The rush is on, mind numbing choices, needing space already

Mama and I are struggling with the sudden urgency Grandpa feels to vacate the farm in Bowie. Grandpa is pretty much flooding us with stuff as he aggressively clears out the apartment and shop. Mama said the desperation is driven by a remark Danny Benson made a couple weeks ago about his daughter possibly moving into the apartment at some undetermined future date. Grandpa is strongly opposed to the idea of being on the farm with anyone else – even if it is okay with the current owner. So after taking our time and pacing ourselves in the move, we are leaving in a hurry.

He and Grandma have rented a storage building to put some of their things into while they wait to see what will come of the shopping we are doing for housing for them. They are talking about renting an apartment or moving into the spare bedroom we have at the house. His anxiousness about the situation is not contagious. However it is as perplexing as it is frustrating.

In that search for housing, we looked at a property the other day that Victoria could qualify to buy but we are not settled by any stretch of the imagination on her getting into a thirty year mortgage. On the other hand, if that is the way we go, we could not have found a better property for her to share with Grandma and Grandpa. The caveat is determining how committed Grandma and Grandpa will be to the purchase and whether we should plan to handle it without them.

I am praying for wisdom and insight because it is a bigger commitment than any of us understand at this point. My adage has become,” just because we can does not mean we should”. The uncertainty surrounding us at the moment, a faltering economy, Victoria’s young age and unknown future, my company cutting back hard against the downturn in oil prices, etc. is a little confusing to work through. This one has to be a matter of obedient faith. A clear unction from the Lord is required. That only comes through much prayer.

Mama and I went to Sam’s last night to get some supplies for the house. I had a list of about three items and Mama had about the same but we still came out of there with $265 worth of purchases. Either we had a very incomplete list or we had a very overactive sense of need. I will vote on the list being too short and really “needing” the items we bought.

Mama is due at the farm in Bowie pretty early this morning to help Grandpa load the cattle for transport to the farm in Chico. We have the lot with the barn ready for their arrival. I wish we could say the same for the pigs and chickens. Grandpa has a plan for the pigs enclosure and pen that we are okay with and he should be able to get that done in a few days. We are not as excited about his plan for the chickens.

He is looking to squeeze the twenty plus chickens into a six by eight kennel set up at the house. In the kennel is the cutest little chicken coop, but it is more designed for about six bantams than for twenty plus full-sized chickens. But I have nowhere else to put them right now – if they must be moved right now.

We will figure it out but it is difficult not to feel pushed.