this week I pack up my cozy little nest off hwy 361 in buena vista, co.  I do have a proper house number, but it seems fitting to describe its location rather than spell out a mailing address.  this little town is so landmark oriented, laden with dirt roads, forks in the road, hiking trails, tumbleweeds, and even a water tower you can climb up on if you disregard the "no trespassing" signs that surround it.
do you have a visual of the town in sweet home alabama?  I do.
this sleepy town has been such a place of replenishment and retreat.

I have made new lifelong friendships.
I have learned lessons I will not soon forget.
I have experienced peace like a river.
I have weathered storms full of literal and symbolic 75 mph winds.
I have discovered a better rhythm for myself in life.
I have learned lessons in accepting grace and pursuing peace.
I have been taught to stay clear and to stay Close.
I have experienced the deep, vast difference between ministry and community and the need for both.

and that list only scratches the surface of things discovered and revealed.  I could tell stories about each of those above for days.
I am changed by all of my experiences and encounters here in colorado.

I am the same, but a bit different.

hmmm...yes. 

I made myself smile at discovering that truth above as I truly found those words as I was typing.  

my time at trail west ended with a handful of bumps in the road that surprised me. my health has so deeply increased during this past couple of years, that all the emotions of hurt, frustration, confusion, anger, and utter dumbfoundedness, caught me off guard.  over the past month, I began to question if I would still be able to leave this chapter feeling healthy in the midst of such deep hurt.  

as the emotions progress and I continue to navigate this broken situation, the Lord is revealing that health and hurt are not mutually exclusive.  this statement may seem an obvious one, but when your heart leads you as mine does more times than not, it takes me a time of processing to allow my brain to kick in and help me anchor to fact and truth.  

my biggest fear in all the drama having gone on (and seemingly continuing) at trail west, a place so dear to me and so many others, has been that we as individuals who work there (my sweet tw friends) would lose ourselves in the midst of all the unknown.  that we would forget our "names".  

my dear friend, beth, encouraged me with this verse not long ago, and it now is framed in my line of sight in my house...  

for in Him we live and move and have our being.  acts 17.28.

oh how often in the recent weeks reading these words, I have felt encouraged.  if we look to anyone else to root us in significance or love, we are left feeling a sense of lack.  never underestimate what an encouragement can mean to someone.  in the moment and in the moments to follow for "a time such as this".  we are a body of many parts, and we need each other to stay healthy.  

I leave here in less than a week, most likely friday, to begin the trek across the country in my jetta.  

it will be sad to leave.  

I will love the travel and the people I will get to visit along the way.  

difficult.  

healthy.

faith is in my feet.

cheers,

kb.

(oh, this video at the top?  a quick visual of how fun this summer community of mine is... so so good!)