Now our third full week at the Homestead, this has been our busiest week yet. Caleb and I attended an intensive 6-day workshop, taught by the Homestead’s school of woodworking, focused on the fundamentals of handmade furniture and crafts. We learned how to use hand tools to make wooden joints including dovetail, dado, mortise and tenon joints.
By the end of the second day we had completed a candle box;
the fourth day a wall shelf;
and the sixth day an end table.
The class was well worth the time and investment we spent and it was a joy to work alongside Caleb to learn woodworking and complete our furniture projects.
Back at our RV, the other three kids have been exploring the woods behind the RV park and created a fort to escape to during homeschooling breaks. When not attending a community event or eating dinner at someone’s house, this is where the kids have been spending all their free time.
Speaking of dinner, we visited our good friends, the Nathan’s, twice this week for dinner, once for pizza, and once for an outdoor grill and camp fire.
Fun, Friends, Food and Learning all summarize the last three weeks here at the Heritage Homestead.
And, if I wanted, I could end this post by saying, “We are having the time of our lives and everyone is happy and healthy.” And that would be quite true. But in doing so I would be ignoring the burning question in our hearts – “Why are we here?” Are we here just to eat and make friends? We could do that in Seattle or anywhere else in the world for that matter. “Why are we here?” “What draws us to this place?” We could enjoy an extended vacation anywhere we wanted in the country. “Why do we feel compelled to be right here, right now?” “Is there a greater purpose for us being here right now?” That is the question that begs to be answered every time I stop and pause to reflect.
The answer to this question seems much more allusive than the cascade of thoughts and emotions that pondering on such a question invokes. Our family believes that everything happens for a reason and that our lives gain meaning and purpose as we seek God’s direction and obey his leading. This, then, ultimately becomes the question we must answer. “What is God saying to us in our hearts?” “What kind of a life is he leading us to live?” “How can we know for sure what is God’s direction and what are our own ideas or feelings we are following?” We do feel that there are lessons God wants to teach us and this is where He has us to learn. But is there more than just lessons to be learned?
The apostle John recorded the teachings of Jesus. In John’s book Jesus says, “I am the Good Shepard, I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. My sheep follow me because they know my voice. They know my voice; I know them and they follow me.” This is what we want – to know, hear and follow Jesus’s voice. There is something about being right here, right now, that gives us the desire, more than ever, to hear that voice. Our prayer is that we may clearly hear that voice before we ever move in any direction.
Miller's Motor Home Adventure 