Start at the very beginning…

What exactly is the beginning? Is it when I was in elementary school and loved to play “house,” or in high school when I spent at least one night a weekend babysitting, or when I went off to college and just knew that my calling was to be an elementary school teacher, or during college when I met my future husband and worried that I was not worthy of his romanticism, or eight years later when I finally said yes and married him, or two years after that when I cried every time the pregnancy test was negative, or two years after that when IVF was unsuccessful and I felt like a failure for not wanting to go through that again, or a year later when we went through marriage counseling and I tried to come to terms with never being a mother, or five years after that when we started the training to become foster parents, or one year later when we had our first foster placement, or one and a half years later when we adopted our first child, or six months later when we adopted our second child, or a year later when we realized that parenting these children would be more complicated than we thought…

Life is never what we imagine it to be. And yet it manages to be everything we need. I might argue that I don’t “need” the daily struggles of parenting these cherubs, but God clearly knows more than I do. And I clearly still have a lot more to learn about love and life.

When I married Rob, I knew I was marrying into the “Apple Dynasty” – five generations before us had farmed this land, and we were expected to keep the “pick-ur-own” tradition going. Of course, I thought this would be our responsibility as we neared retirement from our own careers…but life has a funny way of taking your meticulously laid out plans, giving them the middle finger, and throwing you a curve ball that you have no choice but to catch. And so…we are (part-time) farmers with full-time careers outside of farming, who are responsible for two children with special needs, two dogs who love to lick and hate to listen, a few sweet but senseless chickens, two bossy ducks, two donkeys who may or may not epitomize the definition of “asses,” one one-eyed pony, and a handful of barn cats with serious “tude.”

Being a Stribling – while wrought with responsibility – means being part of a village…thank God! This village is full of love…and full of song. Before every family meal we sing the “Stribling Grace,” which is really just the Johnny Appleseed song…”Oh, the Lord is good to me. And so I thank the Lord, for giving me the things I need, the sun and the rain and the apple seed. The Lord is good to me!” Hence the name of this blog…The Sun, The Rain, and The Appleseed. It also reflects the amazing bright moments our children bring to our lives, the challenges that often make us cry, and the hope we have for sowing the seeds of grace, love, and faith in the journey.

Thanks for following along on the journey with us. We hope you find comfort, laughter, knowledge, camaraderie, and hope along the way!