Category: THE121

Everything you wanted to know about tiny house living

Martha Stewart Called

One thing I miss about the motherland are the amazing thrift stores. The current homeland, lacks SEVERELY.

When opportunity permits, I enjoy visiting said thrift stores in the motherland.

Upon my most recent visit, my mother mapped out exactly what time we would arrive at said thrift store. I found some lovely jewelry and upon check out, the cashier said, “we enjoy seeing your mother here every Monday!”

Really mother? Every Monday?

Yep.

So the following day as we planned our day, to no surprise…where did we go?

You bet. Another thrift store.

If you have read other previous posts, this Holiday Season is the best I have felt in several years. Actually, it is the first Christmas since living in THE121 that I have felt well enough to decorate not just the tree but the outside as well!

THE121 has beautiful window boxes (thanks so my amazing builder). I have dreamed about what would fill the window boxes at Christmas time since I moved in.

With finances being tight between short term and my first paycheck from my new job, I welcomed the thrift store shopping!

On day two, what did my eyes behold…an entire box of sparkling beautiful ornaments on sale!

C’mon you know that thrift + sale =‘s an angels voice beckoning from above!

I did a little skip from the counter to our car with my new found treasure in hand.

Saturday morning the weather was just right to practice my outside decorating skills.

I opened the shed, found my pruning sheers and off to the woods I went.

The woods here at Teaberry Acres sure do ground me (that’s another post). With each step, finding the perfect pine boughs to cut, my heart of gratitude welled, thanking the Lord for this free provision of fresh pine!

I laid out my branches and my ornaments and got to work.

I can neither confirm nor deny that Martha Stewart called and invited me onto her show for a special segment with Snoop Dog.

I then sent her pics of THE121 in a snow storm and she expedited my segment!!

All kidding aside, it may not look like much, but to me, it’s everything. It’s everything that God has provided for this year and that my friends, is enough.

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A whirlwind leads to change…

Mel Robbin’s is famous for her Let them Theory. Her famous quote, “Let them show you who they really are and then YOU can choose what you do next.”

I listened to this audio book in just a few days. Such a simple quote with such profound and deep impact.

You may remember a post about a certain employer not playing nice. This came just after I finished Mel’s book.

I knew I had a choice to make.

Sometimes the choice is no choice and other times, the choice is to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit.

In my case it meant…hang on tight, here we go!!!

After 2 months of praying, waiting and listening, last week I had a series of interviews that led to a job offer this past Friday.

God opened one door after another and in two weeks, I will begin a new adventure as a therapist with an intensive outpatient organization working completely remote.

God and I have been having conversations about my concerns returning to work. I believe this new opportunity is His compassion on me.

Please join me in prayer for smooth transitions, as well as opportunities to share the light and hope of change.

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Never did I ever

Never did I ever imagine an America where citizens didn’t have access to food.

Here we are.

I have volunteered in food distributions.

I have donated to food distributions.

This past week, I was given food at a food distribution.

If you have never struggled with food insecurity, you are one of the very few.

I am a masters level, associate licensed therapist who was served at a food distribution this past week due to the circumstances of my current life.

For 28 days, government employees have not received a pay check (barring special circumstances or generous banks).

Beginning this Saturday, many Americans will lose their food benefits completely.

Can you imagine a world where you couldn’t eat?

Close your eyes for a second and try.

What lengths would you be willing to go to in order to feed your family?

It doesn’t matter what side or middle of the isle you straddle. Humanity is humanity.

I pray that we would rise up, rise above politics, pressure and power to come along side of our fellow Americans who will and are the victims of said politics, pressure and power.

If we wonder what will happen when people lose access to food, we are about to find out.

It’s time for us to be the hands and feet of Jesus.

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So much more than soup

25 years ago, this insecure pompous tiny house girl walked into a science class on a college campus. Not because she wanted to be in said science class, but because it was required.

So there I was. I was barely surviving the college scene, carrying my own baggage and now this…I DEFINITELY wasn’t going to survive this.

Truth be told, I scraped by. Not because of anything I did, but because of who was teaching.

Mrs. Wright didn’t talk down to us, she taught us to think up. She knew that we counseling students may not have been the best scientists but that didn’t stop her from expecting us to learn and grow.

It wasn’t what happened in the classroom that I remember however, (although I do have a pretty solid memory of my friend falling asleep over her pig in lab and Mrs. Wright snapping her out of her coma!) no, I remember the investment she made outside of the classroom.

The invites to her house to watch CSI, the coffee breaks, the stops to simply ask “how are you?”

