Kentucky Chronicles (The Journey Home Part 2)

We were so happy to be on the road and heading home, we couldn't restrain our excitement. God had set such a peace in our hearts that we were to live here in Montana. We were told we would get to go home on Saturday, which turned into Wednesday, but hey, we couldn't be more thankful!
We got tired of traveling in South Dakota and pulled off in some little town that I still don't know the name of but they had the best playground ever. Old school and still dangerous . . . <wink>

And the danger didn't stop there. James had a great idea . . .

Sure hoping the hotel didn't see this crazy horse play.
We always know how to have fun . . .

Don't worry, we did stop this horseplay after I videoed it! Lol!

In the Times of Loss

My heart aches for this woman, this woman of faith, who has lost her third child.
Please, please pray for her.

I still grieve so for my little John, whom I still subconsciously look for when I am loading my children in the van to leave. I am always missing someone. There is always an empty seat and as I count my four and realize we are all here, there is a twinge of pain that catches my breath cold.

So I ask you as a grieving mother, please read her story and pray God's peace, His strength, His might, for her family.

Kentucky Chronicles (The Journey Home Part One)

On our way home we had the privilege of visiting the Creation Museum in Kentucky. Our good friends said we HAD to go. Not only did we HAVE to go but they HAD to treat us. (Yes, they were that forceful!) We are so blessed to have great friends that love us during our crazy wayward ways.
So on our first day out, we stopped with our moving truck, and got ready to be amazed.
And boy were we . . .

 

 

The wax figures were so lifelike that we often didn't know if they were people or not. The science behind the Creation was absolutely astounding, especially in the very first section of the walk through. We loved it.

 

We also saw Josh and Anna Duggar, in which I then made a total fool out of myself saying hi, like they really needed to meet me. <ahem> But I made my biggest girl very happy that she got to say hello.

 

We loved watching a concert which had the coolest song about Woodpeckers. Don't ask, but it rocked.

 

And my 8 year old did the zip line. I don't really know what a zip line has to do with Creation but we loved it just the same!

 

 

 

I apologize for my filming skills, especially when my 8 year old son is flying through the air with nothing holding him but a flimsy wire . . . .

 

He did awesome and the crew was amazing that helped him.

 

I guess what I am trying to say is if you have a chance, you need to head over here and play for the day!

 

 

I was not asked to review this museum. I just had fun and wanted to talk about it!



 



 

Kentucky Chronicles (The Return)

Well, looks like we made it.
Back in Helena and the view is grand.

We are still in a hotel however. Man, that's spendy.

Our renters want to leave our house. They keep trying. The houses they are trying to go through keep falling through. We wait. We wait because we think that is God's will for us.

So, we sleep in a hotel. Again. <sigh>

I am so grateful. To be here. To be home.

I am tired. I am a bit cranky. Not going to lie to you. <wink>

But most of all, I am grateful. Grateful He brought me home.

Safely. Humbly.

My vision is clear. My heart is full.

I can't wait to write about all the details, to chronicle our Kentucky happenings,
however . . . I need some sleep.

good night . . .

Kentucky Chronicles (We've Done Gone Lost Our Minds)

We got here. Safely. Uneventfully. Excitedly.
We had high hopes.
The city is beautiful. And HUGE.
We come from Helena.
5 o'clock traffic equals an extra 5 minutes. We know pretty much everybody through somebody in the city.
We had researched the area, talked to people, but we weren't prepared.
To get to the properties we had thought we would like took an hour and a half minimum. They were only 40 miles away.
No farm.
We thought let's make the best of it and started to look in town. Rent was so expensive and we didn't like the neighborhoods.
Panic started to set in. Where are we going to live?
And if we have to live in the burbs do we even want to be here?
If I have to be a suburb girl I like MT thank you very much.
Now don't get me wrong, KY is probably one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen! It also has the friendliest people I have ever met! If we could afford the country I don't think we would ever want to leave, but . . .
we can't.
The "Cheers" theme song started wringing through my mind, "go where everyone knows your name, and their always glad you came."
We explored on more option of where we could live, and were quickly told you don't want to live there. That's where the drugs are.
Oiy.
After searching our hearts, and searching God, my husband called his old wherehouse. "Can I go back?" he asked.
"Is it Christmas?" was the reply.
Praise God.
So we pack up our Budget truck again and head for home.
Except we have no home as there are renters in it. (Lol!)
But we are trusting God. He has been so faithful.
We have learned that we have been living for the future instead of being present in what is given us. We have been caught up in an ideal that may have become a bit of an idol, instead of pouring our hearts into Him and to His people.
And we have learned that contentment is great gain.
God is good.
Just wish we didn't have to learn the hard way. This has been one expensive lesson.
We start for MT tomorrow.
Tomorrow I get to start making my way home.
Home to the things I used to complain about. They now seem like hopeful rainbows.
Home to things I used to love. They now seem like gold.
Home to a big sky and familiar faces.

Kentucky Chronicles (Today is the Day)

(I scheduled this to post but I must have done something wrong soooo . . . in reality we are actually here in Lexington! Wow! It is a big city!)


Well folks, today we pull out of the driveway,
today we lock the doors and hand over a key,
today we start the moving truck,
load up the van,
and head out to Kentucky!!!!!!!

Please pray for safe travels . . .


(God is good. We are here safely and uneventfully. Praises to Him.)

