Where do you live?

Where do you live? Laura Tremaine’s new podcast — 10 Things to Tell You — asked the question this week, and I knew I couldn’t respond in just a small Instagram post…

I have lived in only 4 places in my 35 years. I grew up in the tiny town of Howard City, Michigan, spent 3.5 years in East Lansing at Michigan State University, lived my first 5 years of married life in a small house we rented on a farm just outside Belding, Michigan, and as of this coming fall will have lived in a house of our own, within the city limits of Belding, for 10 years.

I have 10 things to tell you about my life in Belding, Michigan.

1. It’s a small town.

I often laugh out loud when listening to podcasts or reading Instagram posts and people say they’re from a small town. As if 50,000 people is small. Sorry folks, I really DO live in a small town. Our population is just under 6000. We have two stoplights, a grocery store, a McDonald’s, Burger King, Subway, and 4 gas stations.

2. We may be rural, but we’re not isolated.

Belding is less than 10 minutes from Greenville (population 9000) with a Meijer, Walmart, movie theater, and lots of stores and restaurants. We’re also 30-40 minutes from most parts of Grand Rapids (population 200,000, the second biggest city in Michigan).

3. But we’re still rural.

It’s common to see tractors on the roads in summer, and with so many unpaved back roads, school gets cancelled in winter weather easily (I think we’re up to 16 this year, it’s been a month since we’ve had a full week of school).

4. We have four distinct seasons.

This is true of Michigan (and much of the Midwest) in general, but I really do love this about where I live. I see posts this time of year from people who live in Texas or Georgia or California and envy their blue skies and t-shirt weather… but then I remind myself of their summers. 🙂 I love seeing our snow melt in spring and the flowers and green grass bursting up, and I love watching color explode on the trees in October. It never gets boring around here for very long.

5. The people know how to rally together.

Whether it’s posts about missing pets, ongoing fundraisers for families in need, or providing free food to linemen working to restore electricity, these people are amazing at helping each other.

6. But they also know how to argue.

Two years ago there was quite a blow-up about whether or not to keep Belding’s school mascot as the Redskins. People were VERY passionate in both directions. Belding is now home of the Black Knights.

7. The library is 100 years old, and it’s my favorite place in the whole city.

In 2018, our library had a 100th birthday party, complete with cake and the opening of a time capsule. An addition was put onto the building in 2007, but the walls and structure and most of the shelves are still original. I worked there for 2 years, and could write an entire post about my love of the place (maybe I will sometime).

8. We’re 5 minutes from church.

I work part-time doing secretary-type stuff at our small church (Here we go again — how small is your “small” church? 😉 Ours has 75 people on a Sunday). My husband and I also lead the music team, and I head up our girls’ club. So we’re there 4-5 times during an average week. It’s nice to be so close.

9. We’re 35 minutes from school.

My husband teaches at a private school in Grand Rapids, and my kids go there too. He grew up out here, making the long drive every day. But it can be difficult to get an 8 and 6 year old up at 6:00am every weekday. And in this crazy winter weather, that 35 minute drive can sometimes become much longer (yesterday it took them 1.5 hours).

10. I’ve wrestled the last few years with whether or not we should move.

I’ve written in bits and pieces about this. I’ve even gone so far as to write up some pros and cons lists in my journal about staying in Belding, moving closer to Grand Rapids, or somewhere in between. And I don’t have an answer… so for now we’re staying put. I’m still really restless about it, but working at being content.

 

What’s something special about where you live?