Life has been extremely busy in our quest to downsize our life.....slow down our life and go back to what is really important. Last year at this time Dan had just turned 59.....I had been having Health issues with chronic pain....The North Place was busy...... Dans moms health was failing and we spent many hours caring for her. She passed away in March...... farming was tough and we just started talking about what was important and what we wanted the next 20 years if we were given that. We both said that growing in our faith together was top on our list. We both agreed that family was our next priority and connections with people and finding a way to continue to serve others at The North Place with out falling exhausted into bed each night! We all have great plans right??
With my health issues deteriorating we went to Mayo Clinic. I was diagnosed with an aggressive form of Rheumatoid arthritis. I started giving myself shots and after a few months I found my self improving! Our little granddaughter was also a patient at Mayo and was diagnosed with Infantile Spasms. We made the decision to "rebuild" the old wooded corn crib on The North Place making it a completely handicap accessible addition to the North Place where we could live. We are looking at changing some of the ways we are farming as we are getting older and just cant do everything with just the two of us! We worked day and night and I just wasn't feeling well and ended up with bladder infection, kidney infection, sinus infection and finally had an emergency appendectomy right in the middle of harvest! (We believe this was caused by the medication I was taking and have since changed that!) I look back and we plain and simply have had a stressful year!!
Well last week we moved into our new little addition we call "The Owl House" ( Ill tell that story in a later post) Last week I finished up Christmas parties at The North Place and after moving and finishing things up here plus cleaning and getting rid of the extra stuff from the old house i was faced with the daunting task of taking down the Christmas decorations at the North Place..........Overwhelmed!!! and I just needed my Mom! My Mom can put everything into perspective for me by not even saying anything...........my view from the top of the steps caused me to pause a minute. There was my mom....she wheeled her chair to the bottom of the tree and began pulling off ornaments and winding up lights using just one hand as she lost the use of her other hand from her stroke 5 years ago. She simply did what she could .....We are each given a new day every morning...we are given the opportunity to find JOY in that day....we are given a purpose each day even if it isn't exactly our plan. . I was truly humbled by her courage and integrity to do whatever she could to bless me that day. What an example for me! and what perspective it gave me from the top of the stairs! I must add to the ending of this story even though it humbles me greatly....as i came down the steps carrying lights and ornaments I took and tumble down the last 3 steps landing flat out on the floor at Moms feet, Christmas lights wrapped around my head and ornaments rolling across the floor. I thought this may be the very thing that would give way to the stress of the months of bucking thru it everyday and i was on the verge of tears.....but then Mom laughed (once I said I wasn't hurt)............she laughed and I laid on the floor and laughed. I picked up myself off the floor, untangled the lights around my head, picked up my pride and we laughed some more! It was a good day and it was just what i needed.
Later she made the brave decision to see the loft of the Owl House. Up the steps went pretty good and uneventful. She spent about 45 minutes up there checking out the details that I had been telling her about and then it was time to come down..................
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