It was so exciting, our dream of moving to the country seemed like it was going to come true. My parents had brought three beautiful acres in the country, and it would not be long before we left the city life for the peace and quiet of the country. My father was so excited that he every time we visited the he would pull down a few of the thin trees that would easily give way.
He even went to the store and purchased a chain saw so he could cut down and clear the land.
We were all full of hopes and dreams. Almost every week we would make the near 80-mile drive so we could spend a few minutes staring at our country property and imagine what it would look like once our land was cleared. Having watched multiple, You Tube gardening and homesteading channels, with their amazing overhead drone footage, we had started looking for a drone so we could get some amazing before and after footage of our little homestead.
And we were daydreaming about what type of chicken coup and run we might put on our propety,
the mango trees we would buy,
what our raised garden beds might look like,
and so much more.
I remember how happy we were as sat in the car looking upon our little piece of heaven on earth picturing the day when we would be able to walk out our door and gather fresh eggs, tomatoes, potatoes, mangoes, blueberries, strawberries, and more.
At that moment the dream seemed so real. It felt like we were only a heartbeat away from making our dearest wishes come true.
That was until the fateful day that my father went to knock down a tree and went flying onto the ground and broke two ribs. For weeks he slept on a chair in the living room, with his legs on the ground. This was a terrible mistake as it was not long before the fluid began to pool in his legs. Within a couple of weeks of the accident his legs were three times their normal size.
Eventually his ribs healed, but the damage caused by the accident never went away. His legs were permanently swollen. It was not uncommon that after taking a pill to reduce fluid that he would lose 20 or more pounds from the fluid retention in his legs. Thanks to the added weight it was harder and much more painful for him to walk. Even previously simple acts like getting into the van became a workout as he spent several minutes figuring out how and then struggling to lift up his legs to get them inside of the van.
After that fateful day, my father’s health quickly began to crumble. Over the next couple of years he began to spend more and more time sitting in a chair. I tried hard to get him to move, but the pain the pain and uncertainty of where to put his swollen feet he finally reached the point where he was afraid to walk around his backyard for fear of falling.
We clung to the dream as long as we could. But between the struggle to get a home on our vacant lot and the declining health of my father, the sad day came when we made the painful decision to put our dream land for sale. Even though I was spending hours searching for a used home with a little bit of land, the blow was too much for my father. Living in the country had been his lifelong dream. It was one of the last dreams that he had clung too, and when it was gone, a big part of his reason for living went with it. Until the day came when chronic pain, diabetes, and a damaged liver finally took their toll.
As the Sabbath prepared to come to an end, he breathed his last. His battle was over, and his search for the perfect country home had come to an end. In a little while, at the sounding of the trumpet, he will wake from his dusty slumber. He will rise to meet his blessed Lord. In that glorious land where the sting of death is no more, where thorn and thistles are unknown, and pest and disease will be forgotten, he will at last enjoy his lifelong dream. where, surrounded by those he loves, he will walk out his front door and pick his breakfast, fresh from the bountiful trees, that like him, will never again have an end.
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