Reflection on our home

I was doing something outside of our garden the other day, and as I walked back toward the cottage I saw the large poplar and oak trees in a way that I hadn't before.  I was standing back, seeing the whole tree and the whole picture!  They're lovely and green and majestic and strong - like a covering over our little home which is nestled in between them.  Previous to this day I had only seen the trees as bothersome and ugly.  I was only seeing them close up with all their dead branches in clear view.  But from further away I could see them from a different perspective - taking in the beauty of the whole.

For the first time I can see our home as being so beautiful and inviting in its entirety..... I could see a hope and a future in it as well.  Since moving here I have often struggled with feeling secure in my home - in the sense that we don't know how long we can live here.  My fear came from the fact that our landlady is very old and if anything happened to her, it could mean that we would need to move on.  But this is only based on the natural and I really can not know what would happened if she passed away.  However, the other day, when I saw the big trees over our house, I felt God's reassurance or even His heart for us being here - His presence over our home.

I am looking forward to the New Year and all that it will bring.  We will welcome our first child into our home, becoming a little family.  I am so thankful and joyful and excited to meet this little one and embrace all the changes that will come with them!



Our local kangaroos, hanging out in the rain, outside our front door. 

My first attempt at home-made tomato sauce... without sugar!

 Our sunflower seedlings - I got frustrated with the few packet seeds that I tried twice to sow and which didn't sprout, so I threw in a handful of seeds that I had saved from our sunflowers at Stuart Road!

The cottage from the north-west, showing the large poplar tree on the right, another one to the front left (in the middle of the picture), and the big oak tree on the left-handside.