The Lake Michigan wind whipped around us as we stood on the beach near Portage Point. As the sunk sank behind the cotton candy clouds, a foreboding deep blue sky hovered overhead. The waves rolled towards shore, tossing and churning. Cool currents meeting warm air tickled and kissed my skin in turn. A storm was coming and we were just in time to watch it’s wild incoming beauty.

We first met the Plank family through mutual friends and when an opportunity arose to make a flying weekend trip several hours north, we took it. When we arrived Saturday evening, Rachel had dinner waiting for us. After a delicious meal of haystack, an old Amish classic, they took us on a tour of their property. Of course I was super interested in seeing their vegetable and flower gardens. Her row of lavender alongside the pasture was especially interesting since I’m wanting to expand my own collection.

After seeing their gardens and cozy treehouse cabin accessed by a long winding ramp walkway, we went to see the horses. Tim and several of his sisters train horses so they had at least a half dozen spread across their rolling fields. Before Aaron and I got married, my family owned a riding horse and being around horses again brought on the nostalgia. I would love to have riding horses again sometime because there’s something so quieting about “just being” as you spend time with a horse.

Sunday was filled with getting to know their close knit church community, playing volleyball in the hot sun, and then cooling off in Lake Michigan before heading home again. It’s so special to hear so much about someone and then upon meeting them, you realize why everyone loves them so much. That is how it was during this trip and we left feeling loved, welcomed, and blessed.