Thank you God

We moved from having Arkansas Children's Hospital a couple miles away to a four hour round trip once a month, from stores and restaurants open late every day, job opportunities abounding, movie theaters, concerts and symphonies and movie night at the river with over a thousand people parked on the grassy hill by the river in Little Rock. There was a sense of living in a town of over sixty-two thousand and being completely disconnected from each of them.


There were times near the end of our stay away that I could almost feel sunshine sparkling on Lake Greeson and feel the gentle swing of porch swing that kept our secrets,  heard our laughter and held many deep family discussions.


It was time to come home... time to raise our children with the same values given us by our parents and friends' parents.


My wonderful husband and I were fortunate enough to return home, completing our family with our combined six children. The stable grounded life has helped all of our children flourish and has reminded me that sitting in the yard with the smell of rain rolling in is a peaceful place to be. Knowing we are are an hour or less from both sets of our parents is peace of mind unparalleled.


We moved back to the church I grew up in, many of the same church members that our own children are growing up with, a community that raised many of us together, knowing that no matter what happened or who we were with, our secrets would travel on the wind and those same secrets would beat us home.


We moved back to quiet country roads, ice cream by the dip at Dunlap's, lazy days at the lake, time at the Caddo River, jumping off Turtle Rock at Lake Greeson and into the realm of the fantastic Dr. Mark Floyd. We also moved back to an area of several small towns that made up a strong sense of community with a huge heart that pulled together as needs arose to raise anywhere from $14,000-$68,000 for any number of community causes from the family of an extremely ill child to our first ever successful Relay For Life.


Bright lights, big city? It was a learning experience, trial by fire and taught us both much about who we were and what we were capable of. It built intestinal fortitude and I proved to myself that I am capable, willing and able to take care of our family.


I was once told there was more to life than sitting in the front porch swing watching the world go by. True, but there's so much more to life than traffic jams, crowds, and big city life.

Watching the kids ride bikes in the yard, catch lightning bugs in the night and the peace of mind that comes from knowing that when the kids spend the night with a friend that they are safe with people we grew up with...this is my peace of heaven on earth.