Why Bountiful Life?

Why Bountiful Life? The short answer is that Bountiful  is the name of our property.

As a blog name, 'Life at Bountiful' didn't work because as our lives currently are, we aren't there full time. This blog is more about life since Bountiful came into our lives, an eventuality we certainly never imagined just a few short years ago.

It was 2016 and I still had two years to go of my six year Communications degree and had been working part time in the same job for about five years. I don't know if it happens to others when they hit their fifties but I was going through a time of thinking about the dreams I had always had, and whether the time had come to reassess and perhaps let some of them go. (And in reality, I was never going to be the fifth member of Abba, let's face it). I was a newly minted empty nester with some questions to ask about the way ahead.

A friend challenged to me to sit with God and ask Him to show me what my dreams were. (Yes, you can do cool things like that). In the past I have had many sessions where I have sat with magazines and scissors and paper and glue and as I leafed through each mag I've asked Him to lead me to the pictures or words He wants me to cut out. (I've always got an answer for my next step, so don't knock it 'till you've tried it).

The collage I created as a result, gave me some definite clues.



'Australian' featured prominently, and I took that to mean our next step was not overseas, but here at home.

There were also many references to rural, country and cosy, so I tucked that away too.

As I pondered over this in the weeks that followed, a picture began to emerge of having a place in the country where anyone who came would be able to experience His creation, and somewhere for me to create something beautiful too.

Fast forward a few months and a friend shared something that convicted me that I needed to let go of our home in Sydney, which was rented out. (Hubby had been ready for years, I was the one dragging my feet). I do get extremely attached to the homes I create, so this is never an easy process and one I don't let myself in for unless I'm sure God is out in front of me. Our home sold quickly, but what to do now? We are fortunate to live where we work, but it felt strange to not have a home to go to, a home that you plan someday your kids will bring their kids to.

We have a caravan, so my husband suggested we look for a patch of land somewhere within a couple of hours of work that we could escape to. This eventually led us to the beautiful Upper Lachlan Shire, and the mountainous scenery of The Great Dividing Range.

As we explored, our hearts began to change. We began looking for land with some sort of converted shed or old house on it that we could make our own. We were falling in love with this place.

When Bountiful came our way, we just knew. The price-tag frightened us because no longer were we talking weekender, this was more like an investing in another home. This inevitably brought thoughts of future retirement as friends and family began to ask if we intended settling there.

All we know is that right now, we are meant to be there. We are on the road to creating much of what appears in the collage I did with God. Somewhere cosy. Digging deeper as we construct gardens, plant trees and put our hearts into creating beauty. All the while drinking in the amazing view from our front verandah. I wanted big sky and I got it.

In one of my many conversations with God, He had told me that the property should be called Bountiful. I certainly hoped it would be! It wasn't until much later that I discovered it was one of the words He had led me to cut from the magazine for my collage. 'A departure from the ordinary' was another, so I've combined the two for this blog.

Bountiful is my departure from the ordinary, but what is ordinary, really?

Ordinary is life.

Though he wasn't the first to use the quote, John Lennon included the lyric "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans" in his 1980 song Beautiful Boy. I like to think that this blog is about the life that happens to me while we're busy creating Bountiful.

I hope it blesses you to be here.

Tracey 💝






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