I love the saying ‘good things come to those who wait.’ When you live simply and ‘live on less’, patience becomes an important characteristic to cultivate. Sometimes you need to wait for what you want and then when it comes it’s all the sweeter!
For many years I have wanted a wooden rocking chair. One that was comfortable and beautiful at the same time. Every time I saw one at our local thrift stores, it was very expensive. (Some of our thrift stores around here seem way over-priced.) When I was pregnant with Bracken we found a wood rocking chair that we loved and it was priced pretty reasonably, but we didn’t have the extra money for it that day. I went back to get it later and it had already sold. Oh well.
Yesterday we went to town to run errands. Jeff wanted to stop by the thrift store to check for some things. Right as we pulled up, we saw a load of furniture that had just been dropped off. I spotted a wooden rocking chair. It was such a new arrival, that it hadn’t even been priced yet. I stayed in the truck to take care of Bracken. Jeff got out to go see how much it was. As he walked over, the lady stuck a price tag on it. I watched out the window as he sat in it and rocked. I watched his facial expression and wondered- is it comfortable? and how much is it?
Jeff came over with the news. It was $7.99. Yes, seriously!! (He had tried to hide his excitement till he got to the truck because he loves to surprise me.) The lady told him there was too much stuff and they didn’t have enough room for it so she had to price it all to sell quick. I sat in it. It was comfortable! We were pretty darn excited! It was missing a dowel along the back, which Jeff said he could easily fix. I didn’t even mind it missing and was fine with it the way it was. The seat was very wide and felt so good to sit in. It was low to the ground so your feet could easily reach the ground to rock. All made of real wood. The timing of it all was so beautifully synchronistic. We were definitely ‘on the flow’ as we like to say. And the price…. sweet!
After buying it, we realized one obstacle. Our neighbor was moving and we had just loaded up the back of the truck with a load of firewood, among other treasures, not to mention a bale of hay for the goats. There was literally no more room. How were we going to get it home?
Well, our neighbor had also given us a cedar shelf for our greenhouse (Thanks Brandon!) which we couldn’t fit in the back either because it was too big. Jeff bungy-corded it on the roof. So, Jeff took that rocking chair and bungy-corded it to the roof too. And we drove happily home.
The rocking chair on the roof of the truck
Last night I sat next to the woodstove and rocked Bracken in it. He loved it. The rungs along the back are the perfect size for his tiny fists to grasp. I had his body up against mine, with his face over my shoulder. He happily held on to the wood while we rocked. Bracken loved rocking in it as much as I did. I could smell the applesauce Jeff was making on the woodstove from the apples I had peeled and froze in the fall.
I envisioned a cozy quilt on the back of the rocking chair. I envisioned knitting in it by the fire. And reading a good book. And nursing Bracken in it many times.
Every new mama needs a good rocking chair.
I had waited and mine had finally come!
What good things have come to you because you waited?
Just dabbling around on your blog this morning – love that you know to appreciate and cherish every journey, find, and moment . . . and delighted too by your story of woodland Bracken and the little people he sees.
taryn rocks! xo
Wendy-
Thank you for everything you said!! π
Oh my goodness! All your comments have brought me some huge smiles and my heart has been bursting with joy. Thank you!
I love hearing all the wonderful things that have come to you by waiting. And I appreciate your loving, supportive words.
Love to you all!!
Hi Wilsons,
I discovered your blog on Farmmama a couple of weeks ago(I don’t read blogs daily)and instantly was drawn to your family. So I decided to read your blog from the beginning. It has been an incredibly wonderous journey. Just keep doing what’s right for your family and never mind what the “normal” people say. Remember “normal” is boring and usually not right with nature. π You have made me smile a lot. I especially enjoyed the story of Bracken and the spirit folk. Now if more people would open their hearts they would find more happiness like your family has. You and Jeff keep up the good work of following your hearts.
Love Wendy from Northern Maine
i love this story!
this happens for us all the time – every single time we have said we want or need some such item, it’s always appeared second-hand eventually
sometimes, though, we’ve gotten tired of waiting and bought the item new – and then it invariably appears somewhere just after – and usually of better quality and cheaper or free…
good lesson for us, there…
π teri
Wow I am so happy for you, how exciting, you made my heart smile as I read your post, you are so deserving!!! ENJOY ENJOY ENJOY and ROCK, ROCK, ROCK!!
Val
Hi Taryn,
That’s great !! I’m so glad you found a wonderful rocker and the price how awesome ! Stuff doesn’t happen like that very often, you all were meant to be right there at that time.
Dawn (in Arkansas (new friend on Facebook)
What a beautiful story to accompany your lovely new chair. It is so true that the waiting makes it so much sweeter in the end!
What a sweet find! Enjoy that rocking chair and now you can really rock out to Daisy May! π
Lovely story – a real find and treasure is indeed worth the wait!
Great story!
Wonderful! I KNOW that if we believe in something, if we want something, and picture it in our minds, feel it in our hearts, it will come to us. Thank you for sharing this & enjoy your rocking chair!!
The chair is beautiful.
Good moring, Taryn,
I have a similar rocking stair story, but I had to wait until I was pregnant with our second child.
A lot of furniture we got because we have waited. We have a “one piece house”, differnt chairs, different shelves…, but I like it.
When I am not really certain how to decide something, it often helps to wait for a while and then suddenly it (fortune, heaven) shows the right way.
Have a sunny day
Heike
Hi Taryn
I also found your blog thru farmama, what a fantastic bargain. Here in Oz we call them ‘op shops’ (short for opportunity). I also found a rocking chair a couple of months ago after wanting one for such a long time. All the kids love it, I have to wait my turn these days.
Have a lovely day!
Both my children were nursed on a rocking chair, which I still have to this day. And as they grew and got heavier, the swinging motion assisted in “getting out” of the chair LOL
Best item of furniture I ever bought.
Your new rocking chair is great….and the price….amazing! Hope it brings you much rocking enjoyment. Also love your little animals….You, Jeff, Bracken and pets make such a sweet family!
This story makes me nearly giddy! Heehee! Congratulations on your special new rocking chair! I love the story that goes with it.
Such an old fashioned, yet timeless, feeling to be rocking your baby by the woodstove, or knitting, or reading.
Thanks for sharing a description of that sweet moment. π
I’ve had lots of wonderful things come to me because I’ve waited. I’m a pretty patient person usually…and I’ve gotten many a free thing found out by the dumpster, and also jobs falling into my lap…but the first thing that came to mind was my trip to New Zealand when I was 18.
All throughout my childhood, my parents instilled the virtues of saving money by not allowing me to spend most of the gift money I was given, or my allowance. I had to put it all into savings for ‘something’ when I got older. I didn’t know what I was saving for, but they assured me I would want something big once I got to be old enough.
And sure enough, when I turned 18 I got to decide what to spend all my long-saved money on. I decided to fulfill a pie-in-the-sky dream to backpack around New Zealand by myself and go spelunking into The Lost World cave in Waitomo, which I’d seen in pictures on so many calendars growing up (our friends in NZ send us a calendar each year).
So 18 years of saving really was worth it. SO many times I wanted to spend that money, but because I had to wait…it built up enough to buy me something very awesome.
And now I’m *really* good at saving money, hah!
Thanks for sharing your story Taryn π
Love reading your blog. Found you through the Farmama blog. We shop at thrift stores bunches. If patient, we too seem to find just what we need. Just yesterday, a pair of hiking shoes, hardly worn, and just my size appeared for me. I had been patiently watching all winter, and here they are, just in time for Spring hiking. Thank you bountiful universe!