Gotta Love a Man who Can Strum

My man James after 3 Ukulele lessons . . .

I Blog For Me

There are few times we homeschool mothers say I do this for me.
Just for me.
It is selfish.
But,
I blog for me.
I don't have a professional blog.
I don't make any money for this.
I don't do this to be an example to others or my children.
I blog for me.
This is my outlet. My way to be creative.
My thoughts, uninterrupted.
It is selfish time.
But . . .
this selfish time, oh my,
it has helped me grieve,
in a privately open way.
It has helped me come alive out of the stupor which held me helpless.
And that has allowed me to give.
Give of the me that is awake.
Wide-eyes, realizing I am not alone,
that there are others grieving for theirs lost.
There have been some who have come along side my grief.
Yes, this selfishness has been super.
And I am grateful that God has given me permission
and an avenue for this season to use it.

Kentucky Chronicles (A Boy and a Cow)

My dear husband did not grow up easy.
A Mom who was an addict, an abusive addicted Step Dad, a real Dad who was neglectful at best, he was left to himself by seven years old. Left to find food, safety, comfort.

He slept with a bat under his bed. It wasn't because he liked baseball.

But with all this darkness surrounding him there was a glimmer of light. A rare treat. A visit to Grandpa's farm.

Grandpa is a hard worker. Even in his 80's he ran his tractor and rounded the cattle.

When Darrel went as a child to visit, he would help with the cows.
It was a rare and peaceful time.

It is also the passion of his that has stayed true since I have had the privilege to know him.

When we were dating, (didn't know about courting back then), we would be driving and he would actually stop the car to look at baby cows. Didn't matter where we were, he would stop. "Oooooh, look at the baby cow! Mooo!" he would smilingly  say.

Yes, he has always wanted his very own cow. Oh, and yes, he does like to eat them too. <wink>

My husband has a great respect and love for animals, but he also has a dominion mindset when it comes to them. He would make a great farmer.

When we got caught up in this cattle drive not too far from our home, he was brimming with delight. I could see him alive, all senses surging.

It was this moment that I knew we had to go for this crazy dream we had. Had to try to live off the land. Had to push through passive and pursue the difficult simple life.

He reached out the window, he touched the hide, and I could see his heart swell, alive and fresh, beating the sounds of passion.

Yes, even if it is just a simple homestead, providing milk and honey for his household . . .

Or if it is a full income returning property providing pure food for our neighbors . . .

We have to try.

To follow in his Grandpa's footsteps,
to return to the place of peace,
to see a boy with his cow.

Am I Surviving or am I Thriving

As the days pass and we get ready to head out in a big ol' moving truck to Lexington,
I realize that it is has been a long time of surviving.
I got pregnant with the twins, lost the first, got sicker and sicker, hospital, death of John, more surgery, grief, recovery.
I had over a year of a surviving culture.
My children did too.
In a surviving culture it is hard to have growth. Or so I thought. But growth happens anyway. My children are another year older and whether I helped it or not, they have changed. My eldest daughter has turned from little girl into budding young woman. My son has gone from tiny to testosterone, my toddler has become a helper, and my baby has become a toddler. Yes, growth has happened, whether I was fully present or not.

I thought we were heading into a simpler time as my focus and health returned.
And now we are moving. The slow down has hurried up, and the structure has been put away in scotch taped boxes. We have started to survive again.
But I wonder, is it possible to thrive in a survive style culture?
Is it possible to live on purpose where we are and when we are sent? Is it possible that the boxes are not barriers but opportunitites?
When we go, we will be staying in an extended stay hotel for awhile. I will not have to clean. For AWHILE. I do not have things to put away except for clothes and simple dishes. My eyeballs can be attatched to my children. Have you ever thought about this? How little we actually look at our children during the day? There is laundry, dishes, cooking, teaching, training, planning, (oh and the ocassional blog post or rabbit trail of internet research, <ahem>) but what about looking and really being able to see? This is an opportunity for me to thrive.
While we wait to go, there is convenience meals as we pack and goodbye playdates with friends and summer walks with my husband while we dream about what might be. Is this not thriving?
When we get there, we have a chance to find the property that we have always wanted, to set up a home that will be condusive to the structure we unpack, to find community that will encourage us and which we can encourage. Is this not a call to thrive?
Maybe that is the point. We will always be called to a surviving culture, because life is rarely smooth. And we can thrive in that surviving culture if we are present in the moment instead of waiting for the future.
So today, I look at the blessings, not the burdens of moving. Today I see the growth in the in between.
How are you thriving today?

Kentucky Chronicles (It's Getting Closer!)

Each day we are getting closer to a huge life change.
The boxes are stacking higher.
Play dates are getting to be fewer.
We are wrapping up the details, and the dishes.
I still don't believe it is actually happening.
But, it is! We leave August 11th! We set off into the great unknown.
Kentucky feels like Somalia.
Strange because I have lived in Saudi Arabia, England, California, Washington and Beautiful Montana. I have traveled even more extensively.
We are just talking a few states away people.
Yet, today, it feels like I am conquering the wilderness.
Maybe I am just going to miss the best girl friends I have ever had.
Maybe I am just a Mom now and worry more.

Well, that's neither here nor there. What difference does it make!
We are heading out in our covered wagon, (ok Town and Country van), taking our cast iron skillets, (and king size bed), putting on our bonnets, (and ball caps) and gearing up in our big adventure to find "THE FARM".

Lord willing, we will.