It’s pretty obvious that I am not the best blogger. It takes me awhile before I invest the time in writing something out. But to be honest, sometimes I simply forget or just don’t find our present life that exciting to write about. Yet, every once and awhile something exciting happens, and this is one of those moments.
Lately we have had some life changes, so here is a quick recap of the last few months. We moved back to Oregon at the end of July right after Travis got home from military training in Texas. We had plans to fix up an old home on historic camp property but within two weeks that changed. We were then asked to live and take care of a home that desperately needed some tender loving care – and that’s where we are. We are pretty much living on our dream property. Sounds great, right?
So, Clara Smith. What is Clara Smith? Well, I’m not really sure. I have been trying to figure that one out myself. All I know, is this wasn’t in the plan or even on our radar of possibility.
First of all, I want to explain that there is a massive difference between God plans and Niki plans – or in this case, God plans and Niki’s dream plans. Clara Smith is an absolute, 100%, hallelujah and amen, I’m completely in love, Niki dream plan. If I had created a checklist of my “wants” in a place to call home, Clara Smith would check them all, easily.
For years, Travis and I have longed for a place of our own. We bought Silvia with the full intention of living “simplified” so we could save money to then buy property. (BTW, Silvia is still with us but we aren’t living in her anymore. We lasted a good year in that trailer and, quite frankly, I am super proud of that! Bottom line, trailer living is not for everyone. There is a good chance we will be selling her this next year) And although we have saved money – it isn’t enough to purchase property. To put things in perspective, this particular property (Clara Smith) we are temporarily living in is VERY EXPENSIVE – so very much out of our price range – very, very, very much out of our price range. But man, it is sure beautiful.
We found several pear trees, blueberry bushes, a row of raspberries and tons of blackberry bushes that are overtaking the property.
The barn is old and rundown, yet super cool. The pond has Trout, Crawfish as well as a 4ft Sturgeon. It even has a small dock to fish from.
This land has brought so much joy and satisfaction to us in such a short amount of time. There is beauty hidden all over the property and we haven’t yet seen it all. It has been difficult to look out at this land and not envision what we would do with it if it was ours.
This opportunity is a huge blessing for our family. We have wanted to care for land and a home for awhile now and we get to do that. What I have struggled with since we have been here is this longing to be home. I realize that I wrote about this in my last post but this desire hasn’t changed. We still have no idea where we are going or what we will do. Our time here has no end date which can make it hard to plan for the future when you don’t really know how much time you have. Honestly, sometimes I feel like this is a tease – and I know that God doesn’t tease us! But it has been hard to live here and not desire to call this place home; to not dream of a life here.
Still, even though I know my heart’s desire is to be home, I will choose to appreciate this season God is giving us in a “temporary” home. Remembering that I will never fully understand His ways and I will never fully see all that He is doing. Living in Clara Smith may not be what we expected, but it is what God planned and I know He has great reasons for it.
Aren’t we all living in temporary homes anyway:)
Less is more,
Niki
L I V I N G L E S S 