Thursday, January 6, 2011

Hopes, dreams and plans



Recently, in my firewood post, I mentioned not having enough firewood to last us for the winter because we had hoped to move.  A number of people inquired what had prompted us to want to move and were really quite concerned that we, perhaps, were moving somewhere that wouldn't quite fit our preparedness lifestyle.  That is oh, so not the case!

When Sir Knight and I moved into our Little Shouse on the Prairie, we intended to make this our home forever.  We had three children and great plans of building a house in a year.  Then, life happened.  Nothing worked quite the way we had it planned (which, we have found, is most often the case).  Electricity was too expense for us to have installed, so we lived with no electricity at all for a year and a half.  We spent so much time and energy in day to day living that a year got away from us, and no house had been built.  Rather than take on a building project, we reveled in every little victory, such as drains and cold running water.  We were so busy homeschooling, gardening, milking a cow and trying to raise wholesome children, that the years got away from us.  Soon, rather than three children, we had squeezed five wonderful children into our 300 square foot loft.

Miss Calamity shares her "room"
with Princess Dragon Snack and....
Master Calvin (who is really too big
for his portable crib - but it is
all that we have room for!)
Years went by, improvements were made.  Our desire to become debt free outweighed our desire to build a house.  We became "permanent" shouse dwellers.  Our children grew older (as we had younger children to keep us on our toes) and we began to notice that something was missing.  As I busily went about my daily duties, I began to notice that Master Hand Grenade, as soon as he was done with school, was just kicking around.  Even though we live in the country, there are only so many things a young man can do without the help and supervision of an older, wiser man.  Sir Knight was gone at work every day.  Master Hand Grenade would get the wood in, feed the animals, do whatever chores I needed him for and then he would kick around until his dad got home.  What he really wanted to do was work on the car or saw logs or run the tractor - but he needed his dad.  Master Hand Grenade was getting lazy.  I didn't have anything for him to do.

Sir Knight and I began to talk about how to remedy our situation.  Now, not only did we have Master Hand Grenade to consider, we also had another MIT (man in training) in the form of Master Calvin.  We talked about finding a Godly man that could apprentice Master Hand Grenade.  We discussed many options, but none of them panned out.  We still had a problem.  And then, we knew the answer.

The answer, and the real desire of our heart, was to move.  The more we talked about what we wanted for our family, the more we realized what we wanted, what we needed, was to move back to the small town that I grew up in, and live in close proximity to my parents.

My parents are wonderful, godly people.  My dad is the man to disciple our sons while my husband is at work.  My mom has the desire to teach her grandchildren about our great God.  Sir Knight and I and our children would benefit from their wisdom.  And they would thrive with all their children close.  We could help them with jobs too big for them to tackle by themselves.  I miss home.  My heart longs for home.

Our family prepares.  My parents prepare.  There is strength in numbers.  God is good.  He will do with us as he pleases.  We are waiting on Him.  Our home is beautiful and I am thankful that we live in this wonderful place.  We have been blessed with tremendous friends and neighbors.  We are content to live here, if that is what God has for us - but home calls to me and to Sir Knight and to our children.  They start every sentence with "when we move...."

Maid Elizabeth and I often break into song.....


The Song of Exile


Land of bear and land of eagle 
Land that gave us birth and blessing 
Land that called us ever homewards 


We will go home across the mountains 
We will go home, we will go home 
We will go home across the mountains 
We will go home, we will go home 
We will go home across the mountains 

Land of freedom land of heroes 
Land that gave us hope and memories 
Hear our singing hear our longing 


We will go home across the mountains 
We will go home, we will go home 
We will go home across the mountains 
We will go home, we will go home 
We will go home across the mountains 

Land of sun and land of moonlight 
Land that gave us joy and sorrow 
Land that gave us love and laughter 


We will go home across the mountains 
We will go home, we will go home 
We will go home across the mountains 
We will go home, we will go home 
We will go home across the mountains 

When the land is there before us 
We have gone home across the mountains 
We will go home, we will go home 
We will go home across the mountains 


And, yes, home for me is in the mountains.  If God wills it, we will go home across the mountains.