Her lab door was always open and it didn’t matter if we were science majors or not.

In grad school, Mrs. Wright invested in us even more. As poor grad school students, she frequently made us meals and invited us over (I can neither confirm nor deny that my roommate and I downed an entire pan of stuffed shells in one sitting).

If Mrs. Wright were cooking, we knew we were in for a mouth savoring meal.

As I began working for the University, Mrs. Wright became so much more than my professor, she became my friend. Lunches shared in the cafeteria would center around our lives and what God was doing. In some of the hardest days, she would simply listen.

Life went on and our paths parted.

Every now and then she would check in and upon the Tiny House making her maiden voyage to PA, Mrs. Wright made the hour trek to welcome her home!

If I were to describe Mrs. Wright in two words, it would be:

Intentional & Brilliant

Her intentionality sprung into action when I received a message that she wanted to come see me post op.

It wasn’t even a hesitation for this tiny house introvert.

Yes. Of course. Come.

It was just as if no time had passed.

She brought some amazing home made soup and cookies which, I devoured.

But it was so much more than soup. It was about a professor who invested in her student, mentored her student and then become friends.

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You can’t explain it…

I’m currently sitting in my favorite spot, my window seat at THE121. The sun is shining through the golden leaves of my towering oak while the sound of pine needles rain down on the gravel drive.

I hear Maggie Marie snarling at a pesky squirrel jumping on broken branches.

The end of the week hits different when my only job is to rest and heal. I sit and reflect on the week as though it were a thousand days. I try to savor the time and the moments because I know it will come to an end.

This week has held so many “God moments.”

Two stand out.

There has been no movement on the unnamed employer. I trust and ask God to provide. Typically I go to the mail far less often than the normal person, it’s just not exciting. However this week, I was led to the mailbox and inside was a very generous check. I stood and just thanked the Lord for his provisions.

ONLY. GOD.

The second may not seem like much, however God works in mysterious ways. Shortly after moving into THE121, I had a water break and I lost my entire water supply. Along with the water supply, I lost my water gauge that tells me how much water is in my supply tank.

For 3 years, I have lived on faith that there was enough water in my tank to supply my daily needs. For 3 years, I have never run out of supply!

This past week as much needed rain began to fall on teaberry acres, I noticed a strange movement in the broken gauge. I peered at the gauge briefly and the movement continued.

After 3 years, the gauge has “miraculously” started working again!

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the book next to my gauge is “Experiencing the Presence of God.”

God’s presence is clearly here at THE121.

When I feel weary, exhausted, confused or questioning, I simply have to stop. To stop and remember.

God is still in the business of the miraculous. He is still in the business of sanctification and faith stretching.

I pray daily that I would have:

Eyes to see

Hands to receive

And a heart to believe

I believe He is answering that prayer.

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How’s it going?

I’m coming up on the 1 month mark and truthfully, it doesn’t feel that long!

So how’s it going?

Physically, I just can’t believe the difference! Physically, I feel great (just a little sore…healing ya know!).

Mentally, I’m still adjusting. I truthfully feel like I’m getting to know myself again. Not the tiny house girl from 14 years ago, but who am I now and how do I honor this broken body that God is making whole?

I have been finding a lot of Jesus on my beautiful new porch. These crisp (feel like fall) days, the perfect of perfectest weather.

When I saw the completed porch, I knew there was just one thing missing. A rocking chair.

The movement of rocking can help calm the nerves and relax our parasympathetic system. So before I get all therapeutic…look it up 🙂

Rocking chairs can be rather expensive and on a short term disability budget, I knew it was out of the question. I began to pray and ask God for a rocking chair.

Maggie Marie and I have begun to walk a few days a week to begin to rebuild my core and leg strength that has been desecrated.

On one of our lovely end of summer walks this past week, I noticed some rocking chairs in a neighbors yard.

What can it hurt to ask?

I asked.

“I will find you the best!”

He replied.

And that my friends is how God provided a free rocking chair for this anxiety prone tiny house girl.

This beautiful chair shows the weathered signs of days gone by and you know, I think I quite like her that way.

It will serve as a visual reminder that I too am a little weathered worn. And yet, God can still use me to help others soothe their anxiety ridden parasympathetic system.

So how’s it going?

Healing isn’t a sprint, it’s a marathon and God continues to show me day in and day out that He is all about the healing.

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Grandma B style please

My beloved sister came out to stay with me several days post op. One morning as she was graciously making my breakfast, she asked me how much butter I would like on my toast.

“Grandma B style please.”

