Ok, here’s another dilemma for you.

It’s been my dream since I was a child to live in the country, have lots of animals, and enjoy the wide open spaces.

My dream hasn’t yet come true, but I still yearn for that style of life.

But I’ve been thinking recently about what God’s plan might be for my life. Since we live in town, we are able to participate in lots of people’s lives. I can visit my grandmother every Sunday evening, I can give people rides to and from activities, I can establish relationships with our neighbors, I can stop by my parents’ house, etc. But if we move out into the country, we’ll have to consider trips into town more carefully. With gas prices so expensive, I won’t be able to justify zipping into town for every little reason. We won’t be close enough to people to share rides. We won’t live close to neighbors that we can get to know on a daily basis.

So what’s the right thing to do? If we are called to reach out to the world and be “salt and light”, isn’t it better to live around people? How can we influence our society if we withdraw from it?

One positive example I have is my friend Janie who lives quite far out in the country, but she is always reaching out to people, having folks out for visits, etc. So she doesn’t let her country life isolate her from society. But I’m much more antisocial than Janie. I’m afraid I would get lost in my own world.

I would like to hear your philosophical opinion on the pros and cons of living in town and living in the country.  Meanwhile, I’ll keep dreaming.