We came home with pounds and pounds of apples and pears. 

I will be making this pie over and over again.

Apples!
If autumn comes to pass some year and I don't make it to an orchard, I'll feel pretty awful. I know everybody says it, but fall is and always has been my favorite season.

Back home in Michigan two weeks ago ...
We went to Crane's. It was stellar to drink hot cider while walking among the brother and sister apples of those who made my drink. Thank you, dear apples, for giving yourself to deliciousness.

Jake, my dad and I caught a ride on a little golf cart. I love the picture of us.

And since there's so much love history to celebrate in autumn, I couldn't help but take a ring photo.

Then in Iowa this past weekend ...
We picked, washed, sliced and smooshed enough apples to make 10 gallons of cider!

We brought some home but since the drive was 7 hours, I'm afraid our cider is now something akin to fermented, "hard" cider. It's still pretty delicious. And it's amazing how tasty fresh cider is with nothing but apples in it.

Most of these pictures were taken by our friend Glenna, whose boyfriend John plays in a band with Jake. When we knew we had a long drive, we immediately invited John and Glenna to keep us company and enjoy the country.

I love pears even more than apples. And squash maybe even more than pears (with olive oil and sea salt!) What is your favorite fall food?

During a prayer the other night, a vivid image came to me from the vantage point of a mountain cabin’s porch. 

Before me were tall shoots of evergreens, dense as a wall.

Up my spine and into my heart went shivers of home and peace, familiar with this kind of scene.

I wasn’t sure how this was supposed to affect my prayer, so I just thanked God that our souls find rest in Him. God is Home because before I ever chose Him, He extended to me the greatest hospitality known to mankind.

This hospitality thing has been tugging on my heart since August.

Now recently, Jake and I began meeting regularly with good friends who are also newly married. We parted with the exhortation to seek God’s will for us as a unit. How may we, as a married unit, serve Christ and people? How might God already be using us?

The first thing that came to my mind was hospitality.

I really love to have people over, to welcome them with food and a couch.

And if you ever knew Jake …
well, you’d know how he has a way of listening to people and making anyone feel at home anywhere.

So I just have the slightest idea that maybe, possibly in the big picture, God’s calling for us it to offer hospitality.

To offer a safe place.

But I want to pray about it more and not jump to my own conclusions.

So when my coworkers and I all took a retreat on Monday, I brought this to God right away.

Again, an image of mountains and trees before my eyes.

But this time I realized how funny it is that we will probably never move to the mountains. Mountains have been a theme in my prayer life for years, but they are just too far away from family and we simply haven’t been called there.

So how funny is it that while I may never settle in the landscape where I have a physical sense of home, I do so enjoy helping others feel at home.

I write about home a lot.

Is it because I moved across the country at 9?

Or moved away for good at 18?

Who knows.

Speaking of home. We got to spend time with BOTH our sets of parents in Michigan (where my family is from) last weekend!

Grand Rapids hosts a huge art contest and commissions the public to vote for a winner. Each submission was unique and breathtaking.

We are surrounded by family! I'm sorry I'm in so many pictures, but I hope you see how many loving people surround me and support me every day of my life.

On my way home from the library this morning, I passed Many People’s Church and waved at my newly-ordained friend who was inside talking to the founding pastor, John.

Then I passed The Common Cup, where John’s wife Ruth and my friends Amanda and Linnea were pulling shots of espresso and steaming milk.

I went on to the Morse grocery store where they invite me to speak Spanish.

Last, I dropped something off at the New to You thrift store and the manager recognized me, we blessed each other’s days, said “see you soon,” and meant it.

All of this within two blocks of where we live.

I feel so at home.

“Wow, you live far away.”

“Isn’t that neighborhood a little sketch?”

These are the common comments Jake and I get from our friends when we invite them over or tell them where we live. And while I understand why a 40-minute el ride to downtown, or an incredibly diverse neighborhood might be unattractive to some, we have become deeply loyal to Rogers Park in our one year here.

(Besides, if everyone saw the beauty in our neighborhood, our rent wouldn’t be so low!)

Hardwood floors, heat included, stellar landlords, trees upon trees, blocks away from the most beautiful beach in the city … I’d take it any day.

Imagine a little corner in the city with murals next to the train station, a local pharmacy and an outdoor art gallery. A brick street bouncing with the music of harmonica and bass from behind the neon glow of a bar. A place where people respond to poster ads and (usually) smile at each other while walking under tunnels of trees.

I feel very at home here, indeed.

But more on that tomorrow.

{photo from here.}