I'll be home for Christmas (if only in my dreams)

We just got back from spending some time in OH with my family. It went by waaaay too quickly, as it always does. If you have never moved away from family, then you might not understand just how hard it is to live just 25 minutes from them one day, then a 6 hour drive away, the next. I'll post more about our visit soon, including some photos too. For now though, I thought I would share something with you.

If you know me from blogland or real life, then you know I'm a country girl at heart. No, I was not raised in the country. My parents teased me several times through childhood with the possibility of moving to the country but sadly we never did. I was the only city girl I knew who was in 4-H. I was the only city girl I knew who begged my parents to let me volunteer at a riding stable the summer I was 13, in exchange for free room and board in a camper parked near the stables. I routinely took quiet walks down a path "across the creek" (as we called it), as it passed a cornfield and ended in the wide open space of a church's back lot acreage. It was my getaway spot and I treasured it.

The country is a spiritual comfort to me. It calms me, soothes me, makes me feel closer to God than any other place I've been on earth. And for seven sweet, wonderfully sweet years I lived there. We bought 3.5 acres and built a home there. My deck and back windows faced west. An unobstructed view of the sunset every single day. In winter, sunsets fell on silken flats of undisturbed snow. The reds and oranges would dance across the glassy surface in a brilliant, warm light display that captivated me.

And the lovely creatures. Deer. Rabbits. Groundhogs. Skunks. Cows and horses grazed just two doors down, as did a few goats and many barn cats. I could sit on my full front porch for hours on end to watch the farmers hard at work in the fields across the road, preparing the soil, planting, and finally harvesting in the fall. The combines. Oh how I LOVED the combines. Some girls love jewelry. Some love clothing. Me? I truly loved the combines. I would gladly spend 4 or 5 hours riding my lawn tractor, taking pleasure in the simple accomplishment of freshly cut rows of grass. But to see the combines meticulously clearing rows and rows of crops at harvest time was absolutely wonderful to me. As I said, country girl at heart.

Now, where was I headed with all this? Oh yeah. On our way back to Indiana, we head south, directly past our old home in the country. We always drive by to catch a glimpse of what once was, to drink it in (if only for a moment) before returning to the suburban life God has called us to during this season. As we passed, I decided to film the "strip" of 11 houses or so that made up my stretch of road in the country. Each home had a similar lot (3+ acres). What was truly beautiful was the coincidence of the song that played on the radio as I filmed. Listen to the line that plays just as we come to a stop in front of our former home. How God blessed me through that "coincidental" moment. Enjoy!

Toni