inner strength.

hi.

we are back in the swing of things mostly :)

feb. 9-in the evening we went to ms. lora's house for a very delicious supper. our rancher that stayed here, was staying with ms. lora and she got to set the table really fun:) then we went bowling. it has been a long while since i have been bowling and it was a good time!

feb. 10-sometimes i have many things i want to do in a day. and i don't get them all done🙈 i started a dress. i gave blood, which is something i am very passionate about. when i got home, ms. katie was working on her 'ideal ranch report' , so i sat down and finished mine. i had been wanting to bake some bread and make freezer jam. so,  i got the jam done and the dough mixed before i hung out with the katie, jenna, and eddie. (she is the girl i replaced. she came and did chores because ms. sharla went to belize) then i did finish the bread.

feb. 11-i called and talked to our rancher that had a longer home visit. it was good to hear how she was doing. after lunch two of our ranchers arrived back to the ranch.

feb. 12-all three of us mentors were on duty, which doesn't usually happen. we went to mr. todd's for lunch.. did chores.. had supper.. then at 7, two more of our ranchers arrived. mr. todd's came and did the check-in visits. one of our rancher's parents stayed until wednesday. 

feb. 13- some of us authorities had therapy. authorties meeting was smaller than normal with ms. sharla being gone and ms. lora was with the rancher and her parents. the parents stayed for supper and then the three of them went to mr. todd's for circle prayers and the night. one of the best things about today, was i received a really fun package from my family :)

feb. 14-it was a drizzly weather kind of day. i got to take the girls to therapy. ms. anna marie met me at the office and we took turns sitting in on their sessions. we were done by noon and headed home for lunch. usually, we pack a lunch. on the way home we stopped at the airport to pick up ms. jenna. she was dropping off ms. sharla's car so they would have a way to get home after they flew in. the girls didn't know who we were picking up. it made one of the ranchers really happy because she had asked me before if we could go to the airport. she had said that  she would go to the airport sometime back home with her grandpa and they would watch the planes.

these were sent to the us mentors. no name was attached but thanks to whoever sent them.✨

in the evening, the rancher and her family made supper and it turned out to be a valentines day party. mr. todd, ms. regina, mia, and alicia were there too. i really liked having alicia come and see what the ranch is like:) mia and alicia left and the rest of us split into two groups and had circle prayers.

feb. 15-it was a gorgeous day! ms. katie and i spent a good share of the afternoon out on the porch in the sun☀️ we talked and she told me about horsemanship.. we had iced coffee .. & it was hard for me to sit still. 

feb. 16-we sat around the table extra long this morning. one of our ranchers was mad. she had an opportunity to talk to me on the way down to chores but she didn't. then at breakfast, she was asked a question but hadn't answered, so we just hung out until it was resolved. we had mentor training which brought up some stuff. 

feb. 18-i was off duty so thought i would sleep in, well.. my body is like hello, we should keep the schedule and wake up early. i sure didn't get up tho. in the afternoon, i met mia and alicia at joyhouse coffee house. then we went to mia's and hung out. after alicia left, mia and i talked and played ping-pong. we each won twice, so guess we need a tie breaker yet :) we went to alicia's for supper...

feb. 19-becky had some of her children and mom-in-law over for lunch, so was with them.. took a walk and talked to my mom. our fifth rancher is getting back this evening;)

>this is happiness. our rancher has made a shift in her life ! she is a ranch girl and again and wow. she is doing so amazing. she has so much strength inside of her and she is so smart! i lent her my c.s. lewis book to read. (she loves to read and is a very deep thinker) i can't wait to go back to the ranch to see if she has read most or all of it and what she got out of it:)

>sometimes in life, i say things that i wished i hadn't said. i have had this question, when are you completely honest with your feeling and thoughts and when do you keep your mouth closed because you know it will hurt the other person? if you have thoughts, please let me know. 

>this last week, ms. katie and i were talking. she was asking me if i suppress who i really am. and well. yes i do. i am not a quiet person normally. i know it is, because i feel like i should be quiet. so i have been working on being more fully me.

please pray for me🤍

xo,

ms. brooke