Good Team

Ecclesiastes 4:12
And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart.

Ryan has always told me that one of the things he likes about being married to me is that we make a good team. Classic coaching pick up line? (Those of you that know us know that Ryan is a coach.) I would have to say no. I think that he really feels that we're equally yolked and compliment each others' strengths and weaknesses.
Now i'll not speak for him but I will analyze his statement because I LOVE that he thinks it!
God made Ryan a teacher and coach. He tends to think like a coach and speak in coaching terms. Just like I'm a mom and I tend to use metaphors and synonyms from my daily surroundings of mommyhood. Before we got married, I knew that Ryan wanted to teach and be a coach. I didn't really understand then that his heart was that of a coach. The first time he told me he thought we were a good team, I just mostly agreed. I thought we worked well together. We help each other and where one is weak the other is strong. Now that I see him coach, the value he places in an actual TEAM, I realize how much more special it is when he says it about me as his partner and our marriage. I think I realize more and more just how important being a good team is to me too.
A day like today makes me think about what we'll do with our dreams in the future, and it makes me think of one dream in particular. Let me explain that today is rainy, cloudy, snuggly and it's only 55 degrees outside!
Ryan and I have a dream of someday owning and running a camp for smaller groups. We see ourselves in Canada or Alaska or Montana or Minnesota...or somewhere like that where you can't help but believe how Big and gracious and perfect and holy our God is, just by opening your eyes in the morning, and closing your eyes at night. Ryan and I have both been moved to our core with creation and the details God was gracious enough to include there. I'm always so touched when I stop to think that God didn't have to make rain fall the way it does, or make creeks sound babbly, or give firewood that smell that can't be duplicated. How rad would it be to share even that piece of a blessing with others that already know Him, or be used to help open the eyes of those that don't?
We'd like to offer a place for retreats, team-building weekends, orienteering classes, and survival skills sessions. We picture the great lodge in the center. Ryan pictures the large fireplace in the middle of the room that is open on both sides. On one side of that great fire will be the large diningroom table, (a solid wooden table with bench seats and plenty of room for lots of food and faces), where I'll feed our guests. I plan to bake pies and cookies and breads served with homemade jams made from the wild berries on our land. The coffee and bacon smell will wake our guests in the mornings and encourage them to come downstairs in their boots, ready for some quiet time on the other side of the fireplace where there are leather sofas and books, and coasters for hot tea. This is stop number one for our guests before the day gets sunshiny and chilly-warm. While I'm cleaning up breakfast and making the glaze for the ham for dinner later, Ryan will be outside chopping wood so we'll have plenty in case it snows more.
Ryan will take say, a men's group from a congregation in Tulsa, on an orienteering day. Ryan would be in his element discussing geography and maps and survival skills. Of course this is also a time for the men to worship and be thankful...
Or maybe a boyscout group comes for a self esteem building weekend. They'll use the obstacle course we have set up. Maybe a ladie's retreat will come to our place in March...I'll teach them to make jam and we'll bake loads of treats for them to share with those back home that need uplifting...
Or maybe a family will need a beautiful place to meet for Christmas. They'll bring all of their kids and spouses and they'll sit around and play cards and backgammon and snack. That's after they've gone sledding and hiking and maybe even shot a couple targets and cans with their slingshots and BB guns.
While we both realize this is most likely a far off dream, there's loads of work to be done with our own children and family first. We know we may start this dream with a small place with only a few bunks or even work for someone else first...but knowing that we share a dream...well that's pretty special. While I could really care less about orienteering and Ryan could really care less about making jam (other than eating it), that's where the teamwork comes in handy. We'll share so many other things like campfires and meals and hikes and first snows and fresh caught fish dinners and trips into town for supplies and worship, and all of our good mornings and good nights....
I love nothing more than taking care of people and having familiy together. Ryan loves nothing more than being in the outside...living it and breathing it. I bet a good team could make something like that happen, and continue to grow together for a very long time...and if it pleases Him, I bet God will make a way if we continue to hold onto Him and allow Him to be our core, our strongest cord.

Ecclesiastes 4:12
And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart.