Here is a glimpse of our past year. By far, the craziest, scariest, hardest, most uncertain, most stressful, most frustrating, most prayerful, happiest, most exciting, most fun, most rewarding adventure we've ever endured.
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| Driveway excavation. Pole Building is starting to take shape. |
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| Emptying our house into a travel trailer. |
Journal Entry from 6/2/12
I feel the calm before the storm. The clouds are rolling in black. Heavy. The next six months will be hard. Different. Will I be lonely? Will I long for familiar? Will I be unsatisfied? As I start to tear down and pack away, I feel numb. I go through the motions. Numb. Why?
Lord, break me down. Less of me, and more of you. Grant a sense of meaning to this experience. Lead me on this journey intentionally, with purpose, only for your glory. Not mine. Give me peace, strength, and self-control. Cover me with grace. Let me be a light and a leader to this family in the coming months. Thank you, Jesus.
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| We are moving here in a little over a week from now, at this point. |
Journal Entry from 6/12/12
God, I am humbled by the way you reach me; you speak deep into my heart. I feel you. I hear you. I see you. I don't always understand, I question and I wonder. I even find myself surprised by you. Why? I am certain that your thoughts and ways are higher than mine. (Isaiah 55:8) I seek the JOY in this situation. In this life. I long to live JOY in every situation. Even in a travel trailer in a dirt farm field, with five men.
"Joy is the realest reality, the fullest life, and joy is always given, never grasped." ~Ann Voskamp
God, you speak loud and clear. Open the eyes of my heart and let your joy be seen in my sight. Let joy in. Let it live there, long. These days are seemingly long; yet, we never have enough time. We tire easily; but, we yearn to do more. Keep our priorities in line with your will. Keep our focus on you.
"Life is not an emergency, it is dessert- too brief to hurry."Slow down and taste life, give thanks and see God." ~Ann Voskamp
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| Moving day. We have left every comfort of home to move...here. |
So, we've left everything we've known to be home as the six of us. By everything, I mean almost everything! We sold our house fully furnished. (I struggled with this a bit) Bringing only a few miscellaneous pieces and our personal belongings. Which, is still a fair amount; there are six of us. Thus, the journey begins. I haven't even cried...yet.
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| It's unfinished. Totally unorganized. It's dirty. It's hot and now, wet! |
It was good.
We felt good!
We head through town, to our new place. We will (eventually) call it home. We pulled in the dirty dusty driveway; we parked, I stepped out in the dirt. I looked around. We had no power; no running water. It was HOT.
Reality set in, I cried.
Ashley and I looked at each other and without words to speak, thought "what are we doing here?" With an actual storm rolling in, we packed a bag, loaded the kids up in the van and left.
Gone.
We will deal with reality, tomorrow. We picked up a pizza, booked a hotel room and let the kids swim.
FUN.
We needed fun.
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| Recipe for: Pioneer Bath 1 Plastic tote 1 gallon of bottled water 1 squirt of dish soap. |
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| The Elk Creek. Right next door. We brought our bar of soap. We would swim to not only to cool off, but to get clean. |
Life was different. We had no organization or routine. We were just living day by day, hour by hour. There were times that I just threw my arms up, in surrender; times that I was so frustrated and overwhelmed; when I felt like I couldn't make it living this way, not one more day. God pulled me through. I chose to see all the good. The gifts. Here they are:
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| Continuous reminders throughout the summer. |
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| Overwhelmed with the mess. I was lead to just relax. |
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| A room with a view. |
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| Happy, boy, hearts; smothered in mud. |
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| Fresh Raspberries. |
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| Priceless, boy, moments. |
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| Small accomplishments. |
Boys that wanna be just like their daddy.
Dirt covered faces.
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| Our duckling project. |
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| An experience we will always remember. |
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| Rain. |
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| One word to describe our summer: Dirt. |
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| We welcomed two new members of the family: Peter Piper and Charlie Checkers. They arrived one morning at our door in a cardboard box; in hopes to help our mouse problem. Forever. |
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| Morning entertainment. Pouring the basement concrete. |
An unexpected, life changing arrival.
The premature labor and delivery of my dear friend, Lindsey and her sweet baby girl, was a life changing experience that had lead me to pray like I have never prayed for anyone before. Suddenly my circumstances seemed small.
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| Meeting Lindsey's daughter for the first time. Not the way we had pictured it our whole lives, growing up. It was better. More special. We were grateful. |
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| The tiniest human life I have ever seen. She took my breath away. |
I walked away from this day, different.
I can't wait to tell Peyton Sue, how God used her to touch so many hearts.
Lives.
People prayed for her, who may had never said a prayer a day in their life.
This tiny miracle, strengthened my faith. I more than prayed. I relied on God. She is a blessing to me.
You would be surprised at what you can learn from a little boy. I was and I did.
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| Life on the open range. Head of the gathering committee: Tate. |
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| Campfire suppers. Head chef: Avery. |
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| Simple fun. Pipe balance beam over a trench. |
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| Basement progress. |
Building skills, revealed. |
| Tate's project. His tree stand. |
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| Avery's project. His fort. |
We discovered the importance of purpose.
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| Push trucks and Pop. |
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| More progress. |
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| We were a bit unrefined. Who cares!? We lived in a shed. |
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| The last of summer break. A day at the amusement park! |
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| Ducks grew bigger. Everyday. |
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| Back to School. Second graders. |
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| This is how we really are. |
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| The house was starting to taking shape. The back. |
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| The front. |
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| The jack of all trades. On the phone. Weird. |
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| By fall, racing was in full swing. We went from one dirt mess to another. |
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| I tried my best to keep my priorities in line, in order to keep my sanity. Searched my heart, prayed, waited, for a word... God revealed himself to me, over and over. " I have learned to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it be with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little." Philippians 4:11-12  
Life as we know it, is a race...
 
our creative minds were always at work...
 
The weather turned cold.
 
and prepared for winter.
     Leapfrog.  I poured my heart and soul into raising them. We said, goodbye. I felt sad. |
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| Praise God! Peyton Sue made her way home, after months spent at St. Paul Children's Hospital. A happy day. |
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| Not one more cold night in the shed! Ashley was out of town. That didn't stop us from sleeping in the house... |
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| Our first morning. Beautiful new view. |
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| Getting ready for school. No running water and standing in the dirt, didn't phase us. Been there. Done that. |
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My life verse this past year has been:
"You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all of your heart. Jeremiah 29:13
I've learned, the only things that matter in life, aren't things! I've heard it said a million times. It's in my head, of course. But, the only way to truly apply those words to your life, is to experience them! What a gift we've been given. God's hand is constantly at work. We have to CHOOSE to see Him, but more than that we must actively PURSUE Him. The more we settle in, the more comforable I become, the more I tend to revert back to my "default" mode. The negative pull is strong. I have to step back and remember: that is not me anymore. I am different. I am new. My priorities are in a new place, because of what we've gone through. Human nature will never steal this love that I have discovered; one I've never felt before; and the fullness of joy that I've received on this journey. Full of prayer, I am excited and waiting in expectation to see where God leads us next.
I encourage you, to get to that place where you surrender all. The place where you are totally vulnerable and reliant on Him. The reward will be worth the journey.
As, we continue to work on finishing touches there will be more progress to follow...
May God bless you, richly. Peace.
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