Shifting Gears

Most homesteaders dream of a day when they no longer have to leave the farm to pay the bills. Many of us continue be bondservants in the world working toward the time when we can finally concentrate our full energies on the homestead. The hardest part of all of this for me is shifting gears. I believe it's easier for men. Most men can come home from their careers, change into their jeans and jump right into their vocation as homesteader in the matter of an hour or two. I admire that. For me and many women however, it takes more time.

A married women's heart is at home, no matter where she is. God hard-wired us this way, whether we admit to it or not. I work 3 days a week as an R.N. at a local hospital. Now, I'm not complaining; I'm blessed to have 4 days on the homestead for every 3 days I work. It's just that it takes me a lot longer as a woman to wind down and make the transition from being a nursing supervisor responsible for many people both sick and well to being a stay-at-home mom and grandma. Likewise, my days off are clouded with the thought in the back of mind that soon I must leave again.

I long to home, and we do have plans in progress to make that happen. I look forward to waking every morning with only thoughts of prioritizing the day's work to make our homestead a place that reflects God's blessing and glory.

"Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young - a place near your alter, O Lord Almighty, my King and my God." Psalm 84:3