How Did I Get Here

Sometimes I drive through my little town of Adams Run and think…

How did I get here?

On most roads, the speed limit is 35 miles per hour if there is a speed limit posted at all. People drive slowly anyway because it just makes sense. There is a view and curiosity worth taking in, and life just moves more slowly out here.

The funny thing is — I’m only about 30 minutes outside of the city I grew up in.

Thirty minutes.

I had no idea the country was this close before I lived in it. But here I am in the country every night, far from street lights and neighborhood noise.

On any given day, I’m tending to sheep, feeding horses, riding four-wheelers, navigating dirt roads that constantly need repair, or enjoying the Edsito River bank and checking game cameras, and considering summer gardening projects. This is my normal... and yes, it is woven into a busy and vibrant ministry and motherhood and big family.... but it is still the modus operandi. It’s nothing like I ever imagined for myself.

Recently, I engaged in conversation about living in a community and what I was missing living out here. I get it. Neighborhoods offer conveniences we don't have every day. But our little town offers a different kind of community.  We don't have block parties, open garage night, golf cart friends, and neighborhood BBQs... But it is no less a community. Just different. 

It’s slower. More forgiving and ready to offer the benefit of the doubt, more brotherly - if someone's in need, we are all each other's keepers. Handshakes and lending a hand are still a thing... just because you have a hand. Sharing produce because of overabundance, buying eggs from the roadside stand for pay-what-you-can prices, and honor systems in place... And knowing our postal worker's first name and the local pharmacy doc feels like an old friend. In many ways, we still operate on a bit of a barter system without even thinking about it.

Pleas for help are answered with "Old Man Joe has what you're looking for," and "your neighbor has that piece of equipment," with no expectations of payment, just an unspoken "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" effort. 

A sheep goes missing — someone’s got a drone.
A dog shows up on the side of the road — everyone knows exactly who he belongs to.

Everybody has a little bit of land.
Most people have animals — and I don’t mean goldfish or a house cat.

It’s a whole different way of life.

This week, I found myself thinking about people from my past.

Where are they now?
What do their lives look like?
What paths have they taken?

For more than one of them, I had this thought:

I never would have imagined this life for them…

But then it hit me just as quickly—

They probably never would have imagined this life for me either.

Not in a million years. And honestly… I wouldn’t have either. But here I am.

In a town not much bigger than a postage stamp.
Living a life I never planned.
Doing things I never saw coming.

And yet… it fits.

Not perfectly and certainly not always easily, but purposefully.

Scripture says:

“The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.”

— Proverbs 16:9

I feel that so deeply when I think about how I ended up here. Because if you had asked me years ago what my life would look like… this wouldn’t have been it. Not even close. But God saw something I didn’t. He knew the kind of life that would grow me. He knew the kind of place that would ground me. He knew the kind of rhythm that would shape our family. And He led me here — one step at a time and without revealing the whole map at once. Just the next right step.

“The Lord will guide you always…”

— Isaiah 58:11

When I drive these 35-mile-per-hour roads or navigate pot holes and wild chickens, I don’t feel like I ended up somewhere randomly. I feel like I was brought somewhere intentionally. This life might not have been the one I imagined... But it’s the one God is writing, and it’s better than anything I would have planned for myself.

"Now to Him who can do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us."                                              — Ephesians 3:20

 

Where in your life has God taken you somewhere you never expected? How has He been faithful to prove that His plan is always good?

Lord, thank You for guiding my steps even when I don’t see the full map. Help me trust the places You lead me, even when they look different than what I imagined. Teach me to find contentment and purpose in the life You’ve given me, knowing that Your plans are always better than my own. Amen.

Until next time, keep following the Plott, and I will be praying for us all. 💛