Humboldt Fog!

Greetings from the Front Porch!

The fog has just lifted over the riverbed here in Humboldt County and I can see the cattle roaming the hillside, eating their morning breakfast of grass and hay while leaving a distinct odor that only a country girl could appreciate.


As much as I love nature, I do wish I were my front porch kissing my kids goodbye as they headed off to school rather then watching the cows grazing in the field. I missed starting the day with my husband and watching the sun peak its way through the trees across my street.


Many of you might remember that I was in Humboldt County back in September and October to help my ageing cousin out of a very abusive situation in a nursing home. She is now settled into the Sacramento area in care of some of the best nurses and doctors in the valley. However, because of the suddenness of her move she left behind her life, her home and friendships without even getting to say goodbye.






Living in the moment has allowed me to walk by faith in the care of my great cousin. Saying yes when I do not see past my two front feet takes faith in something bigger and stronger then me. This faith has grown stronger over the years, not based on anything great I have done but rather on what I have found in the moments I have chosen to be still before Him trusting that when He said “seek me and you will find me”, and I have.


As I drove through the Redwood forest yesterday, I was praying about the next four days and what they would look like. Again, only enough light was shed on the moment as I was driving towards my yes. What would I find? In addition, whom would I meet along the way? I had a brief outline of what needed to be done but nothing was set in stone in, a few notes I had jotted down before I left of what my cousin wanted me to bring back and some contacts she wanted me to make but that was about all I had on my agenda.






What I did know was this that it is always about the people, so, I was confident as I approached the property of my cousin that God was going to ask me to reach out to her neighbors and friends who had been such a huge part of her life for over many years. She had become a grandma to many of the now grown kids in the neighborhood as well as a sister and mother figure to the friends in her court.


She was ripped from that role suddenly because of her fall and lack of care in the home and was suddenly out of their lives. Many of them never getting the chance to say goodbye, one day she was there the next day she was gone. I come bringing a message from my cousin to her friends and neighbors, one that says, “In miss all of you and think about you daily.”


Therefore, this morning as I sit and reflect on my own front porch, I realize that I am called to go and be the front porch to those who were left behind that were such a big part of my cousin’s life. I have been called to connect well to her community of friends who never had the opportunity to get a last word, hug or even shed a tear of goodbye. I sit here watching the sunbeam boldly come down on the coast and wonder how many lives she touched from her Front Porch over the last 80 plus years.


It has been an honor and a privilege to be part of this season in her life. As much as I miss my own front porch, I will live in this moment, honoring her past and preparing her for her future for however short or long it might be.


Thank you all for your continued prayers, I will keep you updated as I take the front porch with me wherever I go!


Cris