Welcome to Cottonwood

It's not about how you start. It's about how you finish. 
These are the words I was telling myself as I drove around the little city of Cottonwood on Saturday, searching for phone service and kicking myself for not getting directions to the Rehder's house beforehand. After a nice long loop around the city, I pulled into a sketchy gas station and walked in. "Excuse me, Ma'am," I said to the old cashier. "I'm from out of town and I have no phone service here. Do you guys have some kind of phone I could use?" She said yes and handed me a handset so I could call my friend Maddie. This first exposure to Cottonwood gave me some insights as to what I could expect for the upcoming four days. I learned that the vast majority of their townspeople are extremely kind and welcoming, while also learning that I was truly out in the wild lands with no phone service, surrounded by woods and mountains.

I finally got to the Rehder's after directions from Maddie and the trip immediately brightened. Everything that followed was an absolute blast filled with sugar, movies, and lots and lots of "real talk."

The authentic conversations were refreshing and it was such a blessing knowing I could tell this family anything. The Rehder girls and I stayed up late every night, talking about everything under the sun and laughing all the while. While this was all so pleasant and encouraging, my highlight of the week came on Monday night, Maddie's 18th birthday, when we all reclined in their home theater to watch The Greatest Showman.
I'd seen it the night before (Father's Day) for the first time and enjoyed it, but this time was different, mostly because of changes in the seating arrangements: I was seated next to another Rehder, cousin Mike, a 24-year old with a squirrely sense of humor and contagious laugh. Meeting him was so cool and his humor rubbed off on me and set me off many times in a span of a few days, one series of deep laughter after another.

 I got a seat next to this unknown cousin I'd heard so much about and settled down for the movie. It was carrying on smoothly until a bearded woman took stage, front and center, for the song "This is Me." It's possible that in this scene, in a PG-rated movie, mind you, a record was set for the most exposed skin I've ever seen in one place. The ample-bosomed woman bent over while belting out some lyrics, and let's just say it left very little to the imagination. I was trying to hold in laughter from the outrageous nature of the whole thing. As I struggled, not with my eyes but with my mouth, I turned to Michael so I could see his reaction to the woman. His wide eyes showed surprise, and he summed it all up in one word.
"Whoa."
It was over from there. I exploded in laughter and he followed suit, much to the chagrin of the four girls behind us and Gabbie to our right. We went on for probably three minutes, feeding off each other's contagious laughter, until we finally pulled ourselves together near the end of the song. There were tears in my eyes when Michael reopened the can of worms. "You know," he started the next time the woman and her anatomy were displayed, "that's actually really distracting."
Then he looked at me.
I looked at him.
There was no going back, and round two started the laughing all over again. We went on for probably six minutes altogether, drowning out the movie for everyone else and enjoying every minute of it. All the girls were complaining for us to be quiet, but I think they secretly liked hearing us laugh so hard at this injustice to human decency.

Maddie's 18th b-day from left: Bridget, Kayla, Gabbie, Michael, Nicole, random homeless guy, Maddie

The rest of the week was a blast, buying lottery tickets with young-adult Maddie, chatting with Gabs late into the night, spotting deer and racing down water slides with Nicole, and talking sports with Max.

Max encouraged us to bring out our inner gangsta

Lewiston Aquatic Center 

Getting the Cotton "woods" experience

Cottonwood was beautiful. The Rehder's are unbelievably hospitable and incredibly fun people, and I will never forget how loved I have felt while being welcomed into their life and home. I saw an authentic, holy family that strives for the Lord in hard times. I saw a father that protects his women with his life. I saw what can happen when you put the electronics down and interact with real people. As six of us packed into the car on Maddie's birthday to go buy lottery tickets, cousin Kayla smiled widely and sighed big from the back seat. "You know what, guys? I feel like we're all just a big family."
I turned towards her and returned the smile. I couldn't agree more.