Soooo close!!!-(Ecclesiastes 5:3)

It's feels as if we have been in a wind tunnel this month, but that is so much better than being stagnant!!!!  

• We have countertops!!!!  
• We have doors!!!  
• We have more painting to do😞😂!!  
• We got chickens!
• We have a pull out pantry 
• The screened porch is finished
• We have landscaping
• We sold our Hartselle House
• My niece graduated from High School
• My nephew graduated from collage
• Paul & I celebrated our 7th Anniversary
• SCHOOL LET OUT FOR SUMMER!!!!

The House

We have been sourcing people out in Hartselle that are willing to go to Columbia.  Our countertops came from Armando Delatorro in Hartselle.  We have a quote from a Hartselle person to finish & repair floors also.  Floors are the next big item to mark off our list.  Finishing the floors will really make us feel like it is all coming together.   We are currently looking for someone to do some tile work in the master bathroom.   

Paul has been busy as usual.  He has installed all the doors upstairs and has begun trimming out the doors and windows upstairs too.  He is a really good trimmer!!!

He has shiplapped the sink wall in the kitchen and the area above our fireplace.  It looks really good and just needs a coat of paint.  

He has begun stacking rock around the front porch.  It looks so good and I can't wait for him to get that completed.  

He finished screening the screen porch.  The screen porch has an access panel to the cellar.  I sanded, stained, and varnished the panel and Paul put hinges on it.  He got the bed swing hung.  I found some old antique rockers and a side table to set across from the swing.  I plan to make a cover for the swing mattress with the bedspread I used at the Hartselle house.  Hopefully, there will be enough to make more pillows too.  

I started kiltzing the stairwell.  I think we have decided the old sheathing is just not going to look good for the most part.  I have suggested hanging shiplap vertically and then doing a chair rail level with the first landing and leaving the original sheathing below the chair rail.  I am waiting for the verdict from my carpenter....AKA Paul.  He tends to think on things a little longer than I like.😂

Memorial Day weekend we decided to do some fun work instead of the things we should have been doing inside.  

We worked on landscaping around the house, trimmed up bushes and set out a bunch of trees.  We planted 8 maples lining our driveway.  Once again, we are trying to create a screen  of trees from the road that is in front of the barn.  

We set out 18 white pines and 14 magnolias!!  

Paul stacked rock around the pond and added a fountain.  His plan is to make a waterfall into the pond.  We bought some Hyacinth and algae eaters for the pond also.  The Hyacinth really helps to keep the water cleaner.  

After almost a year, our pull-out pantry finally arrived.  We, meaning Paul, just have to get it installed and fill that big empty hole in the cabinets!!😂. 

Paul also built a trellis.  At some point, there will be a black 4 rail fence that will separate the backyard from what we are calling "The Orchard."  We have muscadine vines (or could be grapes),  plum trees, peach trees, and blackberry vines, which were already established when we bought the place.  The chicken coop is in that area and Paul wants to build a green house back there as well.  The gate between the trellis was one we found on the property, hidden between over grown bushes.  I spray painted the gate and hardware for the latch.  Paul says the trellis needs to be stained, so I will work on that this summer.

While Paul has been working on the farmhouse, I have been busy trying to sale the Hartselle House.  If nothing falls through we are set to close on June 3rd.  Brantlee and I will be officially homeless in Alabama.  I will keep teaching in Alabama, but we are getting Brantlee ready to start school in Tennessee. Please pray with us that all goes well for her.  This is a big transition for her and myself.  I pray that she adjusts well and makes lifelong christian friends that will encourage her and lead her closer to God.

The Animals

Our sweet little PJ is doing really well.  He just seemed to snap out of it once he could get up on his own.  Then the unbelievable happened.  He started nursing his mom for the first time at 3 weeks old!!!  He has defied what everyone told us!!  There is power in prayers!!!!  I was out there working with him one day, wishing he could get up and run away from me...like the other calves do🙄.  Well, that wish came true.  He once would follow and run to Paul & myself, but now if we get within 6 feet of him he runs the opposite direction!!!  Little Stinker...so unappreciative😂!!!

In April, Paul and I went to Clarksville, TN to pick up 6 little silkie chicks.  They are so cute!! Not sure if they are hens or roosters, but hoping for mostly hens!!  Just yesterday, we heard a faint crow from one of them.  We couldn't figure out which one did it, but we are sure one is a rooster!!  They have been living with me in Hartselle, but have been my traveling companions on occasion to TN.  We have more chicks that are being ship on June 20th (different breeds) from Mypetchicken.com.  I can't wait for them to get here!!  They are so much fun to watch.  My family makes fun of me because I sit outside and just watch them from time to time!!😂

The donkey's were past due for hoof trimming.  So, we got that all taken care of today and they did really good...after we got them in stalls!!  I am so glad the cows are not as difficult as those donkeys are!!!  They are sweethearts until you want them to do something.  Cows will do anything and go anywhere for food.  The donkeys literally stop and consider all the possible scenarios that could happen before they do anything!!!!

The Conclusion

When Paul and I married we began talking about our future.  The though of having land and animals was my dream.  Paul's dream was to have rolling land with a creek, old farmhouse and  an old barn...His dreams are always very specific😂. In the beginning, when we were making plans, it was so easy to feel excited and enthusiastic about the process.  But those feelings faded overtime, especially when it took   more effort, became inconvenient, uncomfortable and costly.  I doubted if our dream was really God's Will and wondered if we should just abort our dream...many times.  The one thing that kept us going was that giving up didn't feel like an option.  Although at that particular time, that is exactly what I wanted to do.  Through this process I have learn to: 

1. Pray!!--Talk to God about it everyday.  The enemy wants to destroy the dreams and plans God has in store for us
2. Expect it to happen, envision it coming to fruition, and trust God to do only what God can do
3. Choose to have a good attitude.  I struggle with this A LOT.  If it's out of my control and I can't do anything about it, then I need to be praying about it.  The song lyric that always comes to my mind when I am battling this is:  "So when I fight, I'll fight on my knees, With my hands lifted high, Oh God, the battle belongs to You". (by Phil Wickham)
4. Give it up. I am selfish and I have to give up my plan, my way, my timing, my need to control it and my need to be right. I have to trust that if things don't go the way I envision, it will still be okay. God is in control. Surrendering to Jesus is the safest bet.

As we continue to work on our dream, God is working on me (🎶to make me what I ought to be🎵)  It's encouraging to know God's help and power is not dependent on me always getting it right or falling short. God wants me to trust Him, love Him, depend on Him, and grow in Him.  I do not need more positive thinking or more motivation to pursue my God Given Dream.  I need God.... God's Power and God's supernatural help. Don't give up on your dreams!! Ecclesiastes 5:3 says, "For a dream comes with much business and painful effort...". Go through the hard part and watch God make a way for your dream to be a reality.  It will be worth it!  By God’s Amazing Grace, Paul and I have almost made it!!