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The Jacobs family departed Florida yesterday evening around 6:30 our time (7:30) theirs.  I can’t tell you if there were tears, I suspect at some point before they hit the Florida-Georgia state line there were, indeed, tears.  The end of one dream, the beginning of another.  And that’s exactly how I will continue to think of it. I pray they will too.

Yesterday, as we were briefly discussing the whole family-land thing, son-in-love, Josh, made a comment to Christina that had been lurking in the back of my mind for some time now.  What if someone leaves?  That’s it, that’s the snag I’ve been concerned about.

We’re talking about purchasing a substantial plot of land where each family unit will have their own home built.  We hoping, planning for shared space to store outdoor equipment and toys, have big gatherings, meals, bbqs, cool weather fires, etc.  We envision a game room and maybe even a movie theater.  Now mind you, we’re not talking million dollar fancy - we’d have no problem collecting these items gently used. John already has equipment for the theater, so we’re really only talking space to gather.  Some of these things will most likely not come to fruition - it may turn out that it’s too big a dream for reality.  But I say shoot for the moon and we’ll land among the stars.

The point is we’re all seeing this way of living that is definitely counter-cultural for the majority these days.  The irony is that all three of the son-in-loves have experience with this kind of living.  Some of their relatives still live on this type of shared space.  Some of these boys best memories come from that type of setup.  John and I have dreamed of this for most of our married life; I think we just got to a point where we didn’t believe it was practical to hope for such a thing.  Thank God, we were wrong!

So what if someone leaves?  What if... we do actually find the property, build the homes, live this shared life, and then someone decides they don’t want that life? What if a marriage end in divorce? What if, what if, what if?  That stopped me in my tracks last night for just a little while, because someone else clearly had been thinking the same thing I’d been fearing.  But a new day dawned.  And I remember that I can choose not to listen to fear - because FEAR IS A LIAR.

I have some personal experience to fall back on with this “what if” business.  When John and I were struggling to keep our marriage from falling apart, there was a point when all I could hear in my mind were the long litany of “what-ifs”.  I nearly walked away without a fight, until one day it came to me - you just can’t live a good life if you’re going to let the what-ifs guide your decisions. What if - one of my kids are diagnosed with a terminal illness? What if one of us is in a terrible car accident and becomes paralyzed? What if , what if, what if... life throws us one hell-of-a curve ball and everything changes? The chances are good that every family is going to be thrown more than a few life-changing curve balls; it’s called life. So, are we going to live with fear of the unknown, always imaging the very worst? Or are we going to step forward, one foot in front of the other, trusting in God like he has repeatedly asked us to do? I chose to trust, and move forward with hope for the best.  I realize it doesn’t always turn out well, but sometimes it turns out better than we ever imagined.

So with that in mind this morning, I say - let’s go for it.  I’m not going to listen to the fear, I’m not going to listen to the father of lies.  That nagging voice that utters the stream of “what-ifs”. Instead, I’m going to allow myself and my family to dream, to hope, and plan.  Yes, we absolutely place all that into God’s hands, knowing that his plans and purpose is far better than anything we could come up with.  But that doesn’t mean we aren’t supposed to do our part. And so we will.

Here’s to dreaming!

Peace and Joy

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