We just crossed the one year mark of moving into our home in Pine, Colorado. The year has been full–with traveling, with hosting family and friends, with shopping to furnish rooms, with exploring our area…
Some of you have read my posts on moving. When something is new, one can often have a rosy perspective on it, or good intentions which don’t last. I want to testify to God’s faithfulness in moving us here. There certainly are discoveries we have made of the downsides of life here. But there have been far more experiences of God’s blessings than those of disappointments..
I’ll start with the negatives. It is dry here! My skin is dry. Even my fingernails are dry and brittle. I used to like my fingernails, but now I just have to keep them short. My garden is always thirsty and there is little to show for the seeds I planted. Wildfires rage on the “western slope,” and while they are three to four hours away, they nevertheless cast a shadow here in Pine. Sometimes we smell the smoke. It is hard work to clear dead wood from our two acres, and serious fire mitigation would consist of cutting down many of our beautiful trees. Beetle-kill and bud worms are threatening the health of our evergreens. We did not know this till it was too late to take protective steps for this season. Hopefully next season. The deer are eating the blooms off of our supposedly “deer resistant” perennials, as well as the aspen seedlings. One of our neighbors has a lovely garden and green lawn, because she lives in a stream valley which keeps her property well watered. But even there, she is in a battle with gophers, chipmunks, deer, elk, bears and mountain lions. Her chickens are no more! Her trees and flowers have to be behind metal fencing to survive, but that doesn’t prevent the gophers from burrowing underground to destroy. We are not in paradise!
Therefore, we often feel as if we are vulnerable to risks, which are various and plentiful. They remind me of the need to pray. Prayer will not necessarily yield the desired answer. Susan, the neighbor with the garden, and I were talking about this, and she said our prayers should focus not only on asking for deliverance from wildfires, but also on our strength to handle well whatever God allows to come our way. I was grateful for an opportunity to talk with her about having this perspective. It was because I was out on my property near the road cutting dead branches from trees that we had such a meaningful conversation. The risks I can’t control keep me dependent on my Father, and also give me an opportunity to talk about our dependence on him with neighbors.
Now for the positives! One word which characterizes so many areas of our life here is “welcome.” You will hear me repeat that word multiple times.
We are so delighted to live close to our oldest daughter and her family. We see them weekly and have been welcomed onto the team of adults with a role in the nurturing of grandchildren. What a privilege! And despite the fact that my granddaughters told me I was strict, they welcome us each time we come to visit, with hugs and excited reports of random pieces of news. They are growing up so fast, and we would not want to miss this.
We have been blessed with a vibrant church, and we have been welcomed enthusiastically and warmly. I made a friend the first week we were here, and she has helped me get to know others. Our pastor and his wife, as well as others, have invited us to be involved in meaningful ways. I have had three encouraging regular places of involvement. The first is a small group with seven other congregants. The second is joining a group of volunteers at our church’s food pantry and clothes closet to help area folks in need. The third is a group of women, most of whom come on Sundays without a spouse, or are new to the church so they are not as incorporated into the life of the church. This last group has been very meaningful and our times together include deep sharing and prayer. After years of maintaining friendships over email or text (if we are not in person), in this group we actually phone each other! 🙂 But it is with sadness that I write that on August 3, one of these women passed away. She was my age, with no obvious health issues. I didn’t know her well. But we had warm interactions, for which I thank God. It is a reminder to me of the importance of even small gestures of friendship. Paul exhorts us to “greet one another with a holy kiss.” In our culture here, I contextualize the kiss in the form of hugging or of another clear gesture that says I am happy to see you.
I already wrote about the remarkable group of neighbors into which God placed us. These neighbors have become quite dear to us. We continue to walk and socialize with them. We pray for them. We sometimes get to help them in small ways, and we have been helped by them even more. Since this is our first experience as homeowners, we have benefitted from the instruction of our neighbors on how to maintain a home and property in the mountains. We borrowed our neighbor’s trailer to haul five loads of “slash” (dead wood and other flammable debris) to the county provided slash dump. The concern for wildfire mitigation has made us think about being good neighbors by cleaning up our property to do our part to prevent fires.
With both our neighbors and our church, we have had people into our home for meals. This is partly because we ourselves have slowed down enough to have time to host. But it is also because we are no longer spending our days on campus with busy students, nor attending a church filled with young families with full schedules. We are in regular contact with a whole different demographic. God has placed us among mostly senior citizens, among whom we are often on the young side. I remember how my mom in her later years would stop to talk to people, neighbors, store clerks, and fellow walkers. Now we are waving to strangers and introducing ourselves to people whom we formerly would have passed by. This year has renewed many of my people skills. I have been welcomed warmly and that inspires me to welcome others warmly.
God is graciously renewing us, but that doesn’t mean love flows ceaselessly and naturally from my heart. Life will always involve effort. Thorns and thistles abound, literally and figuratively. As I look forward to the coming winter, I have just a little sense of the “new car smell” slipping away. I feel a bit unenthusiastic about layering up with heavy clothes for the morning walks. The mornings are darker already. My body tires more easily. My neighbors have significant health concerns — in fact, one was just diagnosed with cancer. Our comfortable groups will eventually be changed by loss. Strangers will move in and it will be our job to welcome them. However, I am confident that in the Lord, our effort is not in vain. Our Father will supply what we need to do for others some of the amazing things which have been done for us.