8 comments:

  1. Home is where the heart is, so I pray you get to go home soon.

    Could you tell us a little about your shouse and your land? Perhaps there are some readers out there who would like to move to your part of Idaho and pick up where you leave off? Can't hurt, can it? I know you have a link in the margin of this blog, but perhaps putting some info right here, in the body of the blog, would be helpful to protential buyers?

    Let's help Enola Gay and her family move - if it is God's will. Surely somebody would like to move to Idaho and set down roots in real America.

    I am a born 'n bred Californian and cannot find the wherewithall to leave my decaying state, otherwise I would consider the move myself.

    My best wishes for you and yours, Enola. I know how it must pain you all to not be where you would prefer to be. May God Bless You.

    NoCal Gal

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  2. Praying for your prayers to be answered.

    We too are waiting on God for when He wants us to move.

    God is good...all the time! And His timing is perfect.

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  3. Enola,

    Count me in for prayers, as well. God is so good and knows the true desires of our hearts. I am confident He is working behind the scenes for you right this minute, paving the way across the mountains. It won't be much longer...

    Mara :)

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  4. Enola -
    No one can live they way you desire without help and support from community and family.
    It's just too hard.

    It's the reason why most of our Pioneer mothers were old broken women by age 45.

    A self-reliant and self-sustaining life lived without the loving help of others can be a life fraught with avoidable mistakes.

    Life was meant to be shared with family and community and most people were meant to be planted in one place for a lifetime.
    Young people need the older people to show them the way.
    Good luck on your journey home.
    GM

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  5. I have to laugh... here I sit in a small town, while we own acreage an hour south of here that is surrounded by state gamelands... acreage that we have planned to build on and move to - just as soon as we can sell THIS house (we've been trying for five years)... my youngest daughter (now 7) prefaces everything she says with "When we move to the property..."

    Sounds familiar, no?

    Xa Lynn

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  6. One of my neighbors is 80 years old, a widow. She had a large house in a part of town that was isolated and she was lonely. She decided to put that house on the market and buy another one...simultaneously. She didn't wait for the first one to sell, she just up and moved to the one next door to me. And it's not that she had a lot of money, she had to apply for a loan - she got one!

    Some might think she was headstrong or impulsive or perhaps even a tad demented. But I think she was smart and courageous. I say, why wait? I think God works in mysterious ways and that sometimes we don't even recognize when he's steering us in a certain direction. Sometimes what we think is our own human arrogance is actually God pushing us to do something. God demands action from us, not stagnation. At least that's how I see Him.

    Nobody is getting any younger. Pack up, move away to that dream location. Live in a travel trailer if you have to until you can afford to build a home. Follow your heart, because when you do so you might just be doing as God wills it.

    Just my 200,000,000.02 cents worth.

    NoCal Gal

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  7. there is just no place like "home". i have been wandering the world for all of my 58 years but i have only one place on this earth i have ever considered "home". that place is the Arcadia Valley of Missouri. i spent the years of 7th thru the 12th grade there. it is the place where i learned to "can" outdoors over open fire with those big black iron kettles. it is the place where i learned to cook on a wood stove, and take care of babies, and sew. it is the place where i made lifelong friends, and where many of my older family settled generations ago. i have been in northeast mississippi for the last 22 years because it is where my husband is from and he has many family and friends here. but, still, it is not the same for me. i too, long for home at times. someday, i will go back and stay. if the feelings of wanting "home" is so strong-then you must go. just imagine all that you are returning home with!

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  8. We too are waiting to move, but for slightly different reasons. Our move will just be across the county, closer to dh's work (will short his commute 30 mins. one way).....we are in a dangerous situation here with unfriendly neighbors and drugs close by. We have finally had enough. We don't have the $ to move unless this house sells. We are considering bankruptcy if we can't get it to sell. The safety of our children comes first. Anyway, praying for you!

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