Our New Home

Here we are, at the beginning of a new adventure. Brendan, Liam, James, Callum, and I are now the new resident family at Waupoos Family Farm. As at the outset of any good adventure, I feel a mixture of anticipation and trepidation. I have a feeling that the next few years are going to shape us in ways we could not have imagined.

Waupoos Family Farm is a vacation place for low-income families in the Ottawa area. It was founded by an Oblate priest, Fr. Fred Magee, and has been operating as a place of respite for families in need for over 35 years. Located near the Ottawa airport, the farm sits on 200 acres of land. Five cottages are available for modest rent during the summer and on long-weekends throughout the year. Three families live at the farm year-round to maintain the grounds, look after the animals, and facilitate programming.

I first visited Waupoos in June of 2013. Lee-Ann, one of the residents, had invited the St. Mary’s moms group to spend a morning at the farm, so I came out with Liam and James. It was a beautiful day and life on the farm seemed idyllic. I was captivated. I spoke to Brendan about it later in the month, on a night out to celebrate our anniversary. Over pizza, I told him about the farm, about what I had learned from Lee-Ann about life as a resident, and about the way the place tugged on my heart while I was there. He was very receptive and agreed to keep an open mind about the possibility of one day moving our family to Waupoos.

In January, shortly after Callum was born, I learned that the farm was looking for a new resident family for the spring. With a newborn in my arms, I didn’t think much about applying to fill the vacancy. In fact, I didn’t even mention it to Brendan until one day he announced that he thought we should leave Quebec. He was nervous about election talk and worried that if the current government was re-elected with a majority, it would be harder for us to sell our house at a profit in a few years. So acute was his concern that when I told him Waupoos might be an option, he immediately suggested that I inquire about the application process. The election ended up being a non-issue, but by the time it was all said and done, we had already submitted our application and had become quite attached to the idea of living at Waupoos. As we actively discerned the move to Waupoos, it became clear that escaping a potential separatist government could not be the only motivation for such a dramatic change of course for us! Through much prayer and discussion, we discovered that we both felt called to the place for reasons that surpassed our family’s current circumstances. We wanted to serve our community as a family. We wanted to put our faith into action in a concrete way. We wanted to live in community with other like-minded families. We wanted our kids to have the experience of growing up with the freedom to run around and to interact with kids of different backgrounds. We wanted to take a risk, to step off the beaten path and embrace a new adventure.

We submitted our application knowing that if it was not God’s will for us to live at Waupoos, we wouldn’t be selected. There were a few obstacles along the way which had us questioning what the outcome would be, but on April 27^th, on the evening of my 31^st birthday, we got a phone call from the other residents with an invitation to join them. We were ecstatic.

My music lessons were not scheduled to end until June, so we delayed our move until then. We left our house in Aylmer on June 28^th (we’re currently renting it out) and spent the following week travelling back and forth from my parents’ place to the farm. Brendan had undertaken some renovations in our new house and we wanted to get the place as settled as possible before moving our boys in.

Our first night here was July 7^th, week 2 of summer vacations at Waupoos. Summer is the high season here, and a busy time to move in. It’s also the best time to be at Waupoos. Our first week here has been confirmation that we are where we’re meant to be. Liam and James haven’t missed a beat – they are completely at home here, running themselves ragged during the day and falling into bed exhausted at night. I’ve had the privilege of being trusted with many personal stories – stories that have broken my heart and fanned my desire to give as much of myself as I can to this place. So many times last week I asked God what could be done to ease the burdens of these people, and every time I was reminded that Waupoos is an oasis for them. They come here needing rest, acceptance, community, and they find it. One mom told me that her 8-year-old could be herself here: “She doesn’t have to pretend to be happy. Here she really is happy.”  

So our adventure continues. We have don’t know what lies ahead for us here, but we are eager to discover it. The move was challenging but as we begin to get settled, we’re aware that all the effort to relocate is more that paid off in the enriching experience of living and serving here.

A new group of cottagers arrived today. Week 3 has officially begun!