Old MacDonald

So this is part prayer request, part ponderance on my part.

Mike and I are looking at houses.  It's time.  I'm sure some of my longer followers remember my first posts about getting a house.  Well, we're back baby!  There's a children's book that my mother used to read me called "It Could Always be Worse".  It's a Jewish proverb about a man who goes to see a rabbi because his house has become too crowded.  One by one, the rabbi instructs the man to bring his farm animals into the house to live with his family.  It gets worse and worse, until the man almost breaks.  Then the rabbi has the man put the animals back in the barn and for the first time in weeks, the family has a peaceful and quiet evening. 

I think this is the story that God has played out in my family life thus far.  We don't have farm animals (we have a cat), but we have 5 children in 900 square feet with 2 bedrooms.  It would be okay as we've given up our room to the girls so that the 3 boys and 2 girls can sleep in separate rooms.  But now that Mike works from home, he has taken over my kitchen during the day (which also doubles as my school room when the fall comes) to conduct his business.  Being confined to the living room (and quiet with my 5 children who are all under 7) during the day has made me want to go visit that rabbi myself!

So this insane idea has popped into my head.  Very soon we will list this tiny gem on the market, and will venture forth into the great unknown.  The market is poor right now.  I understand that we might lose on the house a little bit.  But we need space, and we stand the chance of grabbing that right now, more than ever before. 

CT is an expensive state, the second highest for gas right now.  It's an expensive state to live, much less raise a large family.  But the nature of Mike's business is such that we can't uproot and find our family's means somewhere else.  The economy is such that we recognize Mike's ability to support us with this new business for what it is: a miraculous blessing.

So I thought to myself, in my quest for a house, that I would take whatever God would send, we're not picky.  I told my realtor up front that we'll trade space for upgrades.  And that if the house is small but on a larger chunk of land, that might be okay too.  If we ever wanted to do an addition, it would need the land to afford the zoning for that.  And now is the time to make that kind of investment, if we're ever going to do it.

And then, I started to grow these ideas in my head...What if?  What if I started a small farm on the property?  I've had good luck in the past with a garden.  I owned horses and did 4H when I was a kid.  I've "worked the land" as any decent Connecticutan can claim to have done.  And besides a farm offers so many benefits - ESPECIALLY with a large family.  And as I look out over our national horizon, I'm thinking now is more the time than ever to try and become self-sufficient.

But that's where my encouragement ends.  I have to will myself now to get outside and mow the lawn, and tend to our pool.  I still have yet to weed my flower beds, and if it weren't for the showings, that project might not get done this year.  I don't know if its because my heart has given up on this temporary dwelling, and I'm in a passive sit out on this place, or if its because...I'm not meant to be a farmer...

In theory, I know what it entails.  But in theory, I know what it rewards.  In one word: Independence.

Pray for me, and please if you have advice share?  I'm seriously considering this next step and would love whatever light in the dark you may be able to shine my way?