February of 2020, right before the world shut down, I rode four hours north after work in a 2002 Toyota 4Runner named Barty. The name came from an Arabic man in Colorado who had sold it to my new found friends, Scott and Mia. I had recently announced my intention to be friends with them when Mia came to my church and spoke about her work as area director for YoungLife. We had scheduled dinner two months out from that speaking engagement, and enjoyed a hike together when they invited me to spend a couple nights in a yurt in the western UP wilderness of Craig Lake State Park. Arriving at the trail head at 10:30 pm, 7 degrees Fahrenheit with -5 wind chill for a 4.5 mile hike in to the back woods of Marquette. Faith in action. Trusting my new found friends that there really was a yurt at the end of the trail. Turns out my faith was well founded and they weren't planning the latest news headline. Three years later, and the fourth yurt trip, we have grown not only in friendship, but in wisdom. Hiking in in the daylight and spending three nights instead of two. This allows for more rounds of games, snacks, naps and hikes. Definitely a win win situation. This year we rang in the New Year in the yurt. Leaving my phone locked in Barty allowed for the most amazing, silent, undistracted way of ringing in 2023. I highly recommend this way of celebrating! Scott and Mia, thank you not only for your friendship, feeding me countless meals, fostering my biking skills and forgiving my habit of leaving my water bottle at your house - but for loving me like Jesus and providing a family in Petoskey! Here's to 2023 and all the adventures to come!
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Naomi JoyI was born a month early, and to the surprise of my parents, I was a girl! Archives
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