Deep in the Woods, Moving to the Country

This month has been perhaps the busiest month of my life so far as we moved to the country. After half a year of looking for land and a home to buy, we finally have found a 16-acre sanctuary tucked away in the country hills of the Ozarks. For the past 6 years, we have been living in the town of Sparta, Mo and I have been working on my carvings out of a small shop. This transition will allow me to have more room for carving and several locations that will work for drying out larger pieces of wood.

 I sit here typing on this marvelous piece of technology while sipping on a hot cup of coffee at Hebrews Coffee in Springfield, MO (excellent). Even now while I sit in this tranquil environment with its dimmed lights I cannot help but be distracted by the 20 small conversations going on around the room and the cars driving by on the other side of the large windows. My body longs to be sitting in the midst of the trees between the background noises of crickets, birds, and rustling leaves from the wind flowing through the country trees.

 This is the reason that we are moving. Our hearts have longed for a retreat to the country from the metal, lights, and cars. Our new property has mostly woods and a few cleared acres. Behind the land, to the east runs thousands of acres of Mark Twain National Forest (some of the best forest lands in Missouri) and a short drive to the West lies Busiek State Forest. To the south lies the clear running waters of the Bull Creek and to the North is the only way out of our neck of the woods to get to civilization. The North is a cold place after all.

 All these things are yet to come, however. There is much work to do first before we move in and there is much work to do in setting up shop in the midst of the busiest time of the year for crafters. God gives us seasons and right now the season is quite labor filled. As this season passes there will come rest.