National Sibling Day and Ten Year Reflections

Yesterday was National Sibling Day.  I have no idea if this is true, or if my kids just made it up, but they used it to their advantage and when we asked two of them to go pick up their brother at university, they said, "Sure....on one condition...."  They scheme.  All the time.  So now I know for sure at least once a week they are going to head out for half-price apps together.  We used to complain and harass them for all the money they were spending, the late hours, all the gas, but one day we looked at one another and said, "Why?  Why are we fighting them?'  We are so happy that they hang out.  We are so happy that they enjoy one another.  The only problem is the fall-out for the younger siblings who want to go out and stay out late, too.  We keep telling them their time will come.

We are now "celebrating" ten years in Niagara.  We have now lived here the longest than we've lived anywhere else.  Every Spring I'm reminded of what we were doing ten years ago.  We were decluttering our other house, getting it ready for sale.  We were fixing all the things that needed to be fixed, painting all the spots that needed paint, redoing the driveway, the grass in the backyard, flowers in the garden....you name it.  We did it.  We then staged it and listed it and in one day it sold for the highest price on the street.  With that money we bought a lot out here, built a house, found the farm in the middle of the house build, moved into the house when it was partly done, renovated the farmhouse at the same time, moved into the farmhouse, went back and finished the other house, listed and sold that one and oh yeah, had a couple babies in there, too.....WHEW!!!  What a busy ten years it has been!  All in the name of getting debt-free......

I also remember sitting back in our other house more than 10 years ago wondering how we would ever get in a better financial situation.  We had sold everything we could think of.  The only thing we hadn't sold yet was something big - like a house.  So we built one!  In some ways things haven't gone entirely as planned.  I didn't know I would have two more babies in that time frame.  I didn't realize my big kids would get older and require more of us financially.  I didn't know that we would go without work for a long period of time.  I didn't realize how much work would need to be done on the farmhouse in order to make it livable.  Some things just don't go as you plan them.  I had a plan for sure.  I had pretty much told God how things should go (at least in my head).  I think, rather obnoxiously, that I should be on God's advisory board sometimes as I would be so much better at running my world.  But things have not gone entirely as I thought and I have had to adjust my expectations.  Actually I've had to completely surrender my expectations.  No, I've had to throw out ALL my expectations.  I haven't stopped praying.  I still pray all the time.  But now I look back and see all that I was being taught, all that I needed to learn.  I can actually see how being completely financially wealthy would be a potential danger for me as I've never been so dependent on God for everything.  A regular source of money can make you start trusting in your bank account and not so much on God.  So I have seen my walk with God improve greatly over the years.

We're still glad that we did all the things we did.  We enjoyed the process of building the house.  We learned so many things.  We love where we live now on the farm so much.  We love the freedom our kids have to play loudly, run far, and have animals.  We could never have been able to do that if we hadn't built the house.  Knowing how hard our kids are on houses, we are so glad we have the old farmhouse now.  As much as I would have loved to stay in the new house, it got a lot of wear and tear in the one year we lived in it.  We need an old building like this one.  My husband is getting a little tired of fixing it, admittedly, and hopefully one day we'll be done.

So, ten years later, ten years old, ten people stronger (well, 2 added to make ten!), ten years of spiritual growth....I'm excited to see what will happen in the next ten years, but what I have now learned is to thank God in advance that I don't know and to thank Him for allowing me to trust Him for all the unknowns, all the good and the potential hard things ahead.  If He chooses to keep us in the exact place we are now, that's fine.  If He chooses to pour blessings, I'll be grateful.  But I've also learned that the blessings are here now and very few of them are monetary.  I see how much we've been blessed and I never would have experienced those blessings if God had answered my original prayer ten years ago.  I'm glad He doesn't answer me the way I ask sometimes.