Home is Where the Heart Is

August 24, 2017

We are nearing the end of our second year living here on this homestead…I have to admit when we first moved here, I struggled to love it. Of course I liked it, the scenery was gorgeous, the new home beautiful! But I felt homesick for the city I was born and raised in, felt out of place in this rural backwoods town, lonely for my family, and… scared. Scared for our future- would we really able to pull this whole farm thing off?

I was so sure that I would be ecstatic when I moved here, but the minute I got here- my whole perspective changed. Classic “be careful what you wish for” mentality, I wished for a farm my whole life, there was no way I could chicken out now that I got one (pun intended). Everything moved very slowly our first year, trying to get this empty land set up for animals and such, we had no barn, no fencing, and a whole lot of overgrown fields. Even as we made small progress and our flocks and herds started to grow, I struggled to call this place home.

But tonight after many months of subtle depression and an unsettled heart, I stood still and looked at our land. Our land. OUR home. Yes, I finally felt it- this place is my home. I couldn’t give it up now- or ever. My heart has grown to love the clear open sky with gorgeous pastel sunsets, the green hay fields as far as the eye can see, the beautiful chicken coop we built on the hill next to the house… and the sounds, cows mooing in the distance, chickens clucking and humming, birds singing, grass swaying, owls trilling in the twilight. These things are now woven into the newest threads of my heart, now I can look out on the homestead we are making ours, and know that it is-and always will be- home. 🌄