Dedicated to Dedicating

Today I'm letting my 16 year old "sleep in"....until 7:30.  Normally, he's been getting up at 5:30 each morning.  I get up at 5 (or earlier if it's a co-op day), just so I can get my coffee in and reading.  A couple of weeks ago we started a new habit - going to the gym.  I've been working out at home for years since we stopped going to the Y in Oakville 3 kids ago.  Since then it has never been a possibility.  The older boys all got memberships and I just couldn't see how I could fit it into my day or the cost,  but now I've made it a priority and we're trusting God to provide as I attempt good health!  It's also been a fun way to hang out with J every morning.

The gym is really close, but it's enough time to hang out for a few minutes there and back as I drive him to school afterwards as well.  Teen boys are challenging enough, and he's already not much of a talker, so I have to really work at it.  I'm grateful for this unique time in our lives.

We continue to marvel at how God has provided for us as the weather has turned colder.  October was amazing weather and we saw regular customers almost daily.  November was ok for a bit, but then slowed right down.  However, RM came up with a plan by doing these stained glass classes and they are a hit.  The one-day classes for Christmas ornaments filled up almost right away and the other classes get daily sign ups.  This brings immediate income and also potentially more as each customer potentially buys wine from us when they come.  I'm praying one or more of the customers will also consider using us as their corporate wine gift this Christmas.

Last night RM said he never would have imagined that he'd be making money from stained glass, yet there he is.  So amazing.  Such an answer to prayer.  Also, when it got colder, we were both wondering how we'd get people to come by and suddenly the hay sales started up again.  What hay?  Hay from 2 summers ago that we couldn't sell!  What if we'd sold it then?  We had been worried that it wasn't going to sell and that we'd get stuck with all this hay, but now, of course, we see how God knew we would need that hay to be available for sale right now.  So when the wine sales went down, the hay sales miraculously went up!  It's been amazing to watch how food keeps going in the fridge and how there's money to pay for it without a cheque from the college.  We still can't believe it.

Nearly every night we watch Airstream renovation videos.  I find them very boring, but my husband eats them up.  My 16 year old who initially didn't seem interested starting watching them, too, and now I'm praying this project will give him new skills.

I keep reading through 2 Chronicles.  It follows our whole life story.  David helped his son prepare for the temple building, got all the supplies, rejoiced at the willingness of the people and had a bit of a pre-grand opening celebration.  After he died, Solomon called everyone together, worshiped in preparation of the build, asked for wisdom, started up some businesses, got some skilled men and the building was complete in 3 chapters.  Then, he, too, had a Grand Opening/Dedication celebration.  I had never noticed these verses before because I had never had a Grand Opening, but now I'm noticing because of the place in our lives.  Solomon then gathered his assembly, which I always read as "his family", the Israelites, and he had a worship time, of "praise and thanksgiving to the Lord" saying, "for he is good. for his steadfast love endures forever".  And the "house, the house of the Lord (I really love that it is included what kind of house) was filled with a cloud, so that the priest could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God".  This is my prayer.  I just want the glory of the Lord to fill our house, our property, our businesses and that it'll be obvious to everyone - like a cloud.  We've actually had fog here recently so thick you can't see a few feet in front of you.  That's what I'm talking about.

Then Solomon kept going and stood on a platform he had built.  He "spread out his hands" and "then he knelt on his knees in the presence of all the assembly and spread out his hands towards heaven" and prayed a prayer of dedication, speaking of who God is, "God of Israel".  He says, maybe to remind those listening, "there is no God like you, in heaven or earth, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart....."  Isn't that what we feel, too?  We say out loud, "You are the God who keeps His promises to us, showing constant steadfast love."  He adds this condition, "if only your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk in my law as you have walked before me."  So, what could I do, except respond the same way?

I only have the 3 youngest with me now at home - SO WEIRD - I said to them, "Let's do the same thing!"  I'm sure my kids had a core memory made that day.  We all got on our knees, spread out our hands towards heaven and then we all prayed a prayer of dedication, dedicating our lives, ourselves, our businesses, the winery, the stained glass, the AirBnBs, the farm, our homeschool, everything.  It was actually kind of special.  Our arms were sore afterwards, even though we only prayed for a couple minutes.  How did Solomon pray for a whole chapter!

