Please pardon the school analogy, but if thankfulness is the first grade of the good life, I am miserably failing kindergarten. I mean, I can't even color in the lines. And so, on Thursday, at the dinner table, we prayed thanking our Father for His many good gifts and mercies and we asked for His forgiveness for our ungratefulness.

Since last Thanksgiving Day, Eoin has been born, we purchased a 14 acre homestead, and we have learned we are expecting again. And then on Saturday, we all learned that my sister and her husband are also expecting. Katie and Jody are due to deliver about the same time. We don't have enough fingers to count all the blessings coming to immediate family and dear friends.

We had a most pleasant visit with family and friends while back in Ohio. Now, after a long trip home, we are all happy and thankful to be safely home up on Walker Mountain. It is good to spend time with loving family, but it's good to be home, too.

Just a few days ago, Eilidh walked up to her mother and asked her if she could have a baby sister. The next day, Eilidh walked up to her mother and asked if Momma had a baby sister in her tummy. And Katie answered, "No, Honey, not that I know of." The third day Eilidh asked the same and Katie answered the same. Then Eilidh turned to walk away patting her own tummy saying, "I have baby sister in my tummy."

The last two evenings, at supper, Katie and I talked to Eilidh about how she would get a baby in her tummy when Daddy finds her a godly husband and she is married. She knows that Daddy will find her a husband. And just like her mother, Eilidh is already bubbling with excitement looking forward to marriage and babies.

Last night, after Eilidh and Eoin were asleep, we learned that we are, in fact, expecting another covenant blessing. It is still too early to do an ultrasound anyway, but we will wait, like we have before, until the baby is born to find out whether if it's a little fiddler or banjo picker.

I'm trying to make it a habit to walk part of my land everyday. Most days it is not a difficult routine to keep. I am seeing how my land changes through weather and time and season. I am learning how she lays and rises. And so with gun in hand, this morning, I walked up into the fog where the air is clearer.

I survey leaves and bark, and treetops and felled logs. I watch how the rain falls, how the rocks roll, and how the sun sets. I see how the thistle flowers bloom,how the poplars and hickories reach into the heavens, and how eagles soar. With this investment comes attachment, affection, and devotion. And so more and more I am married to the land.

Yes, my heart's in the Highlands. Though this is not where I was born, this is where I want my children to be from. And, Son, when I die I humbly ask that you lower me down in higher ground.