Julie Zook, now living in vacation land on Boston’s North Shore, grew up on a dairy farm in Pennsylvania. As a girl she felt jipped that her family had neither the time nor the resources to go on vacation. Now she understands what a gift it was to walk out the door and be surrounded by beauty and to have the time to get to know God’s goodness through His creation: chickens who give eggs, goats who nibble at your knees, and kittens galore! As a high school Spanish teacher for 16 years, she enjoyed sharing with others her love of learning languages, making fresh salsa, and exploring other cultures through travel abroad. Now that she’s not teaching, she has more time to cook new dishes, bring beauty and order to challenging places, and serve on her church’s Foster Care Ministry Team. She is finding greater joy and freedom as she increasingly learns to trust that God is for her and to treat herself and others with curiosity and compassion. Things that are “bringing out the best of her” are the podcast “The Best of You” by psychologist and author Dr. Alison Cook, the daily audio Bible podcast “Get in the Word with Truth’s Table” by Dr. Christina Edmondson and Ekemini Uwan, and her service in foster care alongside her team members at First Presbyterian Church Northshore (Ipswich) and Fostering Hope New England.