We chatted last night about it and decided we should probably do that again with the whole family, having a prayer of dedication for all these things, but really we are doing this every day.

I'm still marveling at all that God is doing in our kids' lives.  My son, who waited so long for a job, is now loving his new job working as a tech in the eye surgeon's clinic.  After years of working in the winter in a wetsuit in the water with whales in below zero weather, he's sooooooo happy to be warm, talking with senior citizens, taking their eye measurements, just loving his life.  He got another mark back yesterday on a different exam and he scored in the highest quartile, so he has a better chance at med school this year.....but we won't hold our breath just yet.  He'll hear in January if he gets an interview.  It's coming up!  I'm just grateful he's finally getting a break after struggling so much.  

We also have comic relief back in our life with two cats in our home.  They chase each other all day and we laugh and laugh.  One is getting neutered today so he won't be laughing much today, but it is a funny life.

The winery still demands our time and it is getting cold - so much still left to do and I feel like spring is around the corner!  Time won't slow down!

Parents and brother/sister-in-law are moving very soon out our way - it's just such a busy time!  But so fun and fulfilling.  Thanking God for his steadfast love to us.

Solomon - the Epic Entrepreneur

Two days ago, our first trailer, meaning more are coming, pulled into our driveway.  It's big!  31 ft.!  Last night we had an Airstream Marathon where we watched multiple videos of the transformation of several online just to give the kids a vision of victory.  We want them to see that we aren't the only ones out there who do stuff like this.  We watched one family in particular that even started their own Airstream renovation business, so who knows where this will go.

Normally we have a mild freak out where we think to ourselves "what have we done?"  followed by more panic, dread, fear and all those awful feelings that make you feel crazy, but this time we were mostly excited and wishing we could start right away.  We have no time to waste.  Winter is coming, although yesterday was 21 degrees which was almost hot, like a summer day.  So if winter is going to be mild like that, we might just get it done sooner than we think.  It looks like the second one will arrive this week sometime and then we're going to get started soon after that.  We really want to have multiple sites on the farm, all facing the sunset which is amazing here.  I often wished we had lived on the opposite side of the road as you can have a view of the lake, but now I'm so glad we're on this side.

We often call our ideas "crazy", but this week my husband said, "We have to stop saying that" and he's right.  We are now saying that our ideas are God-given and they are.  I was reading this week in 2 Chronicles chapter one about Solomon.  1 Chronicles ended with David dying, full of days, which sounded so positive even though the last half of his life had so much misery.  It gave me the sense that even with the misery, God had redeemed his bad choices, his trouble with his children and turned it for good in the end.  There were also Grand Opening celebrations as they anticipated the start of the building of the temple.  Then chapter one starts with Solomon as the new king.  Instead of going right into building he goes right into worship.  He gathers his assembly and it says he goes intentionally to worship God as his first act of worship.  He extravagantly sacrifices 1000 burnt offerings.  One commentary says that he does this to show how rich he is but to also show how much he wants to show everyone that it all comes from God.  The next scene is where God says to him in the night, "What do you want?"  Instead of asking for wealth or long life, he famously asks for wisdom.  This response pleases God and he is given wisdom as well as much wealth, fame and much  more.  I think everyone assumes that he automatically got money deposited in his account, but the next scene seems to reveal how it came about and this is where I was so excited and encouraged by what I read, the morning the Airstream was arriving.

