Not all those that wander are lost....

So where have we been?

Well, the answer is far from simple. Of course I could describe how busy we have been. The end of summer and the months before winter had brought many changes to our lives. A wood stove (that we hadn't planned on getting this year) for one created a rush to get enough wood cut before the snow fell kept me quite busy, along with weatherizing the house for the coming cold. Melissa's business kept her engaged, and before we knew it the new year was upon us.

Yet, although those reasons are true...it is not the full truth.

Our Journey has not been without its trials and tribulations and as such there were times when what we set out to do last November was put to the test. Money of course was a big issue and although we had reduced our living expenses there were (and still are) times when the bills we couldn't cut outweighed our income. Our garden, although starting with a bang, fizzled out at the end and we lost a lot of our crops. Vehicle repairs and home repairs added up and the strain on our relationship as a family became quite heavy. I really could go on and on with a long narrative of negative experiences, but it's self-defeating and a little self-serving.

You, see the truth of the matter is...we survived! Everyone struggles, but it took me awhile to figure out that it's not the struggle that matters, but how well you handle them. "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger", right? Easier said than done, but there is some truth too it.

It wasn't so much the new problems and challenges our new life style presented; it was how we dealt with them. Frankly when I looked at these things we were going through they weren't all that different from the issues we had pre-homesteading...it was just the way we handled them. In the past we would have bought our way through the difficult times. We would have spent ourselves happy buying new toys and things to make us feel better and mask our hurt. This time around though that money wasn't available to shelter us, and we had to look at what was going on with no anesthesia. Yeah, it was painful but that pain brought new and exciting alternatives to dealing with it.

Jesus Christ brought us through it, plain and simple. No need to mince words here...its a fact!

So, for the last few months there's been some anguish, disappointment, and failure. But, there has also been some really great things going on too. I've hid from this blog for awhile, partly in self-pity and partly from facing certain truths. Here's the thing though; we didn't quit...we pushed on and we're still here ready to begin a second year that's as full of hope and grace as when we first started. We only slowed our steps on the journey, now we're ready to run again!