Friday, September 25, 2015

Growing up in "Small Town USA"

               I was born and raised in a small town. To the people in surrounding cities we were all labeled as farmers; because we do have a lot of farm land where I am from. But only a hand full of families actually farm. One of those families happens to be my boyfriend’s family, so within the last two years or so I have spent a lot more time out in the country than ever before in my life. My mother however is not an “outdoorsy” person, so I have always lived in a neighborhood full of other families; and I am so grateful for that because I had so many friends to play with.  I would not change my childhood for anything. Living in a small town allowed me, my friends and my siblings the ability to roam freely through the neighborhoods, and play outside at our hearts content. We spent all of our free time playing outside. When we heard our dad whistle we knew it was time to go inside for supper. My fondest memories of growing up are all based around things us neighborhood kids would do together outside.
                Our summer times were spent outside on bikes, roller blades, and on our feet. I cannot count the number of walks we went on. Nor can I count the numerous times we would all hop on our bikes and ride a little over a mile away to our local ice cream parlor for a cold treat. When fall would approach the colder temperatures would not deter us from doing exactly what we did in the summertime. Only in the fall we would wear more layers. We enjoyed raking each neighbor’s yard and jumping in all of the leaves. The bitter cold winters had the ability to keep us glued to the television at times. But the day’s I remember best are the ones when the snow plow would come down our street and push all of the snow from our cul de sac onto the two sides of the “dead end street” (as we liked to call it). After the plow did the heavy lifting for us we would create the most epic snow forts. Even though I did not live near the woods or out in the middle of nowhere, I had plenty of Mother Nature to enjoy while growing up.

             


                  To this day there is nothing like being outside to me. If I am having a bad day I would much rather be outside rather than inside because everything just seems better when you are standing out in the fresh air. It has a way of making me feel like I’m at peace and not alone. A few years back I was at a bible study and we were discussing the verse Psalm 46:10, which reads “Be still and know that I am God.” And traditionally in a lot of churches people take that verse to mean go sit in a dark place alone with you and God. But we decided that the act of “being still” could look different for each person. One woman said it was when she was out in her garden. And as the years went on I have come to realize that “being still” for me is to be outdoors, in nature. I don’t have to be in the middle of the woods, but just the act of walking outdoors has that affect for me. Nature is peaceful and it really is a gift from God. 

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