This next scene then starts talking about all the things Solomon starts doing and, to me anyway, they sound a lot like entrepreneurial businesses.  He starts dealing with chariots and horsemen, silver and gold, as well as cedar.  He then starts importing horses from Egypt where his "horse traders" would "buy them from Kue for a price".  This was where I started getting excited as I read these verses.  Solomon was acting unusally clever and taking initiative in his businesses.  It went on...."They imported a chariot from Egypt....and a horse....."  So now he's importing horses and chariots - so interesting....Next it says, "Likewise - meaning, in addition to all these other things he was doing he also did this - through them these were exported to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Syria." So cool - so he had a horse and chariot import/export business.  This just means so many other things.  He, therefore, must have had a horse breeding business as well as a chariot manufacturing business and all the trades involved with that.  And these would have been very important for war, so all the kings would have needed them.  He was a genius!  Or was he.....maybe this is the very way God answered his prayers, by giving Solomon these amazing answers to prayer, these amazing ideas.  Instead of dumping money in his account he gave him ideas!  Wisdom!  So exciting.  This is why we are no longer saying to each other or anyone else for that matter, "we're crazy".  No, we're not.  We're just thanking God for the ideas he gives us, the ability to carry out the ideas, the resources we have, the access to land.  God has placed us exactly where He wants us and we're just thanking God every day for placing us between Hittite kings and Syrian kings who will buy our horses and chariots that we are now making, such as Airstreams, wine, stained glass, etc.  Even yesterday, we prayed that we would have many wine sales, yet the income we made yesterday came from stained glass sales.  We did sell wine as it was a beautiful day, but we sold more in glass, equipment, and course related sales than we did in wine.  That was another genius idea RM had when he started the courses.  He had the foresight to realize his students would need tools and equipment, so he set up a "store" in the studio and unbelievably people buy from him because they are right there and he can direct them to what they need instead of them going to a different supplier.  It was "genius" except he can't take the credit - the ideas all come from God.  This is why we are going to church today again - to worship and sacrifice our 1000 burnt offerings, to thank Him for what he's doing in our lives.  We're just so excited.   

I'm fairly certain God showed me these verses for a reason on Friday.  If I had read them a year ago I don't think I would have been impacted by them in the same way.  It was so neat to read them "by coincidence" on the day the trailer was pulling in.  I think, ultimately, this was how Solomon was made wealthy, through work, through his visioning, through multiple businesses and, of course, all these ideas were from God.  Amazing.

Grand Opening Success and Now More Schemes

What a grand Grand Opening!  We sold out all the tickets we had and it turned into an absolutely perfect sunny day.  My sisters saved the day with helping out with bb'qing and serving food and we managed to feed 100 people without skipping a beat.  I think it came together just beautifully.  I think my favourite part was the last minute "merch" that came in.  We waaaaay overspent to have that happen, but we thought it was worth it.  Every member of the family got a hoodie and it looked awesome.  I loved seeing every kid from the youngest to the oldest walking around with their Urban Tractor Farm hoodie.  Having everyone involved and having their friends involved was amazing.  It was a blessed time.

You would think we'd sit back and go, "Ahhhhhh, finally a break!"  But, no. We're already scheming.  We have to!  The grand opening was great, but it wasn't free.  We had to pay for the musician and all the food and even though people bought wine, it wasn't enough to feed the family for very long.  So, after much thought and much input from multiple sources of people, we decided to move forward into our newest venture - starting up an AirBnB on site. Or two.  

Yesterday, we made the first investment and bought an  Airstream trailer.  These are super cool vintage trailers from the 60s that are the hottest thing right now  Everyone is buying them and redoing them in super cool modern styles.  They also double as tiny homes and resell at incredible prices.  We are also doing this as a way to host my daughter and her husband when they come over, or as a way to possibly host grandparents one day or even just extra guests who need a place to stay sometimes.  Either way, if we get it done in time, we should be up and running by spring if all goes as planned.  Depending on how fast it goes, we could ultimately have two or three if we do well with our first trailer, which is arriving ON FRIDAY!  It's already gutted, so that'll save us some time, but there's still lots of hard work ahead.

We got a really good deal on this trailer and we can't wait to get started.  We're going to document the process so that we can get the hype working for us.  The hope is that it'll be fully booked all spring and summer.  So fun!  It'll feel like we're making money in our sleep, literally, while people stay on the property.  We just have to keep at it.  There's no slowing down.  The difference before this was that we were doing all this scheming but somehow still had to manage meetings, phone calls, on-site work, etc. Now, we just work for us, so it's still a lot of work, but there's this underlying feeling of freedom.  So hard to explain, but we just love it.

