Many times we think we have this life thing figured out. Then everything we've imagined comes crashing down. This is what has happened to us, or is at least happening to us. We all have been blessed with a loving Heavenly Father who wants to work miracles in our lives--if we will just step out of the way and patiently let Him do it. In the end, what He creates for us from the rubble isn't what we imagined--it's infinitely better.
I grew up dreaming of living on land (after my short love affair with the idea of living in a neighborhood-- a neighborhood modeled after "Sweet Valley Twins"; SO realistic, I know). I dreamed of land--my own 'Hundred Acre Wood' affectionately purloined from A.A. Milne's "Winnie the Pooh". I know that seems a bit fanciful, but I AM fanciful, and romantic, and dreamy, and all the other terms appropriate for my own brand of creativity--a.k.a. existing in my preferred state of woolgathering.
Of course living on a hundred acre property isn't typical, or practical in most cases. After moving back home to Alabama we had a situation that we hoped would work out to create this miracle--but no matter how much we prayed, it didn't happen. We bought a home--which we planned to live in temporarily--and the years began to pass. We had lived in Alabama for two and a half years, and we were no closer to the dream than before. In addition to that, our six children had started school at a Private Day School 45 minutes away. This meant a LOT of driving each day. We knew this wouldn't be practical; and Jeff already had a lot of driving with his practice. Two of us constantly on the road was not good, so we began looking closer to the school for a home that would meet our needs.
Soon we found what we thought would be our dream neighborhood. The homes were on 2-4 acres (not my 100, but great for being in a neighborhood--especially so convenient to everything). We were told that chickens were just fine (this was a crucial point for me). Jeff agreed to a major remodel of the home to align it to my hopes and we moved in. Time passed and after meeting with multiple builders and architects, we realized that our plans to remodel would be much more expensive than just starting from scratch. Armed with that knowledge, we began waiting for a lot to open up in our neighborhood.
Our neighborhood--Ridgeland--is very interesting. It was started in the 1960's and many of the homes are original to that time period. A lot of those have been updated--like the one that we had bought--but others were in a prime situation to be bought for the lot, and either updated or removed for newer, nicer homes. The idea was introduced to us to inquire if one of our neighbors might be persuaded to sell their older home to us. We thought we had an interested party, but months of negotiations did not come to fruition. I had set my mind to this particular lot--larger than what we had, private, