Sunday, January 13 in Eustis

This is Chris Buresh, due to technical difficulties, posting on Stacy's account.

Our day began with sharing fellowship with the people of St. John’s Lutheran Church in Eustis. Though the service does not begin until 10:30 am, it was amazing to see the number of people come at 9:30 to share in the fellowship time. The service made me feel right at home immediately as the first seven pews were left empty (other than the youth in confirmation). I thought of taking a picture but it would not fully represent the congregation as a large number of people came into the back or sat in the balcony. In the service, the new church council was installed and we were blessed to be part of affirming their leadership in the congregation.

Following the service led by Pr. Bev, the congregation hosted a pot-luck that was second to none. Many conversations took place that were greatly enjoyable as we grew to know the community and see the abundance of families come and take part. During this time we were blessed by the congregation with the gift of a prayer shawl as well as a pewter plate with the inscription from the church.

The afternoon was spent following a cattle drive. The way that the community came together to fulfill the necessary roles, fulfilling the necessary roles in an assuming manner, was just as impressive as seeing the heard of over 100 head moving down the highway. Children, dogs, horses, four-wheelers, and trailers supported the adults who worked to bring the heard, who would be calving soon, closer to the farm.

Following the drive, we went to the veterinary office in Cozad where the vet tech, Mary, along with her daughter, Jessica, gave us a tour and talked about their work. The sense of pride in their work as well as the family friendly atmosphere was neat to see and exciting to witness. We then returned back to St. John’s for a quick respite before our dinner.

At Three Brothers vineyard and winery where Gary and Ricky Sue Walch gave us a verbal tour of their land and operation. Of course, we had to sample the product and were thoroughly impressed with the story behind each wine. I was excited to see a salad offering of Dorothy Lynch dressing. But nothing prepared me for the most suclent prime rib sandwich which complimented brilliantly the sample of Frotenac (2009). We find ourselves now at Nature’s Rural Retreat, tired and ready for another full day tomorrow.