It's forcing our hand again.  We have a shed full of stuff we want to get rid of so that we have a place to store the trailer.  Now, ugh, we have to clean out the shed.  This is no garden shed for lawn mowers.  This is a HUGE building full of things we've stored for years including vans, cars, riding mowers, etc.  Most of that is gone now, but we still have lots of stuff in it.  So here we go again on the ultimate clean up.  I really think our life is reality tv worthy sometimes.  It's hard to keep up with all that's going on.  People just shake their heads, but they don't know what it's like to feed a large family and keep a farm running.  

We had quite a few people from the Toronto area recently at the winery.  They came from the exact area we used to live when we were first married in a condo in downtown Mississauga.  They wondered how in the world we went from condo living to a 47 acre farm.  So I told them our story in a few brief minutes.  In their minds, we were living the dream.  I have to always let that sink in because I look around always see what "isn't done" instead of what "is done".  This is what we've had to do - we've had to prioritize things that make us an income.  This has put all renovations on the house indoors on hold.  That remains to be a challenge for me.  But I get it.  So when I hear we're living the dream, in a funny way that helps me.  All that to say, hopefully things like the trailer will bring the necessary income to not only feed the family, but to start up the renos again that have been on hold for what seems like years!

In great news - our son finally got a job at the eye doctor's clinic.  This is a dream job as he's working with a world class surgeon, assessing his patients and being alongside him in his work.  I'm so happy for him.  I can't wait to hear the back story of how they decided to hire him.  I'm sure it's going to be great.  Of all the jobs he applied to, this one was the one we all hoped for, so I'm praising God.

We also had a week off school this past week.  I needed that so badly to help set up for the Grand Opening, but also just to clean up the house that has been neglected since the farming season started.  I went through all the bedrooms yesterday and we finally got on top of those.  The main floor has been mostly cleaned up.  Laundry has been behind, so not doing so great on that, but hopefully getting on top of that, too.  Today is my final day for all that.  I could have used two weeks off, but oh well, back to the grind now....

My Whole House is Outside - and the significance of Grand Openings

I have a friend who recently moved away.  She was my go-to friend if I needed help decorating for an event or for ideas if I was hosting a shower....I could call her and she would show up and the place would turn into the coolest looking space.  But then she moved.  Why would she do that and leave me on my own???  

Now we're hosting this Grand Opening.  So funny.  Still can't believe we're doing this.  I wanted to buy all sorts of decorations.  I wanted to make it super "Grand Opening-y", but I wasn't sure how.  I wasn't sure how to do that cheaply and yet make it super cool.  I wanted my friend to help me.  But she moved.  So then, as I thought and thought about it, I don't know if I prayed about it, all of a sudden these ideas kept popping in to my head.  It was as if my friend was telling me what to do!  I ignored them at first.  They were crazy thoughts and each thought seemed impossible.  Too much work.  I could never get everyone on board, but then I finally decided to just see if I could pull it off and I went for it.

In my head, I kept hearing, "Take it all outside".  First thing I thought of were the tables.  That would be cool.  Then, the chairs for the tables.  Ok....and then I heard, the leather chairs, all  of our single-seat upholstered chairs.  Next, all the vine balls and trees throughout the entire house.  Oh, and all the crates, candle holders, and anything that looked farm-y like our window frames and antiques laying around.  I would also need a dozen hay bales and pumpkins.  That wouldn't be a problem.  My husband bought 100 pumpkins a few weeks ago, so we had lots of those.

Then, I went to work.  I had all the kids go get all those crazy things and bring them to me outside and then I just started running around the farm, decorating every nook and corner creating "vignettes" of farm life.  It is hard to decorate the outdoors!  In a house you have a small enclosed space with defined walls and ceilings, but the outdoors?  How do you decorate the outdoors?!  But, I'm convinced God used that voice in my head and directed me on how to do it.  And I cannot say it enough - it looks amazing!!!!  Instead of walls to lean things against, I used giant hay bales in our maze or the farm gate.  Instead of area rugs, I used grass and I positioned all our soft chairs in a cozy seating arrangement for the seniors coming tomorrow.  Instead of lighting, I used the sky and place dall our tables (I didn't know we had so many) and made it like a restaurant, but instead of a couple feet apart there's lots of distance so my "restaurant" is soooo spacious and yet still so inviting!

