May this home be firmly built upon faith

We have spent these past summer holidays in some beautiful parts of Australia with people that we love dearly.  Now we are firmly deposited back home in Roma and I must admit I sometimes ponder why we love living here so much, and a lot of people ask us often 'Gawd ... why on earth do you live in Roma' {grimmace face}?  

It is remote for us (I don't think we have another blood relative within about 800kms and it is hot a lot of the time, really hot and dry.  Our garden has a lot of fleabane weed which is proving near impossible to kill, we have planted hundreds of trees which take ages to grow, if they survive,  because it is so hot and dry and freezing cold in winter, and we still have so much work to do on our little property to bring our dreams to fruition. The vision is GRAND!!  

I admit to dreaming about living in a cute cottage in the breathtakingly beautiful hills of Bellingen, or just somewhere that is a wee bit cooler and greener and within maybe 200kms of the beach.  Why do we feel most complete and happy living at Herbgully in Roma? 

There are so many reason we continue to happily live here, the gorgeous country school our girls go to, the passionate, kind and very proactive teachers and parents, oh and the girls dance teacher and singing teacher are both overflowing with kindness and talent and give of their time so generously and the volunteers who teach them touch football and netball are the best.  They have so many opportunities to learn and grow and express themselves freely and they are loved.  Our Church, oh my goodness our Church is beautiful and the Church family that exists within its walls we love with all our heart. We have celebrated numerous baptisms, Christmas and Easter Services and birthdays together.  We have been through pain and disappointments and frustrations and grief but we keep doing life together, it is real and hard and teaches us about faithfulness. 

The people we have met during our time in Roma are some of the most inspiring, kind, loving and funny friends we have ever met and just this week I have met two more beautiful souls who are sharing their knowledge and wisdom with me.   People come and go from Roma all the time, which has caused us much heartbreak because we have loved many of them deeply (you know who you are) but we will be friends for life and we look forward to meeting those who we will cross paths with this year. 

The beauty of Roma is not instantly apparent, you need to look for it, you need to slow down and feel it, you need to take the time to love the people, you need to choose to see the good and the positive. This tough climate breeds tough people so it can seem harsh and off putting to begin with but the strength of spirit is second to none. The circumstances that bought us to Roma twelve years ago are funny and very hard to explain and I believe it was deeply spiritual.  
I don't know much about the ancestors of this great land but I think they were probably very happy, strong, healthy, wise and content here before the invasion, and I think they may have lived good lives and their energy remains in the earth.  

Then there is the town name itself, Roma.  Roma was named after Lady Diamantina Bowen (Contessa Diamantina di Roma), what a magnificent name that has great and powerful energy. Diamantina was described as "pretty" but tempered perhaps by the remark "her beauty being in her expression rather than her features", just like Roma the town.  She was described as slender but graceful and coming from an aristocratic family she had a privileged well-educated upbringing.  She could play the piano and sing well.  Diamantina spoke English well but with a slight accent and it is claimed she spoke with her husband at home in her native Italian. All these wonderful qualities have been bestowed on our town because of the name.

Considering only about 8000 people live in Roma obviously a vast majority of people do not feel the same as us, we love doing life in Roma and feel incredibly blessed.