Day 24 Home Sweet Home

A place to nest.

Where your heart is.

A safe place.

Home sweet home.

Home is a place I can call my own.  It's where my family is.  I spend much of my time here. Cleaning mostly.  Trying to keep the clutter at bay and somewhat under control.  I enjoy being in the kitchen making food for the family God gave me.  I love to try new recipes.  I enjoy making them, not sure if they enjoy eating all I try to make.  The sound of clothes tumbling in the dryer fills the house.  I often light an apple scented candle (it's my favorite) as I make my to-do list for the day,  The dogs curl up on their dog beds, close to the warmth of a crackling fire.  There are stacks of mail piled on my office desk and laundry in need of folding on my bedroom floor.  Tractor toys line the great room wall, ready to plow, plant and harvest.

 We have the typical morning banters of Moms versus Children.  Where are my shoes?  Brush your teeth! The yellow school bus arrives in the dark. After my chores of feeding dogs, watering chickens and feeding the horse I return inside.  Then the quiet fills the house. At my house I like to sit in the brown leather recliner.  I read and journal with Abba in the mornings.  I sip my tea and crack the blinds a bit to catch the morning glory arise.  The sunrise over the farm land reminds me this is home.  Where our family works, lives and plays.  It is our livelihood. It hasn't always been this way.  I didn't grow up with cows in the pasture or corn in my backyard.  No my home was in a suburban neighborhood with sidewalks and cold-a-sacks. Now my house is the only one on the south side of the road consisting of a mile long.  Everyone here is my neighbor.  I used to drive down the street, now it is called a road and their are no sidewalks, just ditches. 

I wonder sometimes how I have adapted to my life here in the country.  Home is where your heart is.  This is where I was made to be.  I always wanted to live in an open space, maybe the mountains or rolling hills.  I wanted horses.  I had some romantic idea of a blissful life in the country.  Boy was I wrong!  It's hard work being a farmer/rancher.  I blame this ideology on classic TV shows like Little House on the Prairie and Anne of Green Gables.  Truth be told this life isn't really anything like the TV shows.  But it is my home now.  I embrace it now and sense a deep fulfillment in my soul of being here.  Partnering with my husband as first generation farmers.  In a sense it is a bit romantic and adventurous.  We have made many mistakes, but we have learned together.  This journey we embarked upon to create a life for our family has given us great blessings.  We truly are living out our calling in the land of the living.  This is our home sweet home.