I wanted people who had been here many times to see that it wasn't our regular space.  I wanted it to look like it wasn't Dollar Store decorations, though I have balloons from there still coming.  I wanted it to look like you had come to my house, but instead of coming in, you would be outside.  Well, the irony is, that it is my house, just OUTSIDE!  It is amazing.  I don't know how it all came together, but I give all the glory to God who somehow placed it in my head to think like my friend.  

We had Harvest Host people come last night while I was in the middle of setting it all up.  The couple just loved it.  As she started to see what I was doing she just went on and on telling me how amazing the atmosphere was, or as my kids say, "she loved the vibe".  I love the vibe!  And it was free!  I just had to move my indoors outdoors!  The only problem now is that my house looks awful now inside and the dust bunnies have now shown themselves.  I guess it was time for a good dusting anyway.  And, sadly, everything will have to go back in as rain is coming next week.  The other amazing thing is that no rain is in the forecast, so I was able to put it all out knowing it wouldn't rain all over the upholstered chairs.  I'm just so happy.

I've said this before, but I just see how God loves me when He speaks my language.  I know decorations don't matter, or do they?  Isn't it a way God helped me?  Isn't it a way that God reminded me of my friendship with this special lady?  I think so.  I didn't have to hire someone - I wanted to!  I didn't have to get a special events planner.  I wanted to!  It doesn't look Dollar Store-y - it looks amazing!  I always wish my husband would give me everything I want, like an unlimited decorating budget, but when he doesn't, oddly, I find myself forced to stretch, forced to grow and then, the amazing thing that happens is that I find I have abilities and skills I didn't know I had!  

Grand Openings are for the birds.  They're hard.  Starting new businesses. Also - for the birds.  Yet, the whole experience keeps opening new doors, keeps stretching us way beyond what we thought we could do and it keeps showing us we can do more than we ever thought.  By God's grace, we are more capable than we give ourselves credit for and, also by God's grace, He keeps supplying our every need, even decorating ideas.

Do I want to host a Grand Opening every weekend?  No.  I don't.  But what I like about it is that it shakes things up a bit.  I get super bored keeping my furniture the same way all the time.  I had actually just finished rearranging things in our home just last week.  I do that all the time, so this is just rearranging furniture again, but on a whole other scale.  My kids complained, at least a couple of them, the whole time.  It was like pulling teeth, but then when it was all done, I think they liked it.  So, maybe I'm a little crazy, but it could just be that they appreciate that part of their mom.  One said, "Whose parents do this?  Whose parents start wineries?  Whose parents take all their furniture outside?"  I have to admit, I don't know.  Just us, I guess.  Sorry!

But, as I spoke with our guests yesterday, they were super encouraging as they heard our story and it was fun to retell it as I do almost every time we have someone come by.  And each time I tell it, I marvel at our new freedom.  We wake up each day pinching ourselves that we can make an income off our farm.  It goes back to the sound of "marching in the trees".  We were told to quit when we heard that sound.  And, as I walked around the farm that day praying "should we quit?"  I felt the breeze in my face and I looked around the land, felt the land under my feet and I thought to myself - this is the sound of marching in the trees - we have land in Niagara!  We can make the land work for us!  I didn't know how, but I knew we could figure it out.  And, one thing people keep saying as they come to our farm is, "you're going to be ok, you'll do fine, you've got this" and I'm starting to believe them.  I think we'll make it!

Grand Openings don't sound Biblical, yet they are in Scripture!  King David wanted a Grand Opening.  He wanted to be the guy who built a house for God, but he wasn't allowed.  It was going to be his son instead.  But he thought to himself, "Ok, I can't build the house, but I'll do everything in my power to help my son build it".  He brought every single thing he could think of so his son would be prepared. He also asked everyone who was willing and able to offer their skills and freewill offerings.  Everyone did.  Everyone helped.  Everyone used their skills.  Then, when everyone had brought their gifts and saw all that had been accomplished, they all sat back and rejoiced.  1 Chronicles 29 says, "Then the people rejoiced because they had given willingly, for with a whole heart they had offered freely to the Lord. David the king also rejoiced greatly."

