Grow where you are planted

Every day is a new challenge and a new life lesson to either learn or to use.  And my life lesson lately has been to remind myself that I need to grow where I was planted.  I am human; I am jealous at times.  Everyone around me has bigger houses and bigger yards.  We bought our house at the peak of the market and get a little house for a lot of money.  And now you can get a LOT of house and yard for a little money.  My grandfather's house is for sale, and it includes 4.5 acres...for 180,000.  Our house was 187,000 for .10 acre of land.  Doug and I always wanted a farm, but I gotta tell you that its probably hard to have even the tiniest pseudo farm on .10 acre of land.  Sometimes I find myself getting jealous and wondering why our life lead us here and how its SOOOOO not conducive to our dreams.  Its hard not to compare with others and wish for a redo.  But comparison is the thief of joy. 

I remind myself daily that God put us here for a reason.  None of this is a surprise in His perfect plan for us.   He planted our seeds here, and now its time for us to grow and thrive, to taking on the challenge of living out our dreams as best as we can for the time being.  For we aren't ever promised a tomorrow.  We may think we are invincible, and make all these big plans and dreams for our tomorrows...but in doing so, we waste away the gift of today-the gift of this moment in time, right in front of our noses.   Today is here, and this is what God has blessed us with today, and we are going to extract every ounce of promise and potential we have been afforded here.  Who knows what tomorrow will bring?  I don't have time to worry about all those tomorrows, when I have this big, beautiful today right in front of me-blossoming with promise.  We are going to create our own little (and I mean LITTLE) backyard homestead and make a space that makes some of our simpler dreams come true and and gives God the thanks.  An outdoor space that we can work for food, an outdoor space that we can play in, and an outdoor space that we can simply sit outside in, hear the birds in, feel the breezes in, and reflect on the small, sweet blessings and rewards of life.  Small spaces don't have to be the end of big dreams. 

My house is small, my yard is small, but God knows where I live.