Desired Haven Farm

Yesterday was my 42nd birthday. I spent it scrambling around like a mad hen all day to get ready for camping. Cooking, cleaning, laundry, packing, running to Walmart…again!

It wasn’t exactly what I’d have chosen for a birthday celebration but I knew it would be like that having planned to leave the next day.

On top of camping prep, one of our cars broke down in the middle of the night on our son. The brakes went out and, Praise Jesus, he wasn’t driving. He had gotten in to come home and found the brakes were bad. I’m so thankful he wasn’t on the road! But, because that had happened, Andrew had extra work to do. Go tow the car home, try to find parts, try to fix it. He ended up working on it until 11 pm!

This morning we got up bright and early to pack up the camper and hit the road.

Things never seem to go as we plan. About halfway to our camping destination the camper started hopping and we saw smoke in the side mirrors. Blown tire.

Of course we were on a busy four lane highway with cars whizzing by at 65. And, of course, it had to be on the driver side. I’ve honestly never been more afraid for Andrew’s life. He’s been sky diving and that made me nervous, but this? I see how many people drive looking down at their phone. I’ve seen the videos of people getting hit on the side of the road because of distracted drivers.

Our friends and I started praying. And, no kidding, a few seconds later we looked up and there just happens to be a tow truck coming up to us.

What a coincidence. Ha! (I don’t believe in coincidences.) I do, however, believe in the power of prayer.

Terry the tow truck driver just happened to be heading home from work. He jokingly said, “I saw you having a picnic on the side of the road and thought I’d see what you were having for lunch.” He was all smiles the entire time he helped, pulling out every tool you’d possibly need to change a tire. I told him I was just praying for protection and he came along.

“Well, praying works!” He smilingly replied.

Of course the spare was shot so we ended up putting our friend’s spare on to get to the next town. We ended up at a Walmart. I’m telling you, there’s some sort of time warp in Wal-Mart. I met a really nice employee though and had some good laughs with her while I was waiting for Andrew to change out the two tires. She said (and I agree with the sentiment), “Why can’t anything be easy?” 2 hours and $300 later we had two new tires and were ready to actually camp.

While it didn’t go as planned, we finally made it. We joked that we might have to set up in the Walmart parking lot for a bit there!

Now we’re sitting around the campfire, enjoying each other’s company, thankful to be alive, well, and safe. Our son was blessed to have the brakes go out in a parking lot. We were blessed by Terry aiding us. We were even blessed by kind employees at Walmart. And now we’re blessed by a beautiful night with great friends.

God loves each and every one of us. He knows when we’re afraid and He hears our cries. He is faithful in every moment of our days.

Our day didn’t go remotely as planned. We could look at it and grumble and complain about all the things that went wrong. Instead I choose to focus on how God intervened and showed us He is present and cares deeply about us.

Oh goodness! It’s been awhile since I’ve been here writing. I don’t like it when things get so busy that writing gets set aside, but sometimes that’s life!

So, what have the Schwabs been up to?

I think we could answer the question, “what haven’t the Schwabs been up to?”easier!

We have realized we took on easy too many projects this spring at one time. I think I make the mistake of thinking they will take less time than they really do and that Andrew is home more hours than he really is.

We added two raised beds to the garden. (I still don’t have enough room!) We used limestone block that’s been on our property for probably 100 years as a foundation to an old grain shed. The shed was sold last fall. It ended up being a lot of work, and all work I couldn’t really do. Those blocks are heavy! It turned out beautifully though.

Then out of pure rage, I tore the entire raspberry patch apart! I have been fighting the weeds since we moved here and they won. Last year, I got a small bowls of raspberries and spent hours pulling obnoxious weeds. This year I said, “No More!”

So I dug all the good plants out and tilled and tilled. I laid black plastic and heavily mulched and replanted. It all took way longer than I expected so I lost some plants while they were waiting to be replanted. But it looks amazing and I hardly have to weed, so I’ll call it a win! And, raspberries will send new shoots so I’ll get those plants back eventually.

Then we can’t forget there was a garden to plant! That got in very late, but it’s flourishing except for squash bugs. I moved my squash to get away from the bugs last year. It didn’t work. Now I have three kinds of bugs. Makes me really angry. And, let’s face it, they’re gross and I have to pick them off!

And, of course, if that weren’t enough, we decided to remodel our camper. We were going to just replace the roof, which was leaking, but why not just redo EVERYTHING! It’s been a fun project, but, of course, it’s taking way longer than we thought. And we keep finding things to replace or fix. We’re camping in August so I guess we better just keep pressing on so we can enjoy it! I’ll do a separate post with photos of that and show you all we did!

Of course, in the midst of this three cars needed repairs, taking up much of a weekend for each, other things on the farm needed fixing or replacing, there’s animals to take care of, and most importantly, there’s kids to raise!

Thankfully in much of this they’ve been able to participate, but they need down time too, just like us. More than us! We took them bowling and fishing and we’ve been swimming a lot. We’ve been so thankful for the pool this summer! Four of them got to participate in Frozen Jr, the musical, which was so fun!

Oh yeah, the pool took 2 weeks to get clear too! There’s always something! We feel busier than ever but it’s all been good, fruitful busy. We love to work as a family and play a a family. And we’ve been doing that this summer, for sure.

Often, when we pray, I just thank God for the strength he gives us each day to do the work He gives us each day! We definitely need it! And I don’t take it for granted!

I know I’ve forgotten things. All I can say is, wow! I hope the last half of the summer slows down a bit! I feel like I’m trying to grasp at reigns made of water to stop summer. I guess I just need to take one day at a time and be thankful for it. I hope you are too!

Years and years ago, when Andrew and I were young with a couple little kids, we would sit in the evenings and dream about what we wanted in a house.

“I want a big wrap around porch,” I’d say.

“I’d love a big garage with drains in the floor and room to work on cars,” he’d reply.

“Wouldn’t it be nice to have a bit of land?” I’d ask.

“Yes, definitely,” he’d say.

Because I could draw house plans, I’d draw up what we wanted. Because he worked at a lumber yard, he look at pricing. Then we’d chuckle and say,  well it’s just a dream. We can do without.

And then, one day, years and years later, God gave us those dreams. We never prayed about it, never asked God specifically for those things, but He knew. He heard those evening chats. And He loves us so much that He desired to give us those dreams.

And I never forget to thank Him for this beautiful gift. Do you thank God for what he has given you? Do you pause and look around and just let the thankfulness spill over?

When I faced severe depression, my counselor told me, just try to write down three things everyday you are thankful for. Some days it was a serious challenge. I had a hard time coming up with three things.

Sometimes I’d just write “my kids, my husband, my house”. And I was thankful for those, but I wasn’t putting much effort in. And my thoughts were so often negative, I couldn’t come up with three things.

But, I did it every night. And over time it completely changed my mindset. I used to focus so easily on the negative, even when I wasn’t in depression. But no joke, having done that exercise for the months, every night, it changed my mind.

Now I can see the positive much more quickly and am so much more thankful than I used to be. The Bible says “don’t let the sun go down on your anger.” Did you know studies have been done on this? It’s actually proven that if you go to bed angry, anxious, sad, frustrated it changes the chemical makeup of your brain? Is fascinating!

And science backing up the Bible?? Shocking, I know (insert sarcasm).

But, seriously, I’m living proof this is true. If you are having a hard time looking on the bright side, seeing the positive, and being grateful, try this! Every night before bed write at least three things you are thankful for! It will change your life. Truly!

Mother’s Day. Where do I begin?

I’ll start with thankfulness. I’m so thankful God has filled my life with these amazing humans. They keep me going every day. They make me laugh, cry, yell, sigh, roll my eyes, and fall into bed exhausted everyday. My life is full. Full of good.

Each and every one of my kids is unique and amazing. It’s so wonderful to see them grow and become godly people. I love to figure out their interests and dreams and watch them pursue it. I love to walk alongside them in this life.

Last night our pastor asked, “What’s been the most unexpected joy in mothering for you?” My answer was that it has been when I’m walking my kids through difficult times and seeing them struggle through and grow closer to God and learn to trust mom and dad to be there for them and then seeing them come out on the other side better, those have been the times that have brought me the most unexpected joy.

But this day comes with sorrow too. Every year I find myself feeling sad for a part of the day, missing my mom. I look at these amazing kids and I just know she’d love them so much andbe such a great Oma to them. I still remember how she adored Samuel and Isaiah and carried them around all day calling them “my babies”, as in hers. She would be all over spending time with these kids.

In spite of missing her, it’s really been a great day. My family knows how to spoil me!

Andrew brought me breakfast in bed along with my Bible. We went to church and worshipped our good Lord, where I couldn’t help but think of my mom worshipping him day after day in heaven. What an amazing image! I thought, too about what an awesome reunion it’ll be when I get to be with her in heaven too!

After lunch, we worked on more raised beds for my garden. I’m forever wanting to plant more and running out of room. And since we moved a building off our property, we have plenty of stones to use!

Who knew moving stones would be so much work? Probably Andrew.

After working on the garden we went to The Blast, a new ice cream shop in Northfield. It was so crazy busy I didn’t even think to snap a photo. But it was yummy! We stopped by my mom’s grave and put some dandelions on it. (We couldn’t find any flowers left. Shocking right?)

Then my wonderful hubby made burgers on his new grill. Any excuse to use that thing! It makes a great burger though!

We’re finishing off a great day with a fire and smores!

These people really do make my day. Raising kids is anything but easy and, just so you know, God does give you more than you can handle! But He never gives you more than He can handle.

My sweet oldest boys endured a day with me too. They even hung my new string lights. Well, truth be told, I made them do it.

It’s spring cleaning time! Time to start at the top and work our way down. Goodbye, spider webs and dust. Goodbye, broken and unused toys, jam-packed drawers and rooms. Goodbye clutter!

How does it all accumulate anyway? I mean, I know there’s 13 of us in one house but I am a thrower. I tend to throw more than save, sometimes to my detriment, but not often enough to stop me!! We go really easy at birthdays and Christmas because, let’s face it, none of us need anything more than we already have.

And yet, every time I turn around there’s more clutter and more stuff to organize! So here we go! This week was the attic. There’s lots of space up there, which I think just translates to lots of opportunity for messes! Add four girls who sleep there and eight kids who play Legos up there and you have a recipe for a tornado!

The girls moved up there about a year ago, when we rearranged rooms and I had every intention of “finishing” the room. By that I mean hang some art work, which never seems to actually get done. This time I was determined to get it actually done.

They have a really cute room with lots of space. We had repainted it last spring, which was a ton of work! Painting slanted walls is hard work and you don’t realize how big a space is until you paint! And Andrew managed to crack his head on those slanted walls too many times to count.

The great reveal:

The finishing touches:

I let the girls choose some of their beautiful artwork from their art classes with Mrs. Stanley and we finally hung things on the walls. It makes me so happy to say it’s actually completely finished!

On to the next room…