Tag: #livinginthecountry

Watching the Sunrise

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My zen is waking up early, before the day begins.

When it’s still dark outside, but to do that, I go to sleep early. That was the scenario lastnight. By 9:00 pm, my daughter and I were getting sleepy. She chuckled and asked, “Is it too early to go to bed?” By 9:30, we were there.

My body naturally woke up at 5:50 this morning.

Waking up this early reminded me of something I miss.

Watching the sunrise.

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This little house sits completely in the woods, which is unusual being so close to the city. Maybe when it was built, the trees were small, but have grown over time. The house is surrounded by trees, and give you a feel of being in the woods.

A ginormous oak tree sits in the front yard, spreading it’s massive canopy over the roof of the house. As beautiful as they are, they keep me from seeing the sunrise.

Note to self: My next house will have a view of the sunrise.

Transitioning to Organic

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A friend made a comment about the Food for One post.

She said, “Buying all organic is expensive!”

I used to think so too, so what happened? Just like every form of change, it took baby steps in the right direction.

The first time we bought Tillamook cheese. My daughter and I were standing in an organic supermarket staring at the large block for $7.00. This young lady rushes up next to us, with a baby strapped to her front, a toddler by the hand, and grabs a block of cheese. She looked at us and said, “It’s the main reason I come in here. Worth every penny!”

We use that cheese for everything, and it grates beautifully. I stopped buying pre-grated cheese because of the caking agent used to prevent clumping.

When we ran out of milk, we replaced it with Organic. We used to drive to a local dairy farm and buy raw milk. If you have access to that you are in heaven. Raw milk has a head of cream, so you are getting your milk and creamer in one.

It takes a long time for 2 people to go through a gallon of milk, and the raw milk was sold in gallons. We couldn’t drink it before it expired, so we opted for a half-gallon of Organic. It’s the same price, or less, than a store brand gallon of milk.

Whenever we would run out of a normal item, we would replace it with an Organic, or farm raised version. We raised chickens for years, and learned about fresh eggs. We raised certain chickens for colored eggs.

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The shell color effect taste. They are just pretty.

Years later, our pantry is not full of junk. We rarely buy anything canned, or food in a box. We try to stick to the 5 ingredient rule. If the item has more than 5 ingredients listed, it stays at the store. It may have more than 5, but we make sure we know what they are. Oreos excluded.

It’s Pretty Ugly

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I took a friend to meet Stephanie today. You may or may not recall but, Stephanie is who gave me the courage to care for plants. Everyone needs a Stephanie in their life.

Getting out of my truck, this caught my eye. It has been hanging there for some time, and I have walked by it a countless number, but today it spoke to me.

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My daughter is still in shock that I brought it home!

She asked, “How much was it?” I cheerfully replied, “Stephanie let me have it for 9 bucks!” My daughter looked confused. This was so unlike me to buy something that wasn’t pretty.  I have already received $9 worth of joy from it.

Some days look pretty, but some days feel ugly, and it’s okay to have both.

You are Good

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I went down to the corner store this morning, and was greeted by my friend behind the counter. We love one another like good friends do, even though I just met him a couple of years ago. He is a real life superhero in my book.

I don’t know his story, only what I’ve seen. He has a heart the size of Texas, but he isn’t native Texan. He is from another country, and he runs the only store in little Dale Texas.

Last Thanksgiving, he was overwhelmed with gifts of food from the locals. He said it was a huge difference from the previous year. He received a couple of pigs that year, but last year it was in the double digits. He has a good heart, but it took time for people to see it, believe it, and trust him.

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He asked, “You missed the fireworks lastnight?”

I responded, “I saw them from my front porch.”

He asked, “Are you okay?” Tapping his chest in reference to last years Breast Cancer.

I reassured him, “I am good, just tired.”

Then it was like God entered the conversation, because he said, “Of people?” We were talking about health, so this comment surprised me. The fireworks celebration brings in a lot of people, so it hit me right in the heart when he said this.

Tears welled up in my eyes as I looked at him and said, “Maybe.” He started shaking his head furiously, and said, “NO NO NO.”

He opened his arms, leaned across the counter, and pulled me into his arms, like it was forbidden for me to be tired of people. He hugged me, let me go, and said, “You are good.”

To Feel Him

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I have done a lot of things that make me look like an idiot. Probably one of my all time favorites was when I would praise and worship God on a pier.

I woke up this morning, snagged a cup of Joe, and stepped outside. I love to stand on my front porch, feel the cool breeze, and just soak in the moment. The sun breaks through these two ginormous oak trees right in front of me. It’s like God’s way of saying, “Good Morning.” I walked inside, flipped on the stereo, and stepped back outside.

