We are on a 1/4 acre property located in south central PA. This property was a God send to us, because while we were engaged we had no idea where we were going to live. I have always been a bit of a control freak, so as usual, I was extremely obsessed with finding a house the second we decided to get married. After lots and lots and LOTS of countless hours searching, I finally found… nothing, absolutely nothing. I was so discouraged and worried, I didn’t take the time to give it to God and trust that He had everything under control; even though I knew full well that He could do a much better job than me.
However, God’s love and grace followed me even then. Eight months before our big day, I was approached by Tyler’s aunt’s father-in-law. I was riding a four wheeler on a his aunt’s property when I saw him walking towards me.
He said “hello” with a friendly smile and quickly got to the point of explaining a proposal. “I have this house: it’s a two bedroom, one bath and would be perfect for you two newlyweds. I am currently remodeling the entire inside. Its not much to look at, at the moment but will be nice once it’s done. I don’t know if you guys picked a place yet, but its available to you if you want it. Tyler’s the only one I trust to take care of the place, otherwise I’ll sell it.”
You can imagine my bursting excitement at this moment, but quite frankly I was too stunned to speak. “YES!” I said, while trying not to shout in his ear. “I’ll call Tyler right now and ask him about it.”
“No rush.” He quickly replied. “If you decide it’s something you’re interested in I can take you by it sometime to see what you think. Again, it’s very ripped up right now and not much to look at.”
After calling Tyler and causing him to be about as shocked and joyful as myself, I couldn’t wait to get back to the gentleman. A few hours later, Tyler met me at his aunt’s house, and we were inside hanging out. It just so happened that her father-in-law came back to see them while we were still there. I was bursting at the seems and didn’t waste time in letting him know that we wanted to see the property.
He listened to my gibbered speech, then without hesitation said, “I have time now, if you both want to see it.”
I didn’t take much time to think before jumping in the car. We followed him to the house and the whole way there I couldn’t help day dreaming and getting my hopes up. He explained the whole situation, including what kind of utilities we’d have and what the neighbors were like. I was so busy dreaming about what the house would look like when the remodeling was finished and it was all decorated that I hardly heard a word he said. When we were about to part ways, he told us to take our time to think about it. I looked at Tyler and we both had the feeling that “this is it.” We looked back at him and said, “we’ll take it.”
He then went on to share a special part of he and his wife’s testimony. “We got married at nineteen too. We had no money and we understand what it’s like. I’ll get an estimate on what I think it’s worth and then get back to you with a more affordable deal.” This is the moment I about cried at God’s provision and faithfulness to us.
There will be many, many more testimonies I’ll share with you as we go on this journey, but for now I just wanted to highlight this one.
God will never fail you. He may not do things in the way you wanted or asked, but He will never leave you nor forsake you. His ways are better and will lead to your ultimate joy and peace. He has your best interests in mind and will never forget your heart’s desires, He just might not do it in your timing or in your way. And that is a lesson that I’m still learning.
Now for a home and garden update!
My sweet husband prays for the whole garden almost every day. I adore watching him help take care of the homestead. We now have potatoes, green onion, regular onion, cucumber, cilantro, basil, rosemary and thyme all growing beautifully. We actually traded out our strawberry roots for a jalapeño plant and another tomato plant (of a different variety). I will admit we are pretty sad about missing out on strawberries this year, but we’ll definitely be trying again next spring. We are so thankful for whatever we’re able to grow, and we’re just excited to learn as we go.
I am trying my best to keep up with house cleaning and preparing for baby, but I’m not always successful at that. My sister will be coming to stay with us closer to the delivery to help with last minute preparations, for which I am SO grateful.
One struggle I’ve had since we got married is meal planning. I have no problem with grocery shopping; it’s just the idea of trying to come up with creative new recipes to make that is a difficulty. It’s been very stressful if I allow myself to think about it too long, so I am choosing to have grace on myself and take it one step at a time. As a vulnerable, struggling new mama, I will say prayers would be greatly appreciated.
Our little man is thriving beautifully and is super healthy. He is 11 months old now and already has 6 teeth completely in! He knows how to keep us busy, but he is the joy of our life, and we couldn’t be more in love with him. Parenting is not easy, but it is so humbling and rewarding in ways I could never explain. Prayer is one of the key elements in our home. It’s what keeps us going in moments when we feel like failures, or when we feel like we are not equipped for the task. Our baby boy loves worshiping and dancing around with daddy. I cannot wait to see the man he will grow into someday. My ultimate prayer is for him to walk out God’s calling on his life; however, a passion for homesteading and a love for 50’s-60’s music wouldn’t hurt my feelings!
We are down to the wire waiting on baby girl’s arrival. If I’m completely honest, we feel overwhelmed but extremely ready at the same time. We are so excited to meet her, but we have received so much negative commentary about having “two under two” that it has brought some mental and emotional challenges for me. I am thankful for our family’s love and support through all of this. Without them there are some days I have no clue how we’d get by. I know it won’t be easy, but for many years I have been praying and dreaming about having children, and even this humble homestead. This little precious life that I know God has called me to brings me so much peace and refreshment, especially on the crazy days.
Getting to be outside has been one of my biggest blessings. I was stuck inside due to pregnancy symptoms for the majority of my first pregnancy, and that is not an exaggeration. I took the time to add it up and I spent over 30 weeks inside my house. I almost went crazy because I spent 90% of that time alone, completely by myself. Thank God for precious friends who made phone calls and for TV for entertainment, although I will admit I am not proud of how much time I was investing in them instead of in prayer or in the word.
You can probably already guess it, but I struggled with depression during that season. Honestly, what made it worse was being a newlywed in a new town, with new family and new friends; most of all, it was very hard for me to adapt to living four hours away from my family, as well as staying in one place instead of traveling on the road with them like I did most of my life.
With all of that said, God has definitely healed my heart through this whole growing season, and I couldn’t be more grateful. I wouldn’t say the blues never make their appearance every now and again, but it’s nowhere near what I faced last year. I will always credit the Lord for my blessings, but I want to also give credit to my amazing husband, and our most precious little man, who bring such joy and fulfillment to my life.
The nutshell advice I want to encourage you with is this: take time to enjoy every moment, even the ones that drive you absolutely insane. God only gives us this one precious life to enjoy on this side of heaven, and it would be tragic to miss out on these fleeting moments that he has blessed us with. Good or bad, positive or negative, we do not get a do over; And personally, I don’t want to look back at it all full of regret. I want to remember it all knowing I took chances, to know that I was willing to try even if I did fail, to know that I made the choice to give my burdens to the Lord and spend time with Him. I want to remember that I wasn’t too busy for him. God is never too busy for us, He’s never running out of time, and in fact He is constantly and very patiently waiting on us to come to Him. If you find a moment amongst all the craziness to simply talk to Him, even if it’s just for a minute, it can change the course of your entire day and eventually the rest of your life.
Life. Is. Beautiful.