Spring brings more change...

As Spring arrived very early this year on the farm, I was saddened for a while that the cold winter winds and the chance of snow were being put away for another time.  Then in these moments of sadness the birds began to sing, the trees began to bud and the flowers began to bloom and the sadness was no longer there but had been replaced by the "newness" that was in the air.
There is more "newness" to our family as well.  I began a new job in Bowling Green at HOTEL INC.  This is my dream job.  I love serving others and speaking to anyone who will listen on how they can help others too.  With the new job brings another move, yes I said it, we are moving again!  We have been blessed to caretake our friend's farm while they live in another state for the past year. This has taught me many things.  One of them is we are porch people not farm people.  It's not that I don't like to work hard or be outside but I realized my favorite time outside is taking in the stars and the glow from the moon.  So, I'm glad we got to "try out" farm living and realized it wasn't what I wanted to do for the next 50 years.  Tommy has always wanted to live in a log home and wouldn't you know that God has provided this opportunity for us now.  For the next 2 years we will "try out" living in a log cabin on 5 acres that is mostly wooded.  This should give us enough time to teach us if we want to live there for the next 50 years or pack boxes again.  Many people are scared of the word new.  Not me, I think new things teach us so much about ourselves and our relationships with other people.  I recently realized I've always been a change-it-up kinda girl.  Even as a kid after my parents tucked me in bed at night, I would wait for them to go to sleep and then I would completely rearrange my entire room.  After a while they were no longer shocked at the newness of my room.  This Summer, Tommy and I will celebrate 25 years of marriage and will soon share our 8th home together.  He said to me the other day, we will live in the cabin longer than we lived in 2 houses we owned and 2 townhouses we rented.  This newness is exciting but a bit tiring...
Bennett's life in the Air Force brings more change to the family.  In January he became engaged and the two of them were married in a private ceremony in TX.  He recently graduated from Tech School and will make his home later this spring in Alaska.  This will be a big change for our family...I hope to enjoy a weekly skype and a fall visit.
With all of this change some think I would go crazy, and maybe I have but I just try to see it as the next adventure of this beautiful life God has given me...and He will make all things new.

The Unexpected

Life on the farm hasn't been as I had planned this Winter...simply because we haven't had a typical winter. This morning as I have several mornings I headed to the barn with a t-shirt on and no jacket.  I miss the snow and we definitely could use some hard freezes or it could mean a rough Spring and Summer with the bugs and weeds galore.  I miss building a fire, wearing layers, seeing your breath in the air and of course the freshness of snow.
Today, I am ordering some of our seeds and will begin the planting season in a few weeks for the cool season crops and hopefully growing some seedlings to plant in April.  Just the thought of it gets me excited -thinking about all of the fresh veggies and fruits that we will soon be enjoying.

The chickens are enjoying the mild winter especially since the clover and other greens have continued to grow so fresh food for them everyday!  My only problem is one of the chickens, Matilda, would rather eat the cat's food and Lydia, the barn cat, well - I think she prefers to be in the hen house and chicken run. I just tell myself that is where she does her hunting....

I've now been living on a borrowed farm for 5 months. It is different from how I have ever lived and honestly I still can't decide if the farm life is totally for me...but that is the blessing of being a caretaker. I always enjoy learning something new!

So for now, I will keep on living, learning, and loving the unexpected....

The Freshness of Snow

....Christmas is packed away, New Year's Eve was spent quietly at home and today I am enjoying watching the snow fall outside my window.
Snow always reminds me of God's grace...I don't know why but I always think of his grace covering us like a blanket of fresh snow.  Then there is the dirty snow (no not yellow snow) you know the snow that gets dirty by the road...it reminds me of the dark and dirty places of my soul and how I pray for the freshness of snow to fall on my soul again.  My final thought on relating the snow to God's grace is the melting of the snow...I know this sounds stupid to many but it reminds me that although I cannot physically see fresh snow fall each day where I live, I know that God give grace to me each day even when I feel alone, when I am too angry to pray, when I am at peace with my life...So sometimes my days are dirty, sometimes they are abundant with the fresh snow...