Transition becomes us...

Still homeless... smile.

It has been just shy of a month since we said goodbye to the farm.

Tears have dried, Christmas has slipped into our hearts and the New Year shines before us.

And this is our current state of affairs... we are homeless, drifting between the welcoming arms of my father and our daughter (thank you, thank you).  They are providing the comfortable bed, the overflowing table, and the bounty of laughter and love to prepare us for the journey ahead.

We are calling it "The Hunt."

It is the hunt for our next home, perhaps our retirement nest, our family's gathering place...

And it is exciting and fun... and Exhausting!

We are in transition... in a Big Way... but then it seems all of life is but one big transition... we are constantly adjusting to change (as much as we try to resist).  I look with disbelief on my eldest child, who to me is still the tow-headed toddler, now with toddlers of his own!

Would that we could freeze the moments and slow the change!  But transitions are relentless, despite our pleas, the changes come...

And so it was with the farm.

Several years ago, farmer-husband began traveling more and more with his company.  These past few years he has been gone more than he's been home.  The farm and all her wonderful responsibilities have fallen to me mostly, with a growing "honey-do" list for him on the weekends he's home. This has made the farm's work more weight than wonderful.

We will always be farmers at heart.  Country we are... the beauty of a still sunrise or a soaring hawk... the contentment and awe of a nanny with kids... the peace of an evening walk in the woods... we will never tire of these.

But life is messy sometimes.  Fences break, coyotes howl, hay needs hauling... Weekends meant for family and church, relaxing and recharging become fraught with stress and tension and not enough time...

God has been sweetly calling us to Him.  Prompting our hearts that there is a place of balance. A place that allows space for family and friends, a place that speaks Grace over stress...

For us it will be down-sizing the whole, but magnifying the little... easy to say, difficult to find!

Thus, the Hunt...

And in the meantime, a life of transitions!

 

Perhaps transition has caught you off-guard?  Yes...No...?! 

 

A cross-country job change... a tragic illness... a heart-wrenching loss... your life may be in chaotic transition.

 

Or... the changes are slipping by silently.  A neighbor moves... a boss retires... a child grows... transitions of the quietest kind, they have a way of sneaking up on you...

  

Look on every exit as being an entrance somewhere else.”

                                                         ~ Tom Stoppard

 

Wherever you find yourself on this life journey, may you be Graced with wisdom and patience...and most of all, an abiding Peace through the changes...

 

Love to each,

            Jane

   

                                                                      

When a Blog goes Silent...

In the blogger world, silence can mean many things... like maybe the blog-person has become lazy, or perhaps has lost internet service, or maybe just plain lost interest... nothing new to report, nothing worth blogging about...

But sometimes, a blog silence can mean the blog-person is wholly invested in the business of living life and can't even find a moment (or two) to sit down and tell you all...

... to just Simply tell you all that our Life has been Crazy Busy, filled with Amazing Changes and overflowing with Scary Blessings this past month...

I don't hardly know where to begin.  So many life-changing, down-on-your-knees, Lord-are-you-sure moments in the space between Thanksgiving and Christmas...

There's no organizing my thoughts or emotions, so, in no particular order, here's our current life status in snapshot-short synopsis:

Right before Thanksgiving our sweet daughter and her husband finished the work of becoming certified for the Foster-to Adopt program in Texas!

 

One week later they received a call for an emergency placement.  Just like that they became "parents" to brothers who had been severely burned in a house fire.  Precious babies, hurting and scared, Katie and Jordan dropped everything and took them in...they have been wrapped in love ever since. And Katie and Jordan's orderly life has taken on an absurdly hectic, heavenly buzz!  More on that journey in the weeks to come...

Just as we welcomed the boys around our Thanksgiving table, we received word that Leroy's father had taken a turn for the worse and was rushed to the hospital in Illinois.   Breathing difficulties, fevers and flu-like symptoms... a week of bed rest and compassionate care has seen him improve, but he remains weak...

And thru all this, the event that I struggle to even put into words...

We listed the farm for sale.

So many friends and family have given a collective gasp that we knew we had to explain...

that's where words fail me... for we love the farm... but have felt a pulling and prompting over the year past (and perhaps even longer) that it might be time.   Time to down-size... time to re-order priorites... time to follow God's soft nudging...

And so we called a realtor friend.  Held our breath as she sunk the For Sale sign deep into the ground at our gate.  Then prayed for an answer definite...  Lord please show us your way.  A resounding Yes it will sell.  A determined No you should stay...

God whispered Yes.  We had a contract within 3 weeks.  We closed the week before Christmas...

BitterSweet.  Words can't begin to capture our hearts tumult... but know that even thru the sadness of leaving the farm, is an overriding joy for the adventure ahead!

Do ya'll remember me talking about Dreams a while back?  Refresher... Mark Twain quote?!

Twenty years from now you will be more

disappointed by the things you didn't do

than by the ones you did do...

Sail away from the safe harbor.

Catch the trade winds in your sails.

Explore. Dream. Discover."

~ Mark Twain

 

Yes.  That post... sailing away from the safe harbor...

For the first time in a mess of blue moons, we are sailing away from our safe harbor.

It is an adventure.  It is scary.  It is exciting.  And it is our life...

 

Join us for the journey?

So much more to share in the weeks to come!

P.S.  The goats are safely stabled at our handsome Firefighter son and daughter-in-laws home.  As a matter of fact, Ms. Ruby graced them with their first baby just yesterday!

 

 

Happy New Year!

 

May you find in this New Year the strength to move forward,

tucking the past safely into your heart safe and

leaning into Dreams God has prepared just for you...

 

My Love Always,  Jane