I Will Give You Rest

My husband and I have made the difficult decision to sell our home in Santa Cruz, California.   I was recently asked why we are moving.  As we are growing a little older and approaching retirement, it’s become clear that there are many things we’d love to do that are difficult to do when we have a country home which requires so much care.  Letting go of our beautiful home frees us up to do other things.    

Last year, I shared the remarkable coincidences that resulted in us moving to Reno.   After spending two winters in Reno, we are confident that we can make it our permanent home.  Reno is “a gift of rest” for us at the stage in our lives just as moving to Bonny Doon “gave us rest” from the Silicon Valley twenty years ago.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” - Matthew 11:28:30

We bought our Bonny Doon home in the Santa Cruz Mountains while I was working for Liquid Audio.  Adjacent to Mill Creek, it was a sanctuary from the busy life we lead in San Jose, California where I had a long commute to Redwood City weekdays and often weekends.   We were avid backpackers at the time so having a home in the mountains “gave us rest”, a retreat into nature without the long congested drives to the Sierras.   

As soon as we were able to move into our Bonny Doon home, I began looking for a baby grand to fulfill one of my lifetime dreams.  I also committed to completing the quilt I’d begun making with my Grandmother many years before and setup a large quilt frame Dave made me in the house’s “grand room”. 

A few years later, I learned that my Grandmother had terminal cancer.  Every chance I got, I would drive put to spend time with her in Paradise, California.  I moved my quilt frame to her garage; the two of us would sit across from each other and quilt there.

Around this time, I was working to start a startup with a couple of colleges from Liquid Audio.  My husband an I opted to drive to Yellow Stone National Park that summer.  While we were there, we decided to sell our San Jose home and move to Bonny Doon full time.  We wanted more time to spend  doing the things we loved.

Shortly after we sold our home in San Jose, Grandma passed away.   I will forever be grateful for God’s grace in giving me this home to live in while I recovered from losing her.  After losing Grandma, I began attending a Bible study of retired women that were sera-gate grandmothers to me.  The large lush green grass in our front yard reminded me of her home in Paradise that had been a sanctuary for me growing up.  

I took a break from working in the Silicon Valley and began helping my husband provision materials for us to remodel the dated Bonny Doon home.  After remodeling the home, I returned to work rested.  Initially, I worked as a contractor for Light Surf in Santa Cruz and then became a full time employee of SanDisk in the Silicon Valley.

Beyond rest, we are also looking into the future, realizing that one of our dear relatives, who we care for may need to transition from independent living to a senior home near us.   It would be cost prohibitive for her to live near us in Bonny Doon and it would be difficult to care for her splitting our time between California and Nevada.  

Our move to Nevada has already been a great blessing, allowing for me to attend two memorials of families members as well as help care for my mother who was hospitalized several times this year.   God simply needs us to be there at this stage in our lives.