I (Ruth)
have never set up housekeeping in my passport nation, as incredulous as that
may seem. And so when retirement began to loom, I sensed a bit of panic/fear of
living on my own in the not-so-familiar culture of my “home town.” I’m still a
farm girl at heart despite the fact that for most of our career in missions we
have lived in cities, especially Manila, which now boasts of over 12 million
people, and even Kampala with more than a million people. So I naturally
thought about my 2nd brother who owns several apartments on his
property which is known as the Crazy H Farm. (He makes his living off the farm but puts in more than "full-time" to keep the farm with quite a variety of animals running smoothly.) There were no empty apartments but Peter
immediately offered to make an apartment in his basement, something he has been
planning to do sometime anyway. I breathed a great sigh of relief that I could
at least start in a rural safe place.
Due
to a number of circumstances, Peter had not been able to finish the basement
apartment by the time I arrived, but graciously offered for me to stay with
them until it was finished. Within a few days, I was finding delight in helping
take care of chicks and hens and especially helping his daughter with her
amazing market gardens, primarily watering the greenhouse and helping with
weeding. That has been wonderful God-ordered therapy for me as I have eased
into this period of huge transition.
Within
the first week of my arrival, one of the tenants of a one-bedroom apartment
rather suddenly vacated. Unfortunately, there was repair work needed before it
could be rented again—which meant Peter had two apartments to prepare amid these
extremely busy summer months. So we talked together and it was agreed that he
prioritize the recently vacated apartment (which required less work) and I would move into that, taking
the pressure off to finish the basement apartment for now. So, God has provided
a win-win in every way. I can get settled more quickly without adding to Peter’s
work load as he tries to get the haying and pasturing done…and a 1,000 other
things! What a gift to be able to live close to family and be part of a fun and
busy farm—God knows His daughter through and through and provides so perfectly!
