change a life there. It starts by giving dignity through sustainable jobs, and ends with returning a portion of profits to bring life to the people of Haiti. Your daily cup of coffee fuels this life-changing mission.

please continue to pray for me and the work here. the devil doesn't like how we try and turn to Jesus for everything.

ok. thank you for stopping by. 🤍

xo,

ms. brooke