Sorry, I forgot to post something last week. FULL DISCLOSURE. This particular BLOG was written by me, going on nine years ago now. Looking back, it seems like a lifetime ago. I share it with you now, because it may give you some insight into the man I once was. It brought back many fond memories of my past. Somewhere down the road, I may share others.
Destined for greatness, or headed for mediocrity, only time will tell. Personally, I would settle for something in the middle. I am referring to this blog of course. My days of believing in a personal manifest destiny are long since past. Oh, I was going to rule the world, achieve great things, become rich and famous, and leave my mark on mankind like no other before me. (That train derailed only shortly after leaving the station.) Like Woody Allen said, “If you want to hear God laugh, tell him your plans. Don’t get me wrong. I am in no way suggesting that anyone other than myself is responsible for those particular dreams not coming true. On the contrary, I am rather a pragmatic fellow. So why, you ask, at the ripe old age of 53 did I suddenly channel my inner Thoreau and convince my wife, Jonell, to move to 16 very remote acres where neither electricity nor a cell phone signal could reach? The answer is quite simple really… We were finally ready to start living life a different way. Just a few years prior to the move is when the change started. We had raised two boys who were about to embark on their own journeys, and the lifestyle of being not much more than roommates was beginning to take its toll… enter Lydia! We mutually agreed we were not ready to be empty nesters, so some 10 months later our beautiful daughter Lydia was born! Yes, My wife Jonell was 40 and me 48 at the time so it was a little scary thinking about becoming a daddy and mommy again, especially since our boys were of age to start giving us grandchildren, but there has not been a single regret since that decision. When Lydia was 3 we made our big move. That was two years ago now, and we are still here! Some relatives and friends think us a bit odd for taking such a path, especially because of our beautiful 5-year-old little girl Lydia. But for us, we are as happy as we have ever been in our 20+ years of marriage. What these past two years have taught us is that there is an ever-growing community of people like ourselves that are either yearning to do as we have done or who have already taken the plunge and are seeking like-minded soles. This BLOG will be an effort to unite all such individuals. I couldn’t close this post without bringing it back to God. For it is only through His grace that we are in this place. As the great writer C.S. Lewis once said, “The more we let God take us over, the more truly ourselves we become – because He made us. He invented us. He invented all the different people that you and I were intended to be. It is when I turn to Christ, when I give up myself to His personality, that I first begin to have a real personality of my own. ”God willing, we will continue this journey for many years to come. My hope is that along the way we join forces with many people who like ourselves, want simply, to live simply. Perhaps this is my manifest destiny!
It seems that even then, I was speaking of being on a journey. Looks as if I took the wrong off-ramp. My internal GPS is confused. I keep waiting to hear that voice singing out it’s one-word refrain, “Recalculating! “
So I go back to a pew, preacher, and a choir
Singin’ ’bout God, brimstone, and fire
And the smell of Sunday chicken after church
And I go back to the loss of a real good friend
And the 16 summers I shared with him
Now “Only The Good Die Young” stops me in my tracks
The Handicapprd Homesteader 