On the farm, there are alarms before my own alarm beckons. The rooster crows. The birds are singing. Sounds that soothe in such a way that I want to stay cozy in bed to soak in the sounds.
I'm reminded that God is good and has gifted me a new day. His mercies are new every morning and I cling to that.
I get out of bed and place my feet on the bamboo rug, wash my face, and head down to greet Piet the farmer and Isaac the other volunteer on the farm. We casually gather at the outdoor table to eat locally made bread and our own homemade jam. We usually have juice made from the fruits growing in abundance on the farm or we make herbal tea from a variety of plant leaves just outside the front door.
Then we get our work boots on and hi ho hi ho it's off to work we go. Planting, harvesting, weeding, building compost piles, harvesting the rich soil of forest floor, learning how to use the margins as valuable resources. Doing laundry by hand and hanging it out to dry. Cooking food with the wood-fueled rocket stove.
This simple farm life that is minimally dependent on fossil fuel energy sources requires more time for simple activities like cooking and laundry, that I took for granted doing with speed and ease in the U.S.
There is something about slowly washing your clothes by hand and hanging them out to dry that makes you feel closer to the way your ancestors lived. Before we were bombarded with materialism and fast-paced living that overwhelms so many today.
Living this way helps me better understand what is really important. Community, food, water, shelter. Everything else is excess, and often burdensome on our souls. I guess transportation could be included, but at this farm there are no cars. We take the bus (which is very cheap in Ecuador) or we walk. On my own dream farm, I would have my trustee friend of a horse to ride into town on. :)
I admire Piet who came to Ecuador from Belgium some 30 years ago to buy land that he wanted to turn from ashes to beauty. And he did just that. This beautiful 15 hectares of tropical forest was once burned to a crisp. Piet has been passionately restoring this land by planting for the last 30 years. Now birds and bees and all kinds of life have returned. And the fruits of Piet's labor are abundant.
Back home in the United States, I felt burdened but also blessed. I was living a life that was hum drum, working odd jobs that didn't fuel my passion to live a farming-based communal life. I lived with a wonderful group of friends in a home that was lovely and comfortable. The blessings were abundant in that season but still I was feeling called to break away from comfort to continue to discover more of my self and God's call on my life. I guess I took it to the extreme by going to a farm in Ecuador!
I have flashbacks of the comforts of life in the U.S. Here in Ecuador, life is often primitive and not as squeaky clean as I'm used to. But I also find it comforting to be around people who live differently and to experience life as they do.
Today is Sunday and we have the day off. So I relish in resting. Reading. Enjoying the marvelous nature around me. Writing. Processing the complexity of my soul and my place in this crazy, and beautiful, world.
There are very strange and unsettling things happening in the world now. I'm learning how to be aware but to remain hopeful in God's redemptive plan for humanity.
How are you feeling today? I hope you'll take time to be still and honor where you are at in life, whether in joy or suffering or both.
One day at a time. One step at a time. There is hope, always.
With love,
Kari-Lise
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