The beginning of our journey

We once were living the American dream. We had the big, beautiful house. We also had the big, not so beautiful mortgage that went with it. We were stressed and felt tied down. This is not what life was supposed to be like. We knew that something was missing. 

Over a year ago the Lord laid on both my heart and Jason’s heart the desire to downsize our life. Our house was big and beautiful but was more than we needed. We wanted to downsize to free ourselves up to be better stewards of what God has given us. We were unsure what exactly downsizing would look like but we were open to anything. So we prayed about it a lot. 

My heart yearned for the country life that we had in Oklahoma. I loved having land with space, the ability to raise steers the way we wanted for meat, being able to walk outside our door and gather eggs from the chickens, running on the track that Jason had made around our property, the kids being able to explore and go for ATV rides, etc. We both desired that life again. 

So we continued to seek God if that was the direction He wanted us to head. We knew we wanted to stay in the area because we love our church, community and school that we have here in Paradise. But land is not cheap here. We heard a sermon from Pastor Jeremy, during this time of seeking, and he shared about stepping out of your comfort zone for God. Jason and I both knew it was God speaking to us. We talked about the possibility of living in an RV while we saved up enough money to buy land. We even were able to talk to someone about putting an RV on their property and living there for a year or so. Our hearts were slowly leaning into what downsizing could look like for us and opening up to that possibility.

We began to take the first step in faith. I started cleaning out our stuff and preparing to get the house on the market. I contacted my friend Jennifer, who is a realtor, and she agreed to work with us on listing the house and looking for land. God sending her to us was such a blessing! In July we listed our home. The kids and I were in MO celebrating my Dad’s 70th birthday when the listing went live. There were numerous showings during that time and within 6 days of listing we had an offer.

So now with a closing date and timeline we searched for land. The process was not free of difficulty to say the least. We looked and looked but didn’t find anything that seemed to fit. When we did find what we liked, (10 beautiful wooded acres) we made an offer the same time as someone else but their offer was accepted instead of ours. I  felt defeated but Jennifer was always reminding me that God had the place for us we needed to just keep looking. Jason and I agreed that if we didn’t find land before closing on the house then we’d just get an RV and live in that until we did find land. We kept praying, “God, You called us to this, we believe that You will lead and provide.” My timing and God’s timing are not always the same. LOL

One day Jennifer told us about a piece of property she was going to be listing and suggested we check it out. (She had mentioned this property when I first talked to her last spring. She knew the owners and it had been listed for awhile but not sold. We had driven by in the spring but were on the fence about it.) But we decided to take a second look and REALLY see the property. This time we felt like this could be the place and made an offer. They accepted! We were excited because not only did they accept our offer but we were able to get 22.6 acres for an amazing price! God continued to show us that He was taking care of things. The land had 2 wells, 2 septics, and 2 power poles already there! We realized that we would need temporary housing between closing on our house and closing on the land and the sellers, who are exceptional people, were so generous to offer that we could put an RV on the property before we closed on it. Another blessing from God! We went looking for an RV and found one. On our way back from seeing it the sellers told us they were selling theirs and it was the same model we were looking at only a couple years newer! We bought theirs and were again amazed at God’s hand in all of this.  Yesterday we closed on the land and are so grateful for how God has been orchestrating it all!! We are so blessed to be here with amazing neighbors! 

I want to note that this process has not been an easy road by any means. These are just the highlights. We had plans to put a doublewide on the property and after 3 weeks of talking with the guy, he backed out. We had to switch lenders halfway through the process. We then planned to build a barndominium but with Covid and rising prices on materials, decided we wouldn’t be able to swing it at this point.  So we’ve decided to just wait for now. 

Life in the RV is better than I expected. We all have adjusted to the small space pretty well. We’ve had to change the way we approached things at times, like when Sabri was cutting her 2 yr molars and waking up at night, I had to figure out new sleeping arrangements so she didn’t keep Jeremiah and Aurora up at night too. But God is faithful and gives us what we need for each day. 

So, if You feel the Lord calling you to do something, I want to encourage you to step out in faith. It may be a big change. It may be scary. There may be bumps in the road that you do not expect. But God will be with you every step of the way, opening and closing doors as He sees fit. It may not be easy, but believe me, it will totally be worth it. Because obedience to God is always the best choice. He is faithful and He will take care of you. And the end result may be better than you ever imagined!