I think I was born 100 years too late...

Sometimes I really wonder.

Maybe it's just that I'm an old soul.

I've always been drawn to things with chipping paint & a warm patina.
I can't pick up an old sturdy bowl or a piece of vintage silverware without wondering
who it belonged to or upon who's table it sat.

And as much as I love my modern conveniences {heat/air conditioning, running water},
I still find myself longing for a simpler life without all the 'trappings'
of which most all of us have too much & too many.

I can easily envision myself in the kitchen of a smallish cabin ... cooking.
{ok, so the only thing that's different about that vision is the smallish cabin ...
I'm always in the kitchen cooking!}

I'd be delighted with one that looked just like this.

James & Riley by little perfect little cabin in Spring Mill State Park {'09}

We would start each morning by gathering the family around the table for breakfast
& family worship ... yes, ALL of us, including James.

photo: countryliving.com

No getting up late, hurriedly running here & there to get ready, dashing out the door to jobs,
school, errands ... all going in different directions, sometimes not seeing one another again
til the end of the day.
No, there would be none of that.

How delightful it would be to spend the day all together from start to finish.

We'd tend to the land & tend to the animals ...
earning our living by the sweat of our brow, using the gifts & abilities
given to us by God Almighty.
Ahhh, it sounds idealic.

photo:  countryliving.org

photo:  riroads.com

I'd have a clothesline ...

I took this in Orleans, IN at an Amish home we stopped at to buy fresh milk & baked goods.


And there would have to be a rope swing, or two .... and a creek for the boys to play & fish in.

But dream as I may, every now & again, I know God placed me exactly where I am.
Not only the time of my birth, but also the family I was born into was perfectly ordained by God.

Although my heart may yearn for the days gone by & the simplicity of life that it represents,
I am content with the blessings of today, for they are plentiful.

I have a beautiful home that meets all our needs.

It is full of love, life, health, & happiness.

We have meals & family worship around this table every evening.

It's not at all uncommon to find us here laughing, talking, & enjoying each other's company

for 2 hours or longer.

I look forward to this part of the day.



Our dining room, although I've painted the walls another color now.



God has given me a wonderful husband with a heart after God.

He is a strong leader, a hard worker & an excellent example to our 3 sons.

And speaking of our 3 sons, they are truly a blessing in our home.
They love the Lord & are honorable & respectful to us as their parents.
We are so thankful that God entrusted us with them.

Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children a reward from Him. Psalm 127:3

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works;

my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!
If I would count them, they are more than the sand.

Psalm 139: 13-18

For I know the plans I have for you," says the LORD.
They are plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11

We do have a plan to move to the country someday ...
& when we do, some of these 'dreams' may become a reality ...
the rope swing, clothes line, & a farm animal or two.

Who knows, I may even learn how to knit, quilt & churn butter.