Greenhouse – Page 2 – The Herbal Hare Tomestead and Animal Sanctuary

“I waited patiently for God to help me; then He listened and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out from the bog and the mire, and set my feet on a hard, firm path and steadied me as I walked along. He has given me a new song to sing, of praises to our God” (Psalms 40:1-3)

I have one week to come up with $989 for the next mortgage payment or the homestead goes into foreclosure. The current job has cut me back to 12 hours’ per week; the previous job wouldn’t have kept me up-to-date either. I had an interview for a position yesterday. It’s another part-time position, but one that I can work while continuing at the greenhouse…provided they don’t decide I’m seasonal and I lose even the 12 hours in the coming weeks. I start training for the new position on September 16th; I don’t get paid until after training. Then the money is decent and will, hopefully, keep us afloat. But it’ll be too late for the homestead…unless the mortgage company is willing to negotiate another modification.

I’m not sure they will.

And, yes, I’ve read “The Secret”. I know about manifestation. Maybe there’s something to it. Maybe it’s “Pshaw!”. Maybe there’s too much angst in my heart for the basic principles of “The Secret” to work. Either way, I’ve also read the Bible numerous times. I know what my faith tells me I should be feeling, thinking, doing.

And I’m coming up empty.

Maybe He has something bigger in mind for me down the road. I hope so. Maybe this new something will be the dream homestead: off-grid; enough acres to grow my own hay; room for more goats to start my brush clearing business; a greenhouse for growing food and spices, such as turmeric, cardamom, ginger and others, year-round for sale. Maybe the new something will provide room enough that I can provide a forever home for animals that have been abused and/or neglected. Maybe the new something will allow me to plant an extensive herb garden that I can teach from…and a backyard habitat to help mitigate the destruction modern-day progress has made of the natural world.

You see, when I’m down and out, I escape into my fantasies (or a book…and endless YouTube videos (sigh)).

I keep thinking, if I could only get back on my feet again, I would be unstoppable. But I’m drowning in debt and doubt and fear and futility.

Yes, futility.

I feel like all of the efforts I have made in the last 5 years to improve my credit rating, to pay down the debt, to build up the homestead to be a working endeavor have been in vain. Granted, the latter has been half-hearted out of fear that any efforts I make might also be futile if I eventually lose the property. The result has been over-grown and overwhelm. I keep spinning my wheels and getting nowhere. I don’t know what to do. I keep asking Him to take the reins, to drive this train wreck of a life, because I have no more fight left to put it back on track again.

I’m down.

I’m broken.

I’m done. Stick a fork in me.

And, underneath it all, I’m scared shitless. I thought I was done with this 5 years’ ago. How the hell, why the hell have I come around this full circle?

And, yes, I’m almost done with the woe-is-me-feel-sorry-for-me pity-party. I’m not so sure about the intermittent crying jag that’s running interference in the background. And I can’t promise there won’t be an F-bomb lacing this post further along…I’ll try to refrain.

I’m asking, but from where I’m standing, the answer seems cruel.

I’m seeking but I’m not finding.

I’m knocking but the door’s not opening.

And, most importantly, I’m angry. I didn’t ask for this. I didn’t ask to fall. I didn’t ask to fracture my shoulder. I didn’t ask to be jerked around by the previous company regarding the necessary time out to heal. I didn’t ask to be backed into a corner so that I was forced to resign…even if, in many ways, it was a blessing in disguise. Despite this desperate situation.

What’s that expression? When the going gets tough, the tough get going. I’m just not sure in which direction…except He’s asking me, I think, to go through this. Again.

I’ve been paralyzed by indecision over the years. Even after I righted the mortgage (or so I thought), I continued to waver. I’ve wanted to relocate. But I’ve got a lot of years in this house. Sure, it’s rundown and needs a ton of work, but it’s home. I have friends and family close by…even if they seldom call or come to visit. I have a church community that I’ve been active in and that I love. I’m close to the current job, even if it is part-time. I have a vet that I also love, who has been kind and caring and has given great care to my animals over the years. This is my world.