David then praises and thanks God because he knows where everything comes from and who should get the glory, "But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able thus to offer willingly? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you....O Lord our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a house for your holy name comes from your hand and is all your own."  Only God, he's saying.  Only God.  Yet, God uses people and, in our case, our family.  The kids have literally used their skills and their time - freely.  We don't pay our kids.  We speak of an inheritance, but we don't pay them.  We do a lot of bribing with Mcdonald's and ice-cream or gas and coffee money, but no one gets an hourly wage.  So, we say, along with David, "and now I have seen your people, who are present here, offering freely and joyously to you."  Freely is the key word here.  Joyously?  Not always, but they are willing and they see the big picture.  I'm so grateful for that.

Today our official "merch" should arrive.  We will be celebrating with its arrival as it means something.  We're official.  And we will give thanks.  David offered sacrifices on the altars.  We won't be offering any animal sacrifices, except bbq'd sausages, but we'll be thanking God for sure.  And that is why I think the Grand Opening is so significant.  We're celebrating God's goodness to us.  We're celebrating the work of our family.  We're  celebrating all the preparations that went in to getting us this far.  David got it.  Verse 22 puts it this way, "And they ate and drank before the Lord on that day with great gladness."  That's exactly what Saturday will mean for us.  We will eat and drink with great gladness and it'll be so fun.  

Favourite Day Ever - the power of family

Yesterday has to go down as one of my favourite days ever.  First, back story. We often do this to ourselves - we create an impossible deadline and then we have to scramble to meet it.  This Grand Opening is a perfect example of impossible deadline.  Not enough time.  Not enough resources.  Too much to do.  Oh well, let's do it anyway.  Sure, why not.  Hey kids, we just booked a Grand Opening date.  All in?  Uh, what?!  But, Lord bless them, they're all in.  

One of the many things we had to do was get the bottom of the barn cleaned up.  I wish I could explain the bottom of the barn.  We are super amazing at moving junk around on our farm.  That's how we clean up.  We take it from one building and just put it in another because that's sometimes faster than removing it right away.  So bad.  When we cleaned out the building for the wine cellar we moved it to the other side of the shop.  Then, when we wanted to clean out the shop for the stained glass studio, we moved it to the bottom of the barn.  Now, we are cleaning out the bottom of the barn, we have no where to put it!  So we've forced our hand which is why it was my favourite day ever.  We were finally getting rid of stuff that I've wanted to get rid of FOREVER.  It's not quite done, but it's way better than it was before.  And the BEST part was we did it all together.  It was an eternal moment for me all day long.  I couldn't have been happier. I felt like I was in a dream.  As upset as my son is who still doesn't have a job, I was so grateful to have him home.  We're still praying for the miracle job, it hasn't happened yet.  My other son and daughter are on reading week.  That is another miracle from this week. We didn't plan that when we booked the event.  We should have planned it around that, but by God's grace we were given that miracle.  In fact, I'm even on reading week this week from my "school".  So all of us were down there getting black lung from all the dust, but I was totally loving it.  My husband was home since he has no job, my 3 oldest sons, my daughter and myself (the little guys were laying on couches sick with colds, sadly) and we were killing it in the barn.  The music was blaring, stuff was moving out of there and it was getting better and better by the minute.  It was like it used to be when the kids were young.  We all had a goal in mind and together we were getting it done.  It felt so good.  So, a favourite day because the property was getting cleaned up and also because we were accomplishing so much, having a fun time and it was as a family.  I was just thanking God all day.

Will we get it all done in time?  I sure hope so!  Only a few days left and lots still to do.....

The Numbers Speak!

This past weekend was record-breaking - still can't believe it!  I can't believe people pull up, get out of their cars as if they are at a winery or something, walk over and expect a tasting or a glass of wine.  I can't believe they want to come.  I can't believe they enjoy our wine.  I can't believe they've heard of us or that they've seen or read reviews about us.  I can't believe they chose to come to our winery.  It is mind-boggling!  

