Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Feathering a New Nest

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Our family is moving. Again. I would say blech, but you don't say blech to an answered prayer. Instead, I will say thank you to the Giver of all good gifts. Because this move is a gift.

Our family is moving home.

Out to where the corn grows tall, over the railroad tracks, past the big red barn, one last bend in the road, and we will be home. Home where we lived prior to living on Fieldcrest Lane. Home where we were houseparents for five years. Home where Emma learned to ride her bike, and where Kate said her first words. Home to the place where we brought Jack after he was born. Home. Only this time, we will not be houseparents. This time, we will be moving into staff housing that has recently become available. Boss will remain principal of the school, and I will be mama to our four children. We don't have an exact move in date yet, but we hope to be settled in our new nest before baby number four joins us in the next several weeks.

For the most part, life on Fieldcrest Lane has been lovely. I will miss the rolling hills, the big trees. Our charming street, and the old tree swing out back. For one year, our family built a life here, and there are things that will be missed. But as lovely as it was, it was also hard. Because the most charming houses are often old houses, and for us that meant a leaking roof, ceiling damage, and a stubborn old heat pump that needed constant repair. And those things are never in the budget, are they? And because our family strives to live debt free, that meant draining our savings faster than one can blink. Boom. The bank account was nearing empty. So, mama went back to work.

When things began to get tight, a sweet friend generously offered to let me keep her darling daughters a few days each week. Because we homeschool, our children worked with me, and this small job was a tremendous blessing to our family this year. Honestly, we would not have survived without it, and we will always be grateful for friends who were willing to help us out in a season of need. But it was not the life plan that we left houseparenting for. We left our work there, so that I could focus on raising and homeschooling our children, and that did not happen quite as we would have liked for it to this year. So we had a choice to make.

Boss could look for a new job, he could have taken a second job in the evenings, I could have continued working, or we could move back to campus into the staff housing. It was not a hard choice to make. I love our house here on Fieldcrest Lane, but I love the lifestyle that we dream of for our family more. In our family, it is our priority to have Boss work, while I stay home and raise our children. It was our priority long before we ever had our children, and we will always strive to make this lifestyle work to the best of our ability. It is a tough thing to raise a family on one income, but people over possessions, I always say. I want to be with my children, more than I want to be able to give them the best of the very best. For us, family IS the best of the very best. It is not the choice that every family would make, and I respect that completely, but it is the choice for us.

So, our family is moving home.

And this mama has much work to do, to feather our new nest before baby number four arrives. As always, thank you for joining in our life's journey.

1 comment:

Brittnie said...

Change is always hard and sometimes bittersweet regardless of how "right" we feel it is, or how much of an answered prayer it is. . . ya know? I will pray for you guys and for a VERY smooth transition before baby 4 arrives!