This moment brought back memories of McDade.

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This pier is where I stood and worshiped God. This picture was taken on a crisp, and frosty morning, but that didn’t stop me from going down there. I still remember the warmth of my feet, breaking through the frost, as I jumped up and down, and danced around. That pier was completely thawed by the time I was done, and so was my heart.

The wooden spool is where I sat my coffee, and laid my phone, which was playing the music to worship Him. I miss that pier. My heart was longing for that feeling this morning, but all I have now is a front porch. Plus, there is a road in front of my house!

I still live out in the country, but since we moved to this little farmhouse in Dale, I haven’t enjoyed that outside ‘praise and worship’ moment. This morning, I could feel, and hear the music coming through the screen door, as I stood on the porch. Instinctively, my feet started bouncing to the beat.

It was the one I shared yesterday in our Feel the Music series. I sat my coffee down, and raised my arms high in the air, and sang along with Tenth Avenue North, “I have this hope…”

My heart began to swell, and it felt like mild electrical waves flushing through my veins. I had goosebumps from head to toe, and it’s just the most exhilarating feeling ever!

I heard a car coming, so I withdrew.

It was the same feeling when I would hear a car coming down the driveway in McDade. I lived on 40 acres, so the only car that drove by was my landlord. He was probably thinking, “We really need to size her up for a little white jacket that ties in the back.” What would this person coming down the road think, if they saw me dancing around my porch? In my pajamas no less!

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This is a picture of my daughter taken in McDade. She is gazing out the window, on a rainy day, looking at the pier. That is how we treat God sometimes. We can feel in our heart what He wants us to do, but let’s just stand here a minute and think about it.

The Bible is full of stories where God asked followers to do things that made them look like idiots. My favorite is Noah. Let’s build an ark, and wait for the rain. The people in this town already shake their heads at me. It wouldn’t surprise them at all to see me building an Ark in my front yard.

They know I’m a writer that lives with my daughter. I wear pajamas way too late in the day. Sometimes the entire day. I had Breast Cancer and walked around bald-headed last year, but….”She’s always happy.” They know what they see, but you can’t see God.

You have to feel Him.

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Feel the Music

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I hear this song almost every time I get into my truck. This is the Acoustic version, so it will sound a little different than what you hear on the radio.

This has been in my draft folder all week, but I feel led to share it now.

It reminds me when I am too much in my own world, that He is King of the World.

“When did I forget that you’ve always been the King of the world?” And when I pray, and God is not answering fast enough, “I try to take life back right out of the hands of the King of the world.” I can take life too seriously, so it’s good to know, He is still on the throne.

Go With the Flow

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We live in a 1940’s Farmhouse, and the tub has the original lever built in that closes the drain. It also has a manual stopper that you press down to stop the water from leaving.

After my dog was bathed, I unplugged the stopper from the drain, but it didn’t drain. We’ve had a lot of rain recently, so I thought maybe it was clogged with mud from outside. I asked my landlord to look at it. He said it was clogged so he unclogged it, but my tub still wouldn’t drain.

I took matters into my own ‘fix it’ hands, and drove down to the store, and came home with a bottle of Drano. Following the directions on the back of the bottle, I was already looking forward to my shower. I poured half the bottle down the drain, and waited.

My daughter is very particular about following directions on the back of bottles. Especially toxic chemicals, so I told her I wouldn’t plunge it. It says not to on the bottle, but oh, how I really wanted to! I had been waiting, so I wanted it to unclog right now!

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I was sitting on the side of the tub, and I remembered it said to pour hot water down the drain. My mother used to heat the water in a kettle, because the water coming out of our pipes are not heated to the intensity to scald us, so I heated up a kettle of water.

As I was doing this I was realizing that I don’t want to get to a point in my life where God has to do all this to me for me to obey. The Drano, scalding hot water, and please don’t plunge me! There have been times where I felt stupid, because I didn’t want to see the reality of the situation.

God has used the plunger on me before, but I hope I have learned enough that He doesn’t have to do that today. Actually, I hope I don’t allow myself to become clogged again.

As I was sitting on the side of the tub, I noticed the old, built in lever was pointing upward. I didn’t recall messing with the lever, but I must have because it had moved. I didn’t think the lever would close the drain on this old house, but I guess it had enough strength left in it to do just that.

I reached over, pressed it down with one finger, and all the water went rushing down the drain.

How simple was that? Every time my landlord asks, “How is your drain? Is it still doing okay?”, I laugh out-loud at how silly the entire ordeal was, but it made me realize how difficult I can make life, and how simple it is to just go with the flow.