We ran the numbers last night and discovered what we had thought, that over time since we opened at the trailer in July, we have definitely seen the visitor numbers go up, the sales go up, the interest go up.  In July we had a few on the weekend and then we'd be closed during the week, but then after a few weeks of that and great weather, we thought, why not just keep it open all week and see if people come in?  Well, they did.  Slowly, but surely, a trickle of people, one here, two there, would pop in.  Then in August there were more, but still there were a few days when no one would show up if it was cold and rainy. By September we had people for sure every weekend and then by October, every weekend was steady and we almost always had people all through the week.  What we DIDN'T expect was to see that FIVE TIMES the number of sales had occurred since we started!!!  That's a 500% increase!  We were so amazed and thanking God for His goodness and faithfulness to us.

The stained glass classes have been great and people are enjoying them.  Sales for the Grand Opening are amazingly happening and we expect to have a great day.  We're now looking into having and Air BnB (or two) going by next Spring on the property.  And maybe even a food truck!  So, lots is happening and all because RM quit his job.  It's so wonderful to have the freedom to do all these things.  We HAVE to do all these things.  We CAN'T NOT do all these things.  We are paying our bills, but we have so many repairs and things on our current house that need to be done that we need to make more in order to get those things done, so we have to keep coming up with crazy ideas.  And, amazingly, we have an endless amount of crazy ideas.  Our poor children.

I have to wake them up because today we have to clean out the bottom of the barn....so much to do!!!!

A Snapshot of Life

Over the years I've started many posts with this phrase, "What a week!"  I think having so many people in the family is why that phrase gets used so much.  We have 9 living here now and those 9 lives represent a LOT of life.  That's not even including my daughter and her husband's life and now baby to come!  With my older son alone, who has been looking for a job for months now, we have been praying, watching, waiting and seeking jobs alongside him.  He's gone through the depths of discouragement where he literally says, "I hate my life" to moments of hope where he gets an encouraging tip or meets a person who prays for him.  I have to admit, though I am his biggest cheerleader, I've also had moments where I ask God, "Why? Why aren't you helping him?"  But there's always this thought in the back of my mind, "Thank me.  Thank me for even what you don't know."  So, by faith, I always stop and try to thank God for his unemployment.  Then I've seen almost right away all the ways he has helped me or my husband and all the ways we couldn't have accomplished what we needed to do if he hadn't been around during the harvest season as he's so strong and he's helped my husband so much.  

He could have had a job this summer, but he quit to write the MCAT for the THIRD TIME. Writing it once would have killed most people, but three times he's written it now.  He tried to have a job and study the first summer, but that made him very sick because of the stress, so the last two summers he's studied full time and then written it.  He went back to work last year after the MCAT, but this time he knew he had to quit working at Marineland and get more experience in the medical field in order to get in to med school.  He's applied to over 40 positions.  It just makes no sense, but again, there's this nagging feeling that maybe just maybe God is purposely testing him, keeping him humble, always trying to show him He has something better than we could ask or imagine and that He's ON PURPOSE keeping his resume from the eyes of certain employers so that he doesn't get the jobs he's applied to.  

Finally this week he had an interview at an ophthalmologist's office.  Tomorrow he'll get his final interview where he meets the surgeon.  This job is ideal.  My son is pinching himself if it works out.  First of all it's close.  That matters these days with gas prices.  Also, it's in a doctor's office where he would be alongside a highly respected doctor in Canada who is one of a couple doctors who performs certain surgeries.  This doctor apparently is amazing to work for, loves to train and mentor his employees and is just a good guy it seems.  My son came back from his first interview and was so excited about the opportunities this job would give him.  The techs who interviewed him said this guy will get him into med school.  Well, we'll see about that, but it sure gave him hope!  They were fascinated by my son's experience in Africa alongside a doctor who did eye surgeries in the bush.  Looking back, of course, you can see how God prepared my son for a job like this.  I just love how you never know why you do certain things and then you see later how they all come together.  So, we'll hopefully know tomorrow if he gets this job.  I'm already praising God, but I have to wait for official word.