We both laughed because she immediately knew how much butter I meant.

A lot.

And then some.

Grandma B was known for liking some toast with her butter and we have all since fallen in her footsteps, much to our cardiologists dismay.

This morning as I toasted my butter, a smile came across my face as I recall the abundance.

Life hasn’t been easy.

Life wasn’t easy for Grandma B either.

I wonder if butter was her one luxury?

In the ups, the downs and life in the middle, I recall the abundance of God’s faithfulness.

This morning as I study in Ephesians chapter 1, verse 11 popped off the page

He makes everything work out according to His plan.

For those who are suffering that can feel a little harsh.

The question of why God allows suffering, is one for the ages.

I can only share my personal experience.

I will tell you that I know God in ways I never would have known God before. I have changed in ways that I can only attribute to the long wrestling. I have had opportunities that have only opened because of my suffering.

Could God have done it other ways? Sure. Would I have been willing? Honestly, I don’t know.

And so, this morning I recount the abundance. Through lathers of butter, Grandma B still continues to point me to Jesus.

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Learning a new way

As I approach the two week mark of this new broken body of mine there are so many highs, but I also want to acknowledge the lows.

The highs involve being nearly pain free for all but one or two days. For a girl who has lived in chronic pain, I can’t express what this means.

My beloved sister coming to care for me for several days and doing the dirtiest of dirty work (think Mike Roe would have loved to do an episode dirty work).

Being stronger mentally than I have been in months and the ability to lay on the couch with the sun streaming through my puppy kissed windows, does something deep for the soul.

Enjoying the company of friends and laughing until it hurts…more.

I, however, must continue to acknowledge that my body is broken.

With this broken body, it hates new things. In turn, it tries to reject that which is new. Namely in the form of hives.

I have a large outbreak that I have been battling for about the last five days. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I am convinced that in hell, there will be eternal itching.

Unfortunately the hives are underneath my wafer which has to be worn, or else mount saint stoma spews…EVERYWHERE.

This is my current battle zone.

Speaking of Mt. saint stoma. She does spew, with no warning and no control. She also speaks…a lot! So if you’re coming to visit, get ready for the show!

Regardless of the highs and the lows, God is still faithful. I will never be whole this side of heaven. If God heals me or if He doesn’t. He is still good.

All in all, my heart is full of gratitude. I continue to heal. I continue to learn. I continue to lament. I continue to celebrate. Namely, I feel it all.

The highs. The lows. Everything in between.

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Good gifts. What’s new at THE121?

If you have ever visited THE121, you would have had the pleasure harrowing experience of balancing trepidatiously on what use to be a head board turned into stairs, er blocks.

They may or may not have been a home owners insurance’s worst nightmare. However, I will say they served me semi-well for the last 3 years.

Until.

They didn’t.

I can neither confirm nor deny that my cockapoo puppy either did or did not fall through the top block.

And then life continued to happen.

And then the news.

Another surgery.

Many prayers prayed. We asked God to provide.

And did God ever.

A VERY gracious persons wanted to help aid in my recovery to allow a much safer option into THE121 for not just me but all who would be helping me.

But who’s going to do the work God?

Enter a VERY skilled carpenter from church.

A story only God could write.

Tonight as the sun sets over Teaberry Acres, I lay (would like to be sitting but…healing…) on my couch with a heart swollen with gratitude.

THE121 has a beautiful…not just stairs, BUT also a deck!

If you’re looking for me during the day in the next 3 weeks, I’ll be sitting on the deck with my coffee and cockapoo working on healing.

So what happened to the old stairs blocks?

They became risers for my generators! I owe that suggestion all to the skilled carpenter! If you’re in the area and looking for a carpenter, shoot me a message and I will gladly pass along his info!

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He is good

Maggie Marie is snoring at the end of the couch. My sister is in the loft working remotely and I sit with coffee in hand overlooking the acres reflecting on the goodness of God.

If you would have asked me a week ago if I thought I would be sitting in my house drinking a coffee today, I would have emphatically answered not likely, and yet, here I am.

Perhaps it was a grace that I didn’t know what to expect this time around. A grace for the work that I needed to do in my own heart.

I believe we all go through levels of surrender, and if we are willing, the Father will take us deeper and deeper.

If I were still in the hospital. If I didn’t pull through like I thought, no matter the what if’s, it would never change the character of God.

I can celebrate the losses along with the wins.

I am still quite sore and VERY nauseous. I’m continuing to learn this new broken and blessed body. This broken and blessed body that is keeping me alive.

He is for us.

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