Going Country...Taking a Break

"Consider if pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance." James 1:1-3

 

 

Sitting here, I'm struggling for words. We're BUSY around here. Very BUSY. I've blown off playdates with friends, girl's nights out, and the list goes on. My kids have been watching more tv than I'd like and our daily, good habits have been at a lull. We're in "survival mode" as some would say. {gulp}

 

Our prayer is that the Lord would move us to our 5 acre property in HIS timing, and while we thought it may take another year or so to physically move, it turns out that we'll be moving sooner than we thought! Within weeks. It's been stressful, yes. However, the stress is a stress overflowing with blessing and goodness.

 

The stresses we're enduring are stresses of cutting trees, packing boxes, building a chicken coop, building two cow pens, packing boxes, fencing off for pasture, building a workshop for Rob's tools and our animal feed, packing boxes, learning how to milk Molly efficiently, packing more boxes, trying to get our home ready to sell/rent (praying fervently that it does!), talking on the phone to electricians, well-diggers, our building company, land clearers, etc., trying to figure out how to move our animals and take down their coop and pen for the next home owners, homeschooling (or lack thereof...ah-hem...I think we're taking an early summer break and catching up in late summer), and did I mention packing boxes?

 

 

Our life as a family has never been so busy! My head is whirling and I'm just trying to stay afloat with food on the table and the house somewhat picked up, clean laundry (which my children are currently folding) on bodies, etc. We live in the city during the week and the country on the weekends. The kids complain and we have seen shed tears when we mention that it's time to go home and back to the city.  They're busy taking nature walks, meeting neighbors, riding horses, picking wildflowers, bird watching, playing hide-and-go-seek in the woods, and just watching spring as it peeks it's head out in the hog plum tree blossoms (can't wait to harvest them and make jam!), baby animals, and the abundance of green amongst us. It's such a different life. It's such a peaceful life. Time just stands still and we live according to the sun rising and setting. I don't even look at my watch when we're there. I don't even know where my phone is the entire weekend.

 

We've pretty much been doing all the work ourselves (yes, all 5 kids in tow and just Rob and I), but we were graced with some help this past weekend and we were amazed at how much we got done! What a blessing! I know that there are so many times when I, personally, get discouraged in this amazing journey. Times when I let sin creep in and destroy my passion for God's plan for our family. I have to remember the second part of the verse from above which says...

 

"...so that we may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." James 1:4b

 

It's true.

 

The trials that we endure in this earthly life seem so unbearable at times. My good friend just told me she had breast cancer yesterday and the entire rest of the day, I was in a lull. My heart grieves for her. I'm bearing her burden and find myself in prayer often for her. That cancer could be in my own body. How would I handle that? Would I cling to this verse in hope that God is bigger than cancer and that He is making me "mature and complete, not lacking anything"? {sigh}

 

I think that way sometimes about homesteading. It's hard. It's busy. There's failure. There are moments why I even bother doing it. And yet, there's blessing. There's nutrition. There's togetherness and hard work, which produces good character.

 

I recently spent $3.99 for "The Homesteading Wife's Christian Devotional and Favorite Recipes" and it's the best $3.99 I've spent in a long time. I printed it out and keep it by my bedside. Susie Shock nails so much of what goes on in the minds of homesteading women. Sometimes it's just plain hard to relate to the traditional schooling, soccer moms at the park. Instead of talking about who got "Citizen of the Month" and who won this year's little league games, you have other topics on your brain such as "Did I forget to water the garden this morning?", "Did I forget to bring in the milking supplies from this morning's milking?", or "How am I going to get this child to learn how to read?". It's a different world. Even in the homeschooling community. Sometimes I grace the halls of the annual homeschool conference discouraged because each year, I find that I do less and less of what even traditional homeschoolers call "schooling". Farm kids grow up different. They just do and as a wife and mother, finding the balance of what's "normal" is hard, especially when you're all alone doing it. That's why I cling to like-blogs as well as Susie's devotional.

 

The crazy thing is that as HARD as this lifestyle can be, there's SO MUCH BLESSING  in it. We see a lot of fruit (and no, I'm not just talking about apples and pears). Spiritual fruit. Fruit that is so hard to teach and encourage sometimes, but when we see it as parents, it's overwhelms us with complete joy.

 

The other crazy thing is that as HARD as this lifestyle can be, I never want to NOT continue it. I only want MORE. (Crazy, I know.) It drives us. It completes us. It brings us closer to the Lord. And THAT is worth it.

 

So, as I stare around our boxes, to do lists, etc., I've decided to take a blogging break for a little bit until we're settled. I also have a non-working camera. Bleh!

 

"Hmm...new camera lens or cow fencing?" "New camera lens, or cow fencing?"

 

Cow fencing. {smile}

 

You can find me on Facebook if you want updates as I try to update with my phone when I can.

 

Blessings to you sweet, precious readers! Hugs all around. {grin}