It’s familiar.

It’s comfortable.

And I’m not 25 anymore. I am the poster “child” for proof that the older you get, the harder it is to change, to uproot and leave everything beloved and familiar.

Again, He’s asking me (I think) to step out of my comfort zone and trust Him. Really trust Him.

I have trust issues even on a human scale.

So where do I go from here?

The song, “What If I Gave Everything” by Casting Crowns is running a steady monologue in my head. What if I did give everything? What if, despite this seemingly impossible situation, I poured my whole self into building the homestead of my dreams…wherever it lands? Or even if it winds up staying where it is? To hell with the toe in the water. What if I plunged in right here, right now? What if I stopped waiting for the perfect conditions to be that “unstoppable”? And, more importantly, what if I stopped trying to reason everything out with my limited human understanding?

Maybe the only thing really stopping me is, well, me. Somebody, please, push me out of my own way (heavy sigh).

May God bless you & keep you!

Works Cited

Casting Crowns (2016). “What If I Gave Everything.” The Very Next Thing. Beach Street Records.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/9fymzf-medical-leave

“And I will bring my people Israel back from exile. They will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit” (Amos 9:14).

I feel like He’s grooming me for something. I know that sounds rather big-headed but I feel like there’s something happening in my life, this shift taking place. Things are falling into place. Skills needed now have a teacher for learning them. I feel awed. And I’m trying not to give in to the voice of fear that typically looks at changes and shifts and The Unknown and wants to run screaming into the hills. If nothing else, I’m finally allowing myself to trust Him.

The previous blog talked about how Mom and I did some pleasure shopping this past weekend. For everyone who has been following this blog, such a statement must sound a bit strange. There’s been repeated “Go Fund Me” links in my blog, on my Facebook and Linked In pages. From January until May of this year, we have pretty much been living off of savings, the much-needed help from local food pantries and the kindness and generosity of family and friends. Truth be told, the Go Fund Me campaign is still on. Though I am back to work, we are not out of the woods yet. There’s a mountain of medical bills piled up owing to my medical insurance giving me a hard time about paying them. It appears that only one doctor in this group of orthopedics is in their network but not his colleague in the same office (how is that possible???) But that’s neither here nor there. Saturday’s shopping was actually a carefully budgeted investment in the homestead…and a small celebration over being back at work.

And, as blogged about earlier, work is no longer living history. I’ve gone from overseeing an extensive collection of rare and heirloom herbs to potting an extensive collection of rare and exotic plants. I am now working in a greenhouse. And here is where some new skills are being learned, skills that will further my effectiveness as a homesteader. While I’m merely potting and transplanting seedlings into larger pots for sale, I’m also working alongside propagators, learning the ins and outs of how to grow plants from the ground up. I’m learning about different soil types and the different needs for each plants. We grow herbs, too. While it may not be quite as glamorous as the last job–no historical facts to learn, no acting required–it is proving to be oddly satisfying. Somehow, just sticking another tag into the soil on a flat of perennials feels like the greatest of accomplishments. In short, I find I really like what I’m doing. And I seem to be pretty good at it (albeit, I was a good interpreter, too!).

I don’t think it’s any secret that I’d love to have an aquaponics’ system here on the homestead “someday” and, barring that, I would love to at least have a greenhouse where I could grow some spices, like cardamom and turmeric, that like warmer climates. I don’t know the first thing about greenhouses and caring for plants in such an environment. Yet He’s provided the perfect opportunity to learn more. We don’t have an aquaponics’ system at my job but we do have the heat-loving spices. It’s a start. And it’s a fine source for the plants themselves once I get to that place where a greenhouse is feasible…or I just decide that a few potted plants will suffice for my own personal needs.

Now if I can only figure out how to keep the dirt out from under my nails…lol!

May God bless you & keep you!

Category: Greenhouse

And the Window Opens…