Things I Never Did as a Librarian!
Britt Brown
I left my career as a librarian to come to The Springs. It is a good thing no one asked for a resume! Things I never did as a librarian:
- operate a generator
- maintain a hot tub
- treat a lake for algae
- wrangle cats, dogs, raccoons and horses
- shop for my work wardrobe at Rural King!
Reflecting on Country Living
Musings from Dick Towner
Loved having our first "intern" stay with us. Great daily rhythm of hard physical work followed by time for guided reading and reflection and then good discussion after dinner. Can visualize having interns several times a year as part of our expanding ministry.
Lots of difference between periodically visiting the countryside and being immersed in God's creation daily. Love seeing the daily changes in plant and animal life.
We're grandparents to 3 broods of birds nested in wreaths on our doors. Delightful to watch... but the babies do leave their 'marks" down the side of the door!
The drought has really hit this area hard. Farmers without crop insurance are devastated. Being their neighbors, we feel some of their pain. Prayers for rain during the services at the little country church we visit are very heart-felt. Gratefully, the spring for which we are named continues to provide for our needs.
Our vegetable garden (see photo) is producing very well (with lots of watering!) Amazingly no plant-eating varmints have yet discovered it. Shhh!
A sad note was having to put down Lil, one of our horses. The vet confirmed what we knew but didn't want to believe; it was her time.
Recent sunsets have been spectacular... God's gift of a beautiful tapestry at day's end.
Sib and I love being here. Come and visit and experience peace at The Springs.
Musings from Dick Towner
Loved having our first "intern" stay with us. Great daily rhythm of hard physical work followed by time for guided reading and reflection and then good discussion after dinner. Can visualize having interns several times a year as part of our expanding ministry.
Lots of difference between periodically visiting the countryside and being immersed in God's creation daily. Love seeing the daily changes in plant and animal life.
We're grandparents to 3 broods of birds nested in wreaths on our doors. Delightful to watch... but the babies do leave their 'marks" down the side of the door!
The drought has really hit this area hard. Farmers without crop insurance are devastated. Being their neighbors, we feel some of their pain. Prayers for rain during the services at the little country church we visit are very heart-felt. Gratefully, the spring for which we are named continues to provide for our needs.
Our vegetable garden (see photo) is producing very well (with lots of watering!) Amazingly no plant-eating varmints have yet discovered it. Shhh!
A sad note was having to put down Lil, one of our horses. The vet confirmed what we knew but didn't want to believe; it was her time.
Recent sunsets have been spectacular... God's gift of a beautiful tapestry at day's end.
Sib and I love being here. Come and visit and experience peace at The Springs.
Reflections on Country Living
Dick Towner
Leaving the suburbs of Chicago to move into a country home in southern Indiana, 20 minutes outside the little town of Oldenburg, means...
What once was a 5 minute drive to the hardware store now become a half day excursion, and picking up the mail is now a brisk 5 minute walk! But, no longer do the semi trucks roll by the house as was the case in Elgin, Illinois. In fact it is so quiet here you can hear the occasional approaching car while it's still half a mile away, and if you're outside you always wave at it!
Chatting with neighbors over the fence or calling to them across the street no longer happens. The nearest neighbor is over half a mile away... and out of sight.
Seeing an occasional squirrel out the window in Chicago is replaced by scenes like this outside my second floor office window: early morning sunlight illuminating the wooded hillside across the stream on the other side of the pasture, horses grazing by the fence, a young buck making his way across the pasture and a flock of wild turkeys foraging as the tom does his tail feather thing for the ladies.
Bottom line, we're loving the benefits of country living and are incredibly grateful for God's call to the ministry of The Springs. Last evening I was coming down the gravel road from the retreat cabins at dusk and sang the words to Taps:
"Day is done, Gone the sun, from the hills, from the lake, from the sky; All is well, safely rest, God is nigh!"
Never have the words seemed to me to be more appropriate or true. If you haven't visited us already, "Y'all come soon!"
