A few years ago, my family and I decided we’d had enough of quarter-acre subdivision living and the suburban monotony of stoplights and strip malls. We lived there for over a decade and in that time traffic had increased, and along with it congestion and headaches. Crime seemed to be on the rise, and although we had a few good neighbors, the subdivision as a whole was becoming decidedly less friendly. One day, we were discussing options and made the decision that it was time to move to a more wide open space.
Within a few months, we had found our new home in a rural area, surrounded by twelve acres of woods, grassy fields, and a creek. We can breathe easier, relax outside without a lot of noise – we can enjoy the birds and squirrels, watch bats performing their aerial acrobatics on a summer evening, and hear the owls and coyotes singing in the night. We can run around the woods and play paintball or have a camp-out. We’ve raised free-range chickens (at least until the foxes and coyotes found them). We’ve built a skate ramp. We shoot guns. None of this would have happened in the subdivision
We soon discovered there are some tradeoffs, however. It takes twenty minutes to get anywhere now. It takes longer to get to our mailbox than it used to to go to the grocery store or gas station. On the upside, we don’t eat quite as much fast food, because it’s not that fast when you factor in twenty minutes of driving each way, and no one delivers out here.
Moving to the country isn’t for everyone, and I get that. Some people thrive in the crowds, and love the conveniences. Living in the city, you could dispense with owning a car (which, paradoxically, I would also love). Going to a concert or an art museum is so much easier in the city. But for me, the pleasures of waking up to singing birds, walking the Wonder Beagles, Olive and Daisy, down a forested trail, and splitting my own firewood to heat the house on a snowy afternoon are indispensable sources of Joy. Watching the night give way to dawn as the sun spills color over the eastern sky, and the encore in the evenings as the setting sun sets the western horizon ablaze hints at what God intended for his Creation, and what He will one day restore to it. And that’s the point of this site – as much as I just like to write, I also hope you can share in the joy and beauty of creation from the smallest wildflower to the grandest sunset.