That same son, in the name of getting volunteer experience, has started coaching basketball at a local church.  This is hilarious as he's not a basketball player, but because he's 6 ft. tall and the kids he's coaching are 8, he appears to be an expert.  There were no spots for my 12 year old son as they had no programs for his age, but miraculously, they said, "Just bring him!  He can help coach!" What?!  I couldn't believe it.  He now goes in with my older son each week and helps "coach".  This is also truly hilarious as he's no expert, but this is the BEST thing for him, getting him out, helping younger kids, giving him responsibility.  I just love how God has my kids in the palm of his hand and is literally guiding them each day and putting things in front of them I could NEVER have planned.

Back to job hunting and that full day....My other son, who is 16, got a job on the same day as my older son's interview.  He's also been looking for work.  We don't like sending our kids to "regular" jobs.  There are certain environments that are so toxic and dangerous.  We also love sending our kids together, which isn't always easy.  But this time, it worked out really well.  My older daughter works at a bakery/cafe where she works for a Christian family who run a business together.  My daughter has been watching how they do things and has been very impressed with their success.  I kept saying, "Could J work there, too?"  Well, now it has worked out.  My son was interviewed last week and then they asked him to come in tomorrow and possibly Saturday.  Again, looking back, it's amazing to see how my son was prepared.  At camp this summer we volunteered in the kitchen together and he prepared all sorts of food alongside me.  If he had had his way, he NEVER would have gone and he was so socially anxious that he HATED his first few days there, but I saw it as a spiritual battle that had to be won, so I persisted in the darkest of times and by God's grace, we made it through and my son thrived.  That experience is what got him the job I'm convinced as he learned to work under someone else's direction not just mine.  And, the best part is, he will be with his sister, working together at times, driving in together, maybe even being trained by her.  I look up at heaven and just say, "Thank you!"

That's just two kids.  I'm telling you, I could go on and on...

RM and I see God's hand in just about every person who comes to our trailer.  We had a discouraging day a couple days ago, the first day in weeks where we didn't get anyone coming by to buy wine.  But that same day we sold our Pilot, the vehicle that had been sitting on the property for nearly 3 years just taking up space.  Out of the blue my husband saw on Instagram an ad saying "We'll buy your junk cars".  He applied online and the next thing you know someone was here buying it for more than we'd ever been offered before.  It'll be picked up today or tomorrow and we already have the cash.  We feel like we are slowly, with God's amazing help, getting the clutter off the property.  It feels like we are going from one broken down space to another and making it great.  The stained glass studio is an example.  I never thought I'd see the day that that was done.  It's a whole new space!  The shed where the truck was parked is going to be great, too, and that's where the winery making equipment will ultimately go.  It's all happening so fast.

At the end of the day, we still try to sit around and debrief.  We always say, "Come and sit for 5 minutes please", but it always turns into an hour long discussion.  This week it's been all about the Grand Opening.  Our kids shake their heads at what we take on, but this week another lady came by and I always ask where the people come from.  She said she used to live around the corner and then mentioned the name of a local winery.  That winery is beautiful and super successful and I couldn't understand why she would have left it and moved away!  But she said, "Oh, I didn't live there when it looked like what it looks like now.  I was only a teen.  If I'd only known what I could've had!"  That really hit me.  We talk about selling every day.  Sometimes seriously as it's so much work to live here.  Sometimes in jest as we just want a vacation.  But then I picture my kids driving by when they're 40 and seeing what someone else managed to do with our farm, rebuilding it, making it beautiful and I don't want them to drive by and say, "That's our farm?  That beautiful place was where we used to live?  I had no idea it could look like that! I wish we'd never left."  So, we asked them yesterday to once again, hang in there.  We have a vision of victory!  We are doing everything we can to make it beautiful and it is coming along, it's taking time, but it's happening.  

So much to do before our Grand opening, so we will be scrambling, but we had to make a date.  We had to force ourselves, otherwise it never would have happened.  I'm curious how it will all come together, but when I see what God has already done, I'm sure He'll be in this, too!