"There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven."
It seems we are in a "season"of letting go.
First we sold the house where our three "children" grew up and divested ourselves of so many of the "things" that seemed so important.
We bought an RV, lived in it during the winter and moved ourselves and more "stuff" into a little house on the property of our "favorite" youngest and her husband in Southwest Missouri during the summer.
 During that time they acquired two deaf, orphaned children from Ethiopia. We have been blessed to not only teach them but to learn from them.
The school district administration where the children attended was not willing to provide required services, the farm was sold, and with it the little house.
The swings have been left behind and will be enjoyed by the children who have moved into the "old" house.
Again it became necessary to get rid of belongings we had deemed important and transport everything remaining to our recently renovated, purchased town home in Florida.
Now the sorting begins in earnest.
"Less is more" has become Carol's motto.
Where will it all lead?
What does God have in store for us next?
We await His answer.

For a week I have had not had enough quiet time to sit, read, think, write.

The farm has been sold and the family is moving into town.  All indications point towards a much better solution to the challenges faced in getting the children properly educated. There will be many less driving miles to school, work, sports practices, doctor appointments, grocery shopping.....................

The address change is complete and the "new" house  has enough furniture in it to be livable. Of course this is a very subjective term since I visited the orphans of Debre Tsigie Ethiopia where three boys, orphaned seven years, live in a thatched roof mud hut with no furniture; not even cots to sleep upon.
 Now I have a short, uninterrupted time to reflect and put into words a few of the most recent happenings.

A few days ago wile I was loading household items into the truck someone said: "Look, deer!" There they were, still wearing their fuzzy winter coats, walking across the clearing near the overhead power lines three hundred yards to the south. They walked single file, looked towards us unperturbed, silently jumped the brush concealed barbed wire fence, crossed the lane, and one at a time bounded across the small meadow into the forest beyond. 

Another time I was standing in the yard talking on my mobile phone, looked up and there, crossing in the the other direction were four stately turkeys, marching single file like soldiers on parade. Undisturbed by my presence they continued on their journey, heads held high, and stole quietly into the thicket, out of sight but not forgotten.

We also had a visit from a bear.  He raided the bird feeders, sniffed around and ran down the ravine never to return.  I hope he enjoys a good life in the State forest.

How I will miss the the little house,  the garden, the sights and sounds of the forest, transporting the children to and from school, helping Yonatan with his lessons.

I will no longer hear the Pileated woodpeckers as they call out, or the haunting sound of hoot owls as they signal each other across the forest, sometimes awakening my slumber in the dark of night.

Of course there are also the marauding marmots, tomato eating terrapins, hungry Japanese beetles, yapping coyotes, copperhead snakes and myriad other garden pests too numerous to mention. That's O. K. It is all part of living on the edge of the forest. 

Life is a series of choices, decisions, experiences. Like reading a book, each chapter carries us more deeply into the story until finally we discover the hidden ending.

Don't try to sneak a peek at the last pages. Enjoy the journey, the twists and turns, the mystery of it all. Live, love, be happy.

God knows why He allows us to go first this way, then the other. He knows the final outcome. Trust Him. Be patient. He knows what is best.

Ain't God good!!!!!?????