Rachel Thompson
Tabitha, Benjamin, Rachel, Beth,
Rebekah, Miriam, Caleb, Lydia
Greetings to my dear Charis family in
the name of our Lord and Messiah!
As I sit town to write, I find that I am less
comfortable being in the lime-light, and prefer my
place of quietly serving my family and the women and
families that the LORD places in my life. But, so
that you can catch a glimpse into my life and who I
am, I will briefly step out and share some of my
story and life with you. I am a beloved daughter of
the Most High God, the wife of 22 years to an
incredible and gracious husband, and the privileged
mother of seven absolutely outstanding children who
we home school. Their ages range from 19 to almost 3
years old. Needless to say, motherhood keeps my life
rich and full. Sometimes I think of how incredibly
grateful I am that during this season of life, they
are all under one roof, loving each other, working
together, creating beautiful music on each of their
instruments and voices, learning wisdom and
knowledge of the LORD! Our life together is busy and
full and oh, so richly blessed!
I am also always humbled and exceedingly thankful to
be serving as a Charis doula/childbirth
educator/coach. Whatever capacity the LORD has me
in, I'm content and happy. I've been so privileged
to serve so many mommas and families over these past
eight years since I began my studies through Charis.
The LORD has stretched me and taught me so much
about loving and ministering during these years and
I am honored and blessed to once again take up this
aspect of service to encourage, support, and inspire
the next “generation” of doulas and childbirth
educators as a Charis coach.
Over the last couple years, the LORD has begun to
bring to fruition many of the dreams which He seeded
into our hearts many, many years ago—dreams of land,
big gardens, animals, and homesteading. After being
“city folk” for most of our lives, our family left
the world of concrete and tiny yards to be planted
on 11+ acres and into a house that is over 125 years
old! Last November (2014), Derek and I and our seven
wonderful blessings, packed up and moved to the
country! We were a little caught off guard by the
culture shock of this change of location, but we are
filled with wonder again and again by how wonderful
it all is!
The wonder of how God works so beautifully was
played out in the orchestrating of us finding this
house...or rather, “re-finding” it. Our house used
to be a B&B which Derek and I stayed at for our
wedding anniversary almost 18 years ago, at about
the same time God planted in us those desires for
country life. Since that initial introduction to
this house, it has changed hands several times and
been neglected in its care and upkeep through the
years. Currently, there is still much that needs
some “TLC” so we have been putting much sweat equity
into the land and house...painting, repairing,
clearing fences, mowing overrun pastures, building
new fencing and gates for animals and gardens,
constructing a chicken coop (which my son and I
built together) for our 15 hens and one rooster
named Fricassee. Right now, we are also working on
getting a large garden (Back-to-Eden style) put in
so that we can plant some fall crops. We also are
cleaning out our old barn to be ready for a Jersey
cow that we are hoping to bring home next
month—great source of manure for my garden!!
Rachel and Derek Thompson on the
pier at the beach
As we live each day, we cannot help
but give thanks to our God as we witness how He
“daily loadeth us with blessings”! To name a few:
~ discovering blackberries and asparagus already on
our property
~ leasing a pasture for a neighbor's horse (which
satisfies my horse-loving daughter's desire for one
of her own)
~ a wonderful local community of people who take
care of and look out for one another
~ Derek getting to work a few days a week from an
office near home instead of having to make the 2
hour commute into Richmond each day
~ my children being able to form a music ministry
group
~ Caleb, my oldest son, directing the local church
choir
~ an incredible CSA, where we get amazing produce,
owned by a lovely Christian family who live just up
the road
~ living in the thick of an Amish community and
hearing the horses and buggies passing regularly
~ a produce auction only 3 miles from our home
~ being gifted with 2 Australian Cattle dogs
~ my oldest daughter, who is studying to be a
clinical herbalist, being gifted with many herbs
~ being asked to once again serve as a childbirth
educator / doula coach for Charis
More than any of these blessings though, has been
the one thing for which I am most grateful to the
LORD—living in a family who loves God and seeks to
walk righteously before Him. That has been the true
“overflow of my cup”--in Him I am so richly blessed!
One last thing, before I step back into the shadows
of quiet life...there are murmurings of perhaps
holding one of the Charis workshops at this old
home...my doors and heart are open always!
Rachel building a kitchen garden
fence from scrap wood
Rachel and Benjamin clearing brush
