The last year has been full of change, yet again! At the end of 2021, I found myself in a dark place. I realized I was ignoring my grief by finding things to keep me busy. But, it was all there in the background, festering. At the start of 2022, it was clear I needed to seek guidance. I sought out the Biblical Counseling Center for spiritual healing. The gal I worked with specialized in traumas from child loss and fertility issues, and she really connected with me. She directed me to a program called Quieting a Noisy Soul (https://podpoint.com/keystone-bible-church/series/quieting-a-noisy-soul). After starting just the first podcast, I knew my issue was not about grief, but about letting noise control me – and adding to the noise with everything I was adding to my shoulders.
The program was excellent in pointing out how lack of trust in God can make it hard for us to be at peace. So, I embraced the program! Within a month of practicing the affirmations and watching the God’s Not Dead movies, as well as switching my playlist to Christian Contemporary music, my mood totally changed! I was better at relating to others and seeing the future again.
I found that for me, documenting my adventures was so much easier on TikTok, rather than in written word – and you can check all that out @GoingHomeSteadily there. We got our first 12 female chickens in Feb, and they are almost all laying now. We started gardening in Feb with indoor plant starts and transitioned those outside in April. We had 40 tomato plants, 3 raised beds, and several containers. While we fought drought followed by flooding, we got well over 100 pounds of food this summer. I was able to can up tons of pickles and freeze lots of tomatoes, eggplants, and zucchini for later. Not to self, 5 zucchini plants and 5 egg plants when I am the only one that likes them is WAY too many haha.
Then, in June, we moved again! We are still in TN, but we found our dream hope with 4 mostly flat acres and a mountain view, and a pool! It was a challenge to get the chickens moved, but we did. Now, I am getting my fall garden started and growing our 16 meat birds, with intentions to keep a few for breeding in the spring.
Oh! In May, I had sinus surgery, which was AWFUL, but I am doing better. And we finally got a second doggie! After a few failed fostering matches, when we had given up, a little boy toy poodle showed up, totally matted and covered in ticks with no collar or chip. He and Serra are thick as thieves, and he is settling in well with the family. It was hard to choose a name, so generically, we called him Buddy. But, he responded to it, so it stuck.
Things are feeling good again. All because I learned to trust that…
God is Always Good, and Always, God is Good!
