Home is Where Your Heart Is

Summer is coming to a close and there is one thing that I haven't told my faithful blog readers. The Mangy Moose Acres Farm has been for sale since June. Why, you ask?? Why would you ever leave that tranquil setting? You have amazing neighbors, 40 acres, and an absolute piece of heaven?

Here's the answer, my friends. A while back, we started thinking about moving closer to town. It is a bit of a trek for my husband every day, and we both have always had a desire to live in the Selle Valley. Around this time, my grandmother started talking about moving into to an apartment in town, but had offered her place to my cousin. When my cousin decided it wasn't something they wanted to do, my grandma offered her place to us to buy. She wants a man around the place, she says. She doesn't want the home place to go backwards. We said yes, we want it, with all our hearts!

This is a place with so many memories. My grandfather built this house. Our daughter will go to the school where his name and picture watches over the field, being only a short distance down the road. Grandma's gardening will continue through the efforts of my daughter and me. As a child, I remember her large garden with amazing raspberries and apples as well. We all learned to drive at Grandma's. We ice skated on the pond north of the property, which now belongs to my mom and dad. Every cousin has some kind of memory there. The place will stay in the family, allowing cousins and aunts and uncles to continue to visit every year, making more memories in the process.

There is also a peace of mind for me. Knowing that my husband and my daughter are settled without a long commute to school or work, nothing would have to change if something happened to me. They wouldn't have to rely on anyone except each other. This was a huge factor for myself, personally.

Our daughter has friends she already knows from her previous school within a half mile east and west. My childhood friend, who is now a vet, has my great grandparents' farm down the road. We'll be able to spend time together, and I'll possibly get to watch her baby girl while she heads down the road to help an animal in need. Another friend of mine lives close and I'm hoping to help her with her "horse projects," when she brings home a little colt in the next month. Our daughter's former teacher turned out to be a great friend and we plan on walking for exercise around the Valley and catching up on each other's lives. There are so many things we're excited about, but it is obviously out of our hands and in God's. We wait patiently for a phone call, hoping someone would want this little piece of heaven. It has treated us well, but look forward to our new chapter in the Valley.

We ask for prayer that this is really where God wants us. Patience has never been a virtue of mine....I'll admit that up front. School is approaching, and I had hoped something would have worked out by now. If you could have been there the day that my Grandma offered it to us, you'd know it was a God thing. I remember calling my mom, crying, because the moment was so powerful for both Grandma and I. So I know it is supposed to happen, it's just the timing and the selling of our house that He needs to work out. Sorry for the long posting today, but it was heavy on my heart this morning so I thought I better share the news.

Every house where love abides

And friendship is a guest,

Is surely home, and home sweet home

For there the heart can rest.

~Henry Van Dyke