Tuesday, February 02, 2010

Thankful for The PLACE we have.

This morning I woke up to the fact that I've actually lived in Smithers (and in this house) longer than anywhere else for any length of consecutive time. Yes, I did live in Whitehorse, Yukon for a total of 12 years, but we moved to Edmonton for a year and to Kenya twice during the total of those 12 years.

Hmmmmmmmm.... so now what?

Can I reminisce a bit to when we first moved back in 2001? At first we lived in a little mobile home that sported 2 very tiny bedrooms. It was cute and homey, but way to small. Also, with only 1 car, and 2 kids in full-time school, and living a 15 minute drive from town, I was going stir-crazy with not much to do.

We then moved into our current home, which we have named "The PALACE" (drop the A)... aka, The PLACE. I remember going through it, when the previous renters were living here, and thinking, "Over My Dead Body!!! Will I ever live here!!!!!" Well, we've fixed it up, definitely cleaned it up, and have made it home.

It's simple, and we live without a perk or two... like a water tap outside, but we're out of town (7 min. from town)-which we like, we can have animals... have I mentioned my daughter's pets? (1-miniature horse, 1-yearling Arabian, which she is fostering after his mother died in an electric storm when he was a week old, 1-American Eskimo dog, 1-albino hedgehog, and 1-fighter fish)... And then Tim and I have 2 cats too. I don't think we could possibly keep those animals if we lived in town.

Ya, life is good! Our family is all together. We have friends. Our needs have been supplied... have I told you God has been overwhelming us with His blessings lately? Okay, okay, maybe life here in the sticks isn't as bad as I thought it was. Maybe I'm learning to be content where I am. That's a good thing! I'll count my blessings.

Do any of you have any blessings you've taken for granted in the past? I'd love to hear from you.

4 comments:

Laurel said...

I can totally relate, Dawn. I can still remember almost to the day I realized I'd have to learn to accept where I was. I guess I should change that to "dayS".... cuz it's been a lesson I have often had to repeat... But each time I relaxed and learned to accept the place I was, that's when God gave me the blessing of moving on. But I truly, from my heart, had to accept where I was first. After the first few lessons, once I figured out what He was doing, I'd often tell myself, ok if I just accept I get to move on ... but that wasn't the idea, I truly had to get to the point where I didn't WANT to move on.... so much for manipulating God.... :D

Dawn said...

Laurel, I hear you! I almost hate saying things like I did because of that... yet I need to realize I'm not going through this journey of life on my own steam! Thanks for sharing! Oh, I also enjoyed looking at the Habitat photos you posted.

Anonymous said...

I hate the question "where did you grow up?". How do you answer that when we moved every few years? So how long of a list and addresses does someone really want to listen to? I had a hard time forming relationships because of it. What was the point when we would move shortly and it was before the time of blogs and facebook. Even into my adult years I moved a lot. I didn't have bridesmaids at all as who would I choose? I think that is why I so desperately want to grow roots. I have been going to the same Church for 2 1/2 years now and although we have only been in our house just over a year, I plan on making this home for a very long time. I would love to be here until the kids are finished school and who knows maybe beyond that. I want my kids to have roots and have an answer for that same question "where did you grow up?" I want them to say with confidence where they are from.

bcsmithereens said...

Angela,
Are you finding out that you aren't who you thought you were when you were a young(er) adult? I thought I was a "certain" way, and have found myself so totally different from what I expected myself to be.
I've appreciated your blogging lately, as you've been writing quite a bit. I don't know where you find the time to do it, but want you to know I'm reading!
Hang in there, we'll make it!