Happy July 28! It’s Saturday and while the house is quiet and my coffee is hot, while I sit outside in our swing and listen to the rooster, the cows, the birds, and watch the sun start to peek through the trees….I thought NOW is the time to share my why.

Why I haven’t been posting very much. Why I haven’t been on our YouTube channel very much. Why I opted out of Instagram. Why I haven’t been on our Facebook group page very much.

It’s not a “why” in dreaming big or in defining my motivation or vision in work.

It’s not a “why” in what gets me going every day in making our new farmhouse into all we’ve been inspiring to create.

Instead my why has completely changed my day-to-day life! Tee-totally changed it!

My why is this …

Our daughter, Samantha, is HOME!!!!

She is home! And as I am typing this, there’s this ridiculous smile across my face! She’s living right here with Rip and I every. single. day. and I can’t get over it!!  While she and I are inseparable, I just keep telling the Lord…”Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

Here’s the story….

Samantha is 22 years old and for the past few years, she has walked an interesting, at times very difficult and challenging, journey. She’s faced some hard things emotionally, while at the same time she would tell you this,

“God never left me. He has taken care of me and has always been there for me.”

When Rip and I went to spend time with her in Golden, CO, this past July 4-8th, we LOVED, absolutely LOVED, our time with her!

She took us every where … to Red Rocks, to Lookout Mountain, to her favorite breakfast place in Golden, and to a stream where you can float or just enjoy the cool water on your toes.

We saw so much of her world, and was very impressed with how she had been working every day at her job with Greystar Apartments as a member of their management team. She even introduced us to Vlad, the 3 yr old husky/collie dog she rescued from the local dog pound. (He has stolen our hearts!)

Financially, she was doing so well that she had been living a financially independent life for quite a while. As Rip always says, “You become a legal adult at 18, but you are not a grown-up until you can support yourself.” And, well, she is a grown-up.

But as we all know…

being financially secure can never substitute for being relationally secure.

What I mean by that is this …

We are created by God for God –> the ultimate relationship! 

We are created to relate with Him through His Son, Jesus Christ.

We are created to relate with others in the family of God.

We are created to relate with others in our physical families, within our circle of friends, co-workers, acquaintances, and strangers.

And the quality of these relationships trump anything and everything else!

So, as I’ve prayed and prayed and prayed for Samantha, (and for many (too many) days missing the mess out of her!), I’ve asked the Lord, “Allow us to live closer to each other?” (What mama wouldn’t ask that!!).

Then ….

she told us while we were visiting her that she wanted to come home.

(insert happy elated mama tears!!! The pure-dee ugly crying kind!!)

She wanted to live with us and simply, very simply … walk one day at a time with the Lord.

To let Him lead her. To trust Him in meeting every need of her life. To trust Him for His guidance. To trust Him for His best for her. To simply trust Him. Period. While living with us in our little country home right here in Mississippi. She knew it was right, God’s best for her, to leave all that financial abundance, and move here in faith.

Samantha wasn’t here even a week before God provided her with work and, again, with an income that allows her to continue living financially strong. But here’s the best part of it all..

Rip and I are able to do life with Samantha and we are CRAZY HAPPY!!!

As I was taking a bath one night just this week, I didn’t just hear the sound of Rip’s table saw, or the TV on his favorite show. Instead, I heard him and Samantha talking, laughing and y’all…I lost it! I had the best happy cry right there in the tub holding a warm rag to my face and just letting every tear fall in praise to answered prayer! It was as though the Lord whispered to me,

“Is this close enough?”

 

We have been glued to each other’s side ever since she drove up onto our driveway. She left on Tuesday, July 10th and drove 12 hours the first day, 9 hrs the second day, and 6 hrs on the third day, pulling up around 12:00pm on Thursday. It took her a little longer because she needed to let Vlad, her dog stretch his legs, along the way. But when she pulled up with him and a packed SUV, my heart exploded! My baby was home!!!

But here’s the best part of this story….

We wanted to surprise my parents, her Mimi and Papaw. So, we invited them over for supper that Thursday night. While mom and I sat in our swing, it faces a crest of land. There is a small hill in the distance of our backyard and just over the crest is an area that wraps around and is hidden by trees.

Samantha had her phone with her, so as she was hiding on the other side of the crest with Vlad, I texted her and told her to come on! She started running!!

Me: “Mom, is that someone running in the distance?”

Mom: “Yea, it is.”

Me: “Who is that?”

Mom: “Looks like a dog. …… (she kept looking)

Me: (kept my eyes on Mom)

Mom: “Looks like Samantha…”

I pat my Mom’s hand. She looks at me. With some tears welling up in my eyes, I just nodded.

Mom: (gasping) “It’s Samantha!!” She jumped to her feet and started going toward her. She yells at dad as he was getting out of the truck, “Honey, it’s Samantha!!”

This whole time, Samantha and Vlad never stopped running toward them! As soon as Samantha made it to the driveway, they embraced! They hugged and hugged…and then she ran up to her Papaw. More hugging!

But I knew they didn’t yet know the whole story. They were thinking she was here to visit. And that is why I quickly looked at my mother (while Samantha was still hugging her Papaw) and said,

“Mom, she’s here to stay. She lives with us now. She has moved back home. Going to college. Will be with us at church. She’s home to stay.”

My mother nearly collapsed in JOY!! She threw her hands up in the air and praised the Lord!!

She told my dad and he went nuts with her…with all of us!

One thing I want you to know about my parents….they pray every. single. night. in their sunroom. Never missing a night. They have been doing this for so long now and when they end their day together, it is ALWAYS ended with this time of prayer, never missing a night to intercede in prayer.

Samantha being home is an answer to all our prayers!

So, this is why I have been off of social medias and why Samantha and I both have opted out of Instagram….we just don’t want to be occupied with it any longer, and instead we are totally submerged in a more simple and enjoyable life! We are going to the gym together, going to work together, sitting in the swing in the early morning hours together, bathing Vlad together (especially when he has found his way to the neighbor’s cow), and doing LIFE breathing the same air!

Yes, our precious Samantha is home and that’s …

MY WHY!