Why, Hello There

Last week I wrote this really eloquent post about 'opening the door to a room that's been closed for nearly two months' in which I described the 'cobwebs and dust' and the room 'trying to get me to come back' and my arguments about 'tears and heartache and stories that can't be told'. Last night I re-read the draft and thought to myself, "How silly. Why don't you just  cut out the dramatics? Why don't you just say: A lot has happened. I can't talk about it. I want to get back to blogging. Here we go."

I like that a lot better than a creepy room with dust and cobwebs and a closed door.

Here we go.

    ----------------------------------------
Hi. My name is Bethany Eicher. I still live in Ohio with my husband, Chris, and our five children.

Chris and I,

at Calvary Bible School

this summer, 

where it all began 

Here we all are,

 in front of the cabin at CBS

where Chris and I

 spent our first night together. 

I wanted to try for a better

picture but it was all

I could do to persuade

some people

to even take one...

School has begun once again and this year finds me at home alone five days of the week.

First day of school

2019

I know. Unbelievable. Honestly? I am loving it. The quiet hours are just amazing and I feel slightly guilty every day for the amount of time I have on my hands to work on projects that have been pushed to the side for months. But I'm choosing to throw the guilt out the window and accepting each quiet day that I have as a special gift. These days could end at any time because several weeks ago we finally, finally became licensed for Foster Care.

Some day maybe I will tell you that whole story. Maybe. I'm not making any promises about anything right now. I've learned in the last six months that there are some things you just cannot write about. Sadly, I let that fact shut down my voice altogether. It's hard to be authentic and discreet; I finally convinced myself it was impossible. I'm still not sure how to make the two hold hands peacefully but I cannot stop writing. My soul has shriveled in these past months of silence and that is not what souls were meant to do.

A Fisher Price 'tag sale'...

The young entrepreneurs woke

up the next morning

to find $5 and a note saying

that daddy had bought

out the whole sale!

One of the projects I've been able to work on, in these golden, gifted days, is a dream that my mom had for years -- writing the birth story of the little mission church I was raised in in the hills of Arkansas. Ever since mom's death, we've been tossing this idea around that someone needs to write her book for her. My sister and I have finally... kinda-sorta-pretty-much... committed ourselves and it's been in that process of reading through stories and rewriting other's words that I've felt that spark again inside and I feel my soul breathing a sigh of relief.

So, here I yam. I know I don't owe any of you an apology, that all of you understand how life happens. But I have missed writing and interacting with you in this 'little room', if you will. Hopefully some of you are still hanging around to listen to my yammering and give me friendly encouragement after all this silence.

And now, it's a beautiful, glorious day outside and high time that I stepped out there and enjoyed some of it!