I was driving yesterday on the highway and looking into the huge expanse of sky -- baby blue with huge, full fluffy clouds.  It went on forever.  Then I'd glance back down and see factories, electrical lines, billboards, and the airport.  It made me yearn for vast cornfields, prairies, mountains -- more signs of God's work. 

Generally I love living in the suburbs.  I'm walking distance from 5 churches (including my own), a grocery store, 2 drugstores, many fast food chains, and a multitude of other small businesses, parks, and amenities.  I am a short drive from anywhere and anything. 

However, I have moments where I long for the quiet life of my grandparents' farm when I was growing up.  Standing on the tree swing, pretending I was wonderwoman.  Stealing into the forbidden barn where the mother cat had just had kittens.  Climbing up various pear and apple trees, carrying down whatever I wanted in my pockets.  And the farming of the small land with my grandfather in his overalls.  Picking green beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, corn, etc and watching as my grandmother turned them into canned goods for the winters ahead.  I used to pretend that the small stairway that led up to my room was like the one in Little House on the Prairie -- and that I was in a flannel gown and bonnet. 

It was a good childhood.  So many memories of those years. 

Which brings me back to the longing I feel for wide open spaces.  To have a little land of my own.  Maybe a cow and a chicken or two. 

But I'm happy with where I am.  I have a roof over my head which God will continue to provide.  I have a lovely big kitchen that is reluctantly putting up with me as I learn how to bake.  I have a small backyard which provides me with a stray tomato if I'm extra careful.  I have a home with a family contained inside of it -- and although I may dream of a more simple (I am not saying easy!) life, I can still appreciate my own.