A Step Sideways

Hey, y’all! It’s been awhile. Summer in the desert makes me want to hide. The heat was awful and I just felt grumpy about it all. Anyone else?

Remember when I told you that I’d be using this blog to share our triumphs and failures along this journey toward our Plantation? Well, I have something to share with you. It’s not a triumph. It’s not a failure. We’re calling it a step sideways.

We bought a house. Here’s an iPhone picture of Starbucks on our new kitchen counters, because you know, proof.

It turns out that building a Plantation in Southern California is quite costly. I’d like to keep this project under 1.2 million (yes, million….I cannot even fathom that number but there it is) but Scott feels like it will creep closer to 2 million (I start drinking wine every time he says that). I’m laughing out loud by myself in my (new) home office as I type that out for everyone to see. There i tis. MILLION. MILLIONS?!

We were tired of renting. Our new home is just beautiful! It’s in La Quinta. 3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, an office for mommy, a quaint backyard with a killer pergola (and bistro lights!), quartz counters…the list goes on. Here’s where I’m struggling…I have a greedy, discontent heart and while this home suits us so very well, it’s not a Plantation.

It’s not West Carolina.

It’s not our dream, and yet it’s more than others could ever possibly imagine having. I’m equal parts excited and angry. Grateful and selfish. Happy and sad. The Lord is being so tender with us, with me and my discontent heart. He’s showing me grace and I need it.

This new home puts us in a much better place for the Plantation about 3 years down the road, but we’re still waiting, and that’s difficult. Scott is still interested in looking at land and I am quite the opposite. I. Literally. Can’t. Even.

However, these seeds. These 5 precious seeds arrived yesterday. They’re Southern Live Oak seeds. We’re going to plant them in home depot buckets in antique apple crates, pray over them, and tend to them while they grow here at our new home in La Quinta.

When the trees are ready, strong and fit for the journey to West Carolina, so we will be as well.