The truth is that…

Ridge Haven Homestead just a big slice of the woods with a lot of trees, rocks, and steep grades. It’s not that pretty.

There’s always a but…

But…there are the flowers…

The amount of work to do is overwhelming at times. But we do little by little. Sometimes we wonder if we are making progress.

Our cabin is half built but we do have a place to stay.

The reality is, that life is kind of hard right now. Our driveway needs fixing again. We don’t invite many people here yet. It’s kind of rough.  Some days are like this one:  Too Much Rain at Ridge Haven

We don’t have a garden yet. But we have blueberry bushes growing.  Hope.

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It’s not picture perfect. But we’ve planted some roses. And God planted Lady’s Slippers. And Mountain Laurels are in bloom.  More cause for hope?

We can’t do it all. But we can do a little today.

We are leaning on God. I focus on the little blessings because I need something to cling to.  Hope.

This blog is not about bragging about what we have. It’s realizing that we have a hard road ahead, but we are choosing to see some bright spots along the way.  We are focusing on Hope instead of despair.

So pardon me if sometimes I chirp on like a silly Pollyanna. Maybe it’s because on those days I really just need to see the spots of sunshine. The rainbows. They’re there, shining over the piles of stick to burn and the mud puddles.  There’s that word again:  hope.  It’s so important to have hope.

Sometimes–no, every day, we need to tune in to the Wood Thrush’s song. The sassy Scarlet Tanager. And huckleberries. Maybe they’re just wild blueberries, I don’t really care. It gives me a feeling of wildness to call them huckleberries, and who really cares anyway? We will enjoy them no matter what we call them.

I would have lost heart unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

Psalm 27:13

I need to see the flowers. Maybe I’m just a wildflower nerd, but these wanderers from Eden speak to me. God cares. He plants beauty in hidden places.  And that gives me–you guessed it–hope!

The birds tweeting bring me comfort. They lift me up when the work piles up all around. They are God’s messengers, preaching their little lessons of, “Cheer up, cheer up!”

I don’t know what you are going through today. God does. He cares about every phone call that brings you one more burden. One more thing to do by the end of the week.

Maybe you feel like you just can’t. Can’t take on any more. Can’t face more bills. Can’t smile through the tears.

But, you can talk to God.

You can take a walk and look up at the sky.

And you can pause to listen to one little bird. You can stoop to look closely at one beautiful bloom.

Try it.

You will know then, that, with everything you are carrying, God walks along with you. He put the flower there for you to love! He gave the birdie his song!

And He loves you.

Never forget.

Hope.  Yes, it is a command.

Listen to the song and be blessed by God’s love.

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