Contentment on the Journey

I”m the kind of woman who likes to know where I’m headed.  I prefer to know far in advance, too.  I like to make plans in my head about what it’s going to be like and what I’m going to do once I get there.  In other words, I find I spend far too much time with my head in the future and far too little enjoying what God has blessed me with today.

Well, my Father has a way of changing me in a very hands-on style.  Sure, all I need for life and Godliness is right there in His Word, and many times His Word and His Spirit are all I need to change.  But for the toughest cases in my life, like patience and contentment, it seems I’m on a lifelong journey.

So now he’s brought me a thousand miles from home, and I still don’t know where I’m going to be this time next year!  A couple of years ago, Kim would have fallen apart if she could have seen where she would be right now.  How scary, how unstable, how alone, how could you possibly plan things for goodness sake!   But oh, He is so faithful!  He changed me!  He knew where I was going to be and he changed me and gave me exactly the right amount of grace and experience I was going to need.  Wow!  I’m getting excited just typing this!  The creator of the universe is sovereign over all the little details of me! I can be content no matter where He takes me!

Knowing this, I can enjoy what’s going on right now.  I don’t have to worry about what piece of land we’re going to buy, or if our savings are going to be enough to buy it, or if we’re really going to be able to bring Josh home to us and still eat regularly.  Today we have enough to eat.  Today my children’s closets are embarrassingly too full.  Today this wonderful rental house is home, and home is the nicest place in the world!

And tomorrow?  It doesn’t matter.  He is there.  And He is getting me ready for it right now.

Oh, He is so good!

Oh, the possibilities….

    Tuesday I picked up my husband from work on the “big” farm and we took a little drive. I must confess I had a few butterflies in my stomach as we drove. Wouldn’t you if you were about to stand for the first time on the ground that you might be going to raise your family on, grow your food from, hand down to your children, and be buried on? OK, scratch the last one, that’s a little weird to think about. You would think on such a momentous occasion I would have made sure the camera batteries were fully charged, but no. Hence, I only managed to get three pictures.

 

 

    Joshua said I should tell you all that we do plan on fixing up the house a bit before we move in. You know, clean up the rubble in the house and put some plastic or something over the windows.– OK, as much as I’d like to let it go at that and see what kind of responses we get, maybe I shouldn’t. The house is much too far gone, although Lauren seemed to think it would do just fine. (That girl would be happy in a cave!)

 

    I wish I could describe how remote this place is. I think we’d be the only ones for a couple of miles. I thought the gravel roads out here were quite humorous, but the road the land is on doesn’t even have gravel! Yep, we’re talking about a good old-fashioned dirt road that is only passable when it is dry. We hear they might put us some gravel down if we build out here. The girls thought it quite an adventure to even get into the property– climbing under fences and dodging cow patties.

 

    We haven’t decided on this place for certain, but we certainly are leaning in that direction. A lot depends on the price. Josh’s boss owns the property, so Josh gets to work on him everyday! We are hoping for less than $1500 per acre. We also could buy a few acres at a time, as we could afford it, allowing us to not have to go into debt. Isn’t God good! Please pray that He will give us wisdom as we make this important decision.

 

Exciting day on the homestead!

This morning we got a call from the Burr Post Office. Our chicks were finally here! The girls finished their chores in record time and waited anxiously for our Beloved to bring them home.

They’re here! The first animals for our farm!

We thought it was just great that you could mail chicks in a box. Oh, are they ever cute!

So, where are we going to keep them? Maybe in the den for a little while.

Have to get the warming light set up.

Sweet little fuzz balls. I’m glad they are for eggs, not for meat. Allows you to attach yourself a little. The girls have already named a few. I think I’ve heard the names Buttercup, Sarah, Felicity, and Filemina (Ashlynne is very non-traditional in the name department). I’ve already forgotten what the house sounded like without 50 peepers. They might quieten down if the girls would leave them be. Maybe they won’t be so fascinating after a few days. The next big event is at lunch. Beloved is bringing home chicken feed from the Co-op and we get to see these babies in action. I’m dreaming of fresh, brown eggs already. I’ll probably be dreaming until August or September.

Looking back a little….

I suppose you can never forgo the nightly bedtime ritual, even if you just completed a two day trek across the country with five children. This was our first night in Nebraska.

This was our first decent snow here. Being from East Tennessee, our children were more than a little thrilled.

Rachel, posing by the chicken coop. She’s already dreaming of a major egg business, but alas, no chicks available until March.

Never despise meager beginnings…

    Our chicken coop is empty. We are down to one beehive. We don’t even have a lazy, old watchdog on the porch…yet. No cow to milk. No pig to slop. Oh, but we do have an orange barn cat mousing around the place, a garden spot beneath the snow, and a house full of miniature farm hands that are raring to go. I guess the local coyote pack must count for something, even if it’s just scaring the children back into the house around sunset.

    We do have excitement! We can’t wait to see what the Lord provides for us here. It already seems as if He has personally arranged every last detail about this move just for us. What am I saying? Of course He did!

    Right now, the scripture the Lord brings to my mind is Habakkuk 3:17,18

        Though the fig tree should not blossom and there be no fruit on the vines,

        Though the yield of the olive should fail and the fields produce no food,

        Though the flock should be cut off from the fold and there be no cattle in the

        stalls, Yet I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.

 

I’ve always thought I’d like to paint that on the side of our barn one day!