My Tennessee

Tennessee is a lovely place. It's got awesome people, great weather, and massive hydrangeas. It's way more wooded than I would have expected. I now understand on a much deeper level why Noelle thought this would be a great place to raise a family, before God radically changed her (and now our) plans. It really is fantastic.

I've always loved the mountains; more specifically the Coast Range, especially in the Santa Cruz area. You won't find trees and forests like that so close to the ocean with beautiful weather all year long anywhere else. I've always wanted a home in those mountains. Not just any home, though. My dream has always been to have a place where we can host people, where we and others can get away from it all and rest.

As of late, though, I've had a really hard time with that thought. I'm not sure it's what God wants.

The problem with the thought is that it's very isolating. As much as I dream of having people over and cooking massive amounts of food for them, it'd be so difficult to maintain a longstanding community when living out in the boonies. When we have kids, who will they play with? Will we want to go to church every Sunday when it's such a long drive to civilization?

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to have a large garden and a house with room to cook and feed lots of people, but the details seem to be the killer bit. I think God needs to show me what's up.