Thank God I'm a Country Girl
Originally Posted July 10, 2008
I live in the country. As in, we have a 1/4 mile dirt driveway, people wave at us when we drive by in the golf cart, and at night the stars are so bright you feel like you could almost reach out and touch them. When we moved out here a few months ago from the city, people couldn't believe we'd want to be "all the way out here." Are you kidding? Do I miss looking out my kitchen window and seeing the side of the neighbors house or hear them playing their music so loud in the driveway that I can't even have a conversation with my brother in the livingroom? Do I miss seeing on the news that someone got shot right down the road and hearing the search helicopters flying overhead? Do I miss people coming onto my front porch and cutting limbs off my lemon tree or breaking into my truck while it's sitting in the driveway? Yeah...no, I don't miss it at all.
One of the biggest questions I keep hearing from people is "what do you do out there in the country all day?" That question always makes me smile. Since I can't drive or go anywhere by myself, I just enjoy God's creation all around me. I always say that if you have to be "stuck" at home all the time, this is the place to do it. There is so much beauty and so much to learn and enjoy. It's hard to be lonely and depressed about being sick and housebound when God has created so much wonder to explore. It's great to watch the dogs just running and playing tag around a bush. I sit and listen to the peace and quiet and hear the songs of all kinds of beautiful birds. One night, I just laid on the driveway and looked up at the stars while Psalm 8 began to go through my mind. "When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained: What is man, that thou art mindful of him?" It's such an overwhelming worship experience to sing and give praise to the Lord under a canopy of stars.
I often feel that I am a student and God is my personal tutor. Lately, he’s been using a lot of little things in nature to teach me. Right now our citrus trees are being attacked by aphids and swallowtails, but amazingly, it taught me a lesson about how Satan uses all kinds of things to attack our lives as Christians and keep us from bearing fruit. Then I found out that we could buy ladybugs and bring them in to eat the aphids. I never knew that ladybugs had any kind of use at all. It always seemed like they just sat around and did nothing, and sometimes they were even annoying. But they are needed to help protect the plant and eat the pests that will destroy it and keep it from bearing fruit. That just made me realize that we really all do have a purpose in God’s plan. Just a little reminder that He has a purpose for me too. So that’s where I’m at right now…just a student in God’s classroom, trying to stay alert to see the lessons all around me that He has for me to learn.
What do I do out here all day? I watch, I listen, I worship, I learn at the feet of Jesus. I am so thankful for this beautiful place and for this time He has given me to slow down and observe His creation and draw closer to Him.
"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard." Psalm 19:1-3
