We're packing y'all! For everyone who kept us in your thoughts and prayers after I wrote this post,  thank you. God was so faithful to us, and we're in the process of buying a starter home that we love! We'll be moving about 15-20 minutes west of here, to a beautifully rehabbed 1870's home in West Chicago. It is the perfect stepping stone for us in this time in our lives; it will allow us to stay in the more immediate area for another 5 or so years, while moving us closer to ultimate farm dreams (both physically, as it is moving us westwardly, and as a necessary and welcome intermediary life phase). So while I may not be allowed to have chickens for a few more years (though you'd better believe I'll be working on having those city ordinances changed!), we will be acquiring a nice little yard with fruit trees and berry bushes and a couple of raised beds, all ready for us, and we're eyeing a nice spot on the roof that may just house a beehive or two eventually. The bigger house and little plot of yard will offer many wonderful opportunities for some suburban homesteading indeed!

We're not totally sure if we'll be closing on time (we were originally supposed to close this Friday), but we're crossing our fingers to at least close before our lease is up at the end of this month. Either way, we have to be out of here by June 1st! So we've gotten a head start on packing (with much thanks to my mother-in-law, who is a very skilled and motivating packer). It's a bittersweet time; we are excited to move, but it's sad to see three years of our life, and Indy's only home thus far, sliding down off the walls and into boxes. We've spent most of our married life here, celebrated three Christmases, brought home our first baby and found out we were expecting our second baby in this space. So many good meals around that diningroom table, so much careful creating of spaces, just so many memories. I don't know how it will feel when its finally empty and we walk through it that last time and drive away: probably pretty heart-breaking, for sure. 

Anyways, we've made good progress and still have quite a ways to go with getting all our things into boxes. We have collected a lot since we lived in that studio where our bed was in the closet! We'll no doubt get rid of some stuff, but probably on the unpacking side of things (it might seem counterintuitive, but its much easier for me to just mindlessly cram things in boxes and postpone worrying about the careful evaluation of what should go when we have the luxury of leisurely unpacking and sorting at the new house). I'll make sure to snap a few pictures after closing on the new house to share here, so stay tuned!

(This is a very common scene these days - it is Indy's favorite place in the house).

There are a lot of reasons that I think children are the natural result and an integral part of marriage, by God's design. I could wax on about why I think everyone who is able should have children early and abundantly (perhaps I will sometime soon), but for right now I will say only this: that having a child has (and is making me) a better person. It has become obvious to me that having Indy, and being a mother, is an integral part of my sanctification, my spiritual and personal growth.  Some of it is general, and similar to how I've always grown: through the facing and overcoming of challenges. When my patience is tested, I become more patient. Yes, you can have my last bite of apple pie. Yes, I will clean your pee off the floor. But the main way in which she is edging my spirit towards growth is unique to being a mother, and that is what I can only describe as the immense and holy weight of being responsible for the physical and spiritual well-being of another person. Mainly: I want to be better for her. Our children inherit many of our vices and virtues. The virtues will buoy them up, and the vices can drag them down and become an inheritance which they suffer under. If you think marriage sheds light on your weaknesses, wait until you have children! Being a mother insists that you no longer glide through life status quo; God will use your love for your children to fully illuminate your weaknesses. I want Indigo to be better than me, and therefore I have to be better than I currently am. There are so many things that are changing in me that would likely have been unbudgeable by any other motivation than that of motherhood. Being a parent is an excellent deterrent to stagnancy. 

Lately, as I've been thinking and engaging in conversation with Alan about the pursuit of raising children who are not shiftless, and can give a good handshake and look a person in the eye, I've become acutely aware of my own shyness and social downfalls. I'm not intentionally shiftless in social situations, but my own self-consciousness constantly gets the better of me, leaving me feeling misunderstood and with things unsaid. I have suffered under that burden for nearly my whole life. I don't want any of my children to know what it is like to have that tightness creep into your throat and turn your cheeks hot. I want to be intentional and bold in my relationships and conversations so that my children know no fear in that area. I probably could have gone on my whole life avoiding shaking peoples' hands during the peace at church if I didn't have little eyes watching me. 

At the end of it all, I'm left desiring more for myself and for Indigo, and knowing that only through God's work in me will I grow and change. I know I will never be perfect, and so always, always I find myself praying that the grace of God will go around me and before me to cover my weaknesses, forgive my mistakes, and fill my children.