It’s hard to believe it has been exactly one year since we turned the key in the lock and began moving into our new home!
In some ways the year has flown, but in many others it feels like we have been here forever.
I remember the first week in our house, the sense of familiarity. I told my husband I felt more at home here than I have ever felt anywhere we have ever lived. It just feels like us, a little rustic, imperfect, and wild. Full of ideals but still with much poop to walk through!
I look about this place, our home, and marvel at what has been accomplished in a year. We turned a simple spot of land in the heart of Tennessee into my wildest dream…a farm. Goats, chickens, dogs, cats, vegetables spilling out of big, raised beds and a plot of wildflowers that is the perfect cutting garden, not to mention the library and all the memories we have made already. It makes me smile and praise our good, good Father for his good and perfect gifts.
Our home has been filled with friends, parties, house shows and small groups. Our land has been used for fishing, graduation and birthday celebrations, football, an outdoor concert, and even a field day! The busy pace can be exhausting and on the rare days that we have nothing planned I relish the opportunity to recharge, but I wouldn’t change a thing. God gave us this place to share, to be part of His Kingdom Economy and a place of healing and restoration for all who drive up that single-lane road. The land overflows with life and color. The trees of the field clap their hands. (Isaiah 55:12)
I’ve experienced this healing and restoration, myself. The wind, the rain, and sunshine all breathe life into my soul. Even my children who were grown before we made this move come home often just to be here and, if you are a parent, you know what joy that brings. Seeing all five of my kids together, relaxed and laughing, is a gift that I do not take for granted.
I hear the birds singing now, breaking through the silence in the room. A rainbow of colorful flowers greets me just outside, bursting with bright hues of pink, yellow and red. The vegetable garden beckons me to come gather once again, for a baby squash in the morning is surely mature by evening! The kittens tumble and play as they learn to be independent of their mama, and the goats holler if they hear my voice in order to get me to come give them a good petting. I’ll gather eggs from the chicken coop this afternoon and watch the almost-grown goslings follow their parents obediently to and from the pond.
And I’ll breathe deep the sweet Tennessee air as I give thanks, once again, for the gift of life here, at Arundelle Green.
Arundelle Green 