So this morning Tom left for a doctor appointment and to also help Naomi find a car to buy and I have been playing house all day long.
Well, that's what it feels like, anyway, especially with the sun shining in the windows and me going around in my house skirt, though I do keep forgetting to wear a vintage apron!
But while I mowed the lawn our new milk delivery guy, Tom (remember Bob The Milkman? Tom's his son), well, he delivered the milk bottles and things to the milk box on the front porch and waved to me. I waved and shouted, "Thank-you" to him over the loud mower noise and wow, you can hardly feel more 1930's than when you're mowing in a 1930's neighborhood and the milkman leaves milk bottles right beside your front door.
Oh my, the suburbs are the place for this retro girl. Out on those 4 acres I saw work (work, work, work!) needing to be done wherever I looked, but here? I finished the lawn in 15 minutes, may not have to mow for weeks, and this yard pretty much takes care of itself.
Even suburb sparrows are a million times better than their country cousins, for they appreciate anything you give them. They come in a horde and buzzsaw through the cheap birdseed and bread crusts excitedly rather than pick at it over a week with suspicion.They stare at me from the shrubs and I like to think they're staring at me so I'll know they appreciate what I give them.
Suburb sparrows are filled with gratitude. And so is this suburb lady.
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"There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven--" ... Ecclesiastes 3:1
We had our farm season and it was good, but now we're back to a suburb season, a downsized one, and it is, well, great. I hope these posts are encouraging those of you who will need to downsize soon, but are unsure about it all. When your season to downsize arrives, all will be well as long as you enter into it with joy and thanksgiving--and just be sure God gets into the moving van beside you.
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So I'm sure you recall my sorry complaining about the huge lawn back on the ol' farm. How you could practically stand at the window and watch it grow. How, if you waited one full week to mow it again, it grew so long that it made the whole house and property appear abandoned.
Those acres of lawn grew at an illegal speed just to spite us.
Well, here at Hobbit Cottage we may not have watercolor trees, but oh my! We have a magic lawn.
Seriously.
I mean, look at this photo of our backyard:
That lawn has not been mowed in over five weeks!! Truly! (Would I lie to you?) Now ok, it's not pretty like one from House Beautiful, but hey! Even after the tons of rain we've had in the month we've lived here, our lawn has barely grown. It just kinda sits there all contented in that shade-thing we've got going. Contented to just be, not to have to astound anyone by its growth each day.
Oh happy, happy day. I told you God led us here. He wanted to give us the perfect house and a break from three years of The Lawn That Would Not Stop Growing.
He is so good.
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Now, nobody go all home owner's association police on me. I have my excuses as to why I've not yet mowed the lawn, most of those excuses being Tom's fault. heh. But alas! Tomorrow is the day I'll finally mow the lawn here at Hobbit Cottage. I promise.
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So often people tell us to pack God into a pretty little box. Well, they don't use those words, exactly, but here's an example of what I mean.
Probably you've noticed it's not getting any easier to survive on this planet--it's just one thing after another, it seems. And well, the Bible said all this would happen so it's not like a shock, or anything.
But what I'm thinking today is how often we're told by other Christians (let's pick on them, shall we?) online and in books, etc., how, unless we own a farm (or at least a huge yard) and grow our own food and unless we're canning that food and keeping a 2-year-supply in a huge pantry along with enough emergency supplies/generators/water for a village--well-- we're doomed.
And ok, hey! It's terrific if you are talented/gifted and enabled by God to do things in that way. Really!
But what about the rest of us? You know, those of us who have tiny yards with lots of shade trees or the blackest of black thumbs? What about those on limited incomes where it's a rare, unusual day when they can afford to buy one case of tuna for their pantry? And what will happen to those who have only a small closet or cupboard to use as a pantry or as a place for their emergency supplies? What about those Christians who are doing the best they can, but just thinking of preparing for emergencies overwhelms them into a near-coma?
Well, here's the part where we need to take God out of that "do-it-this-one-way-or-else-you-will-die" box. God can provide for His people in a million different ways, Seriously! Think about it... if you don't have room for a garden (or you're cursed with that black thumb because God's got you caring for people in a whole different area), He can arrange for you to be blessed with Mrs. Gardener next door who just loves to give you her extra produce.
Or He can, in amazing ways, provide money for you to buy garden stuff from farmer's markets (thus providing help for farmers). Or God can put a love of shopping sales and/or using coupons so that you're practically getting stuff for free at the local supermarket.
If you have a small yard, He can make sure you find ways to still grow lots of food if that's what you desire. If your house is tiny, He can use people online (or anywhere) to show you ways in which to still stock-up like crazy.
When times get really tough (now or later down the road) He can ask people to leave groceries on your doorstep, especially if you're housebound (or even not). Or ask them to mail you a check or pick you up for a free shopping trip. Folks who are majorly into bartering can cross your path and you can trade your abilities or goods for theirs.
If God so chooses, He can make it rain pieces of bread in your backyard. Hey, He's done it before.
Well, I'm not going to try naming the million other ways God can provide, but I think you get the idea. There are reasons He gives us different, unique gifts and callings--it's so that we can better care for all the myriad people in our lives, people with different, unique stories and situations. In Real Life, there is no one size fits all. There is no one right place for all of us to live, all of us doing just one same thing, one same way.
Uh, no. God has always been way bigger than that, way, way more creative, too. And what remains is for each of us to do things as He asks us, personally, in the way He asks us to do them. And that we allow others that same freedom.
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"And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus." ... Phillippians 4:19
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Oh! Found an even better place to watch I Love Lucy online. It's here. Occasionally an episode will pause a lot, so I just choose a different one.
And in this post I was speaking of God providing necessities, but websites such as this I Love Lucy one is a way in which He has provided for a simple desire of mine. He knows I can't afford to buy I Love Lucy dvd's (I did buy season 2 before Tom lost his job), so He helped me discover these latest websites, instead, so I can watch for free. He is sweet that way.
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