Swing Sets and Honey

I've learned over time and much stubborness, that listening to my husband is best!

When we lived in Virginia, I did daycare in our home.  I was able to help our income and stay at home with my young boys.  Our first two homes, were rented.  Rent was so high, we decided to buy a home and the mortgage was less than our rent.  The only problem was, the price of house we could afford was usually a HUGE fixer-upper.  My husband is semi-handy but these were major projects!

The Lord provided us a home and we totally gutted it out and hired someone to fix it up for us.  One HUGE plus for me was that the house had a big yard.  It was very big for that area and it was totally fenced in.  I loved it! 

Once spring came, I got the urge to get a swingset for our yard.  I was determined to get one.  The only problem, Mark didn't want us to get one.  I tried and tried to talk him into it, "I'll use "my money" from daycare" ,  "It's a write off for my business",  "The boys NEED a swingset", etc.  We had a tree with two swings and he felt that was enough.  I couldn't get it out of my mind.  I wanted a REAL swingset!

I even went to the store and picked one how, but HOW was I going to sneak it past him?  I am REAL stubborn!

Then a few months later, due to church/school changes (Mark worked at a Christian school that was also part of the church we attended), we had to move.  We put our "brand" new house on the market!  It was so bittersweet.  We lived in it for a few months with EVERYTHING in it brand new and how we liked!  But we knew we needed to move on.

It hit me, we could never have brought a swingset with us.  We were moving to Michigan, living in a tiny two bedroom apartment on the second floor.  It would of been money spent on something we would of left behind!  God is so good!  Why was I being so stubborn?!?

I've seen it happen again and again in the years we've been married.  My stubborness to get my way and the Lord using Mark to protect me.

Since we've started eating better, I've always had the "itch" to keep bees.  When we lived in Maine, I wanted to get them.  God spared me from getting into it, we moved from there too. 

I've thought about it some while we've lived here.  There are many obstacles here.  One being bears, but I've seen people put electric fence up for that.

This past week, while at Shiloh in upstate NY, we stopped at a stand to buy some honey.  I went inside and the beekeeper was giving a tour of his bee business. Perfect timing!  I asked and asked tons of questions.  It seemed totally overwhelming to me!!  Yet I also had the urge to learn and get into it. 

Later that night,  I brought it up again to Mark.  He kindly said to me,  "You lack one thing"  (Great, I thought, now what?!),,, "time."    He just really reminded me how limited my time is right now to learn another hobby and keep up with another project.  I felt so relieved inside.  I WANT to keepbees and maybe make some extra money from it, but reality is that I'd probably spend alot more than I'd make right now.    The beekeeper we visited sold a 5 gallon bucket of honey for $100.  That is alot less than what I'd have to spend to get started and not near as time consuming!

I'm so thankful for a husband who looks out for us!  Now I need to just learn not to be so stubborn! :)