Time to Slow Down - Part 3

When we moved to Mora a year and a half ago, we were thanking God for an answer to prayer. He didn't just give us a great church to serve in, but He allowed us to live in a small town. A few years before, we had realized that we wanted to raise our family in a small town in hopes of a slower pace of life. Of course, you can be just as busy here as anywhere else, but I think the pressure of "keeping up with the Jones" is not as great. 

We've been living in a house a couple of doors down from the church, so we were right in town and it was a very handy commute for Mike, but we knew that some day we wanted to move a little ways out of town and live in the country. In May, we caught a glimpse of this house on 5 acres, 4.5 miles from town:

When we looked at it with the realtor the first time, Mike and I kept giving each other looks when the realtor wasn't watching that said, "Oh my goodness!!!" We thought it looked like a great place to slow the pace of life a little more, and raise our kids. Mike has always liked log homes and I have always said they make great cabins, but I wouldn't want to live in one. Then I got to thinking, why not feel like you are going on a vacation in the north woods every time you go home?!?

We put an offer on the house at the end of May, but didn't find out that we had officially gotten it until the day we were driving down to Apple Valley at the beginning of our 2 weeks away. We had been asked if we would want to rent it until we were able to close, so we decided that July 7th sounded like a great day to move in...the day after we got home from being gone for 2 weeks. Perfect timing, right?

Some very generous women from church offered to pack up our kitchen while we were gone and I hesitantly accepted their offer, so when we got home, everything in our kitchen was in boxes. It was a beautiful sight! Mike and I dropped the older 2 kids off at a friend's house to play/nap on that Friday afternoon that we got back in town and we packed up as much as we could in a very short amount of time. I had honestly not packed anything before we left, so there was a lot to do! Call me a procrastinator, but for so long we weren't sure if we were actually moving that I didn't want to pack anything yet.

A group of guys showed up at the house starting at about 10:00 on Saturday morning to help us move the furniture and whatever Mike and I had managed to pack up the night before. We were so thankful for the help that came to donate their time and muscles, and those who came to lend a hand with the kids and help with lunch.

For two weeks now we've been unpacking and organizing. I actually enjoy this part of moving. I like to figure out where everything is going to go and coming up with new ways to organize things. What I don't like to unpack are those miscellaneous boxes that you throw together at the last minute. They are filled with things that didn't have a place to go at your old house, so chances are that it will be hard to find a place for them at your new house. I have a box like that sitting in the kitchen right now, and I really am not looking forward to unpacking it.

So, where does this whole slowing down thing fit into the picture? These few weeks of travelling and moving weren't exactly slow, and honestly I've been pretty busy unpacking in between other daily chores (not to mention that this blog post has been a several day process - 20 minutes here, 5 minutes there). We're on a journey to slow down our lives so we can enjoy life as God allows us. If we fill our lives with activities, the only thing that's full is our calendar. It is our desire to fill our lives with God and enjoy the goodness of the things He has surrounded us with. Every once in a while I think that maybe I should sign my kids up for this or that activity, but then I am reminded that my time with them is invaluable and I want to instill in them Godly values and character more than anything else. Not that outside activities won't build character in them, but more and more activities won't equal more character either. I'll climb off my soapbox now.

One of my favorite verses is Psalm 46:10 that says, "Be still and know that I am God." I need to be still more often. I have already enjoyed several mornings and evenings sitting on our deck and looking out at the beauty around me. I've also loved going in the back yard to the raspberry bushes almost daily for a snack, or to collect some berries for a meal. I am thankful for those moments of stillness. I have a feeling I'm going to like our log house in the woods!