Simplicity



As I sit in front of our wood stove late at night my mind thinks of the word simplicity and what that looks like. Jesse and I have been together for almost 15 years now. We started dating when I was young and I look back at all those sweet memories. Our dating years consisted of milking cows together, field work, chores and the odd dinner out. I’ve always gone to bed early and most evenings I would kick Jesse out by 8 pm to be in bed by 9. I look back on those years and wouldn’t trade them for anything, the word simple comes to mind when I ponder them .

How do we get back to a life of simplicity? I was thinking about my sweet Grandma Vis and that generation of parents. The simple yet hard life they lived on the farm. Removed from technology and just the simple life. Canning on hot summer days, tending the garden to feed all those mouths, making sure the straw and hay got in on time....the "good ole days."  As our world advances in all things technology I can’t help but long to go back to a generation without it all. Though technology has its  perks and benefits, I ask myself at what cost?

I'm reminded of the verse “Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth" (Psalm 46:10). Sometimes I think it’s getting to be harder to be still, so many distractions pulling us here and there. We're learning to live simply and let all the expectations go. As parents we put so much pressure on ourselves, how often I can look around and think are we doing enough? Will they have great memories? Then I remember my childhood and the things that stick out. It’s not the trips or grand things; it’s the bonfires on a summer's night, skating on the homemade rink, dirt piles where we got covered with mud,  picking up straw bales on a hot August morning; simplicity is what I remember.

As our world shakes each day and more craziness happens I ask God to bring me to the place of simplicity and knowing that He is God. I truly believe we are heading for days that are harder in this generation but we aren’t to fear for we know who is on our side. We're living in a spiritual battle that we can't see fully but we can have the peace that comes with knowing Jesus. We see the world groaning and awaiting something new that only Jesus can bring.

 We received Jesse’s  CT scan results this week, which were great. Everything is stable or continues to shrink, thank you Jesus! The oncologist told us that surgery still wouldn’t be an option and that the chemo continues to do the job at the moment. He believes there will be a point when the chemo stops working and the cancer "gets smart" which means we would have to reevaluate treatment.We will continue the treatments Jesse is currently on and he will have another ct scan in 3 months time. Jesse's birthday is coming up in March and he will take a "chemo break" and start up again end of March. We continue to try to live intentionally and fully embrace what time we’ve been given because in all honesty none of us know the number of days we have on this earth.  What hope and joy we can live in because He lives! We're so grateful and humbled for the miracles God has done in our lives thus far. 

Jesse has been busy working in our new greenhouse he made. We've been planting seeds and eagerly anticipating the arrival of spring . As much as I dislike winter there is something so sweet about the early signs of spring.

Thanks again for your continued prayers and support.

Blessings,

Jenn and Jesse 

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