The Farm

Rex and I just got back from camping at his grandparents' farm, and now we are getting ready to move out of our first apartment! I am so sad about that.

The farm was a blast, though. I loved it. After Rex had been talking it up for four years, I really wasn't sure that it would live up to the hype. Fortunately, it far surpassed my expectations.

May I first clarify, though, that "the farm" is not actually a farm. I have no idea whatsoever on why they call it that. There are no farm animals, and there are no fields to till. There is no farm. There is, however, a lovely vegetable garden and eighty acres of woods to hike through. That is, somehow, a farm. Hmmm...

My favorite part of the farm is that I have decided it is magical. Somehow, when you are at the farm, time stops and nothing else matters except for what is going on at that very moment. It puts things into perspective and makes you realize what is actually important in life and what is never going to matter. I think a big part of this is Rex's grandparents. They are AMAZING. If I can be half that cool when I am their age, I will have a successful life. It is weird, though, because this weekend severely challenged my definition of "success." The Webb grandparents are SO happy with their lives and have a completely fantastic existence out on the farm. If I could move there right now and live there forever, I would. Seriously. And while I would classify them as "highly successful," the world probably would not. They live in the city they grew up in, Grandpa never graduated from high school, and neither one of them graduated from college. They are not fantastically wealthy, but they have enough to get by and don't really need any more. They have never really traveled - Grandma said that the only trip she ever went on was to New York City once on her senior trip. Yet, despite lacking these things that society tells you that you "need" to be happy, they are completely joyful and fulfilled. I mentioned that to Rex, and he (because he is so wise) said, "Of course they are, because they know that love is all that matters in life. Love for God, love for your family, love for each other. If you have that, nothing else is really going to matter." He is right. He is TOTALLY right. Life is based on love (not just romantic love, but all types of love), and it sort of makes everything else look quaint in comparison. People can run around traveling and trying to accumulate more and more money and degrees and experiences, but ultimately, without love it is all going to come up empty. It says so in 1 Corinthians 13:2. "IF I HAVE THE GIFT OF PROPHECY AND CAN FATHOM ALL
MYSTERIES AND ALL KNOWLEDGE, AND IF I HAVE A FAITH
THAT CAN MOVE MOUNTAINS, BUT HAVE NOT LOVE, I AM
NOTHING."

Rex and I had a BLAST throwing rocks into a creek, walking along trails, and just sitting under the stars and talking by the fire. There was no facebook, e-mails, cell phones, or other distractions to get in the way. It was just...life. The way it was meant to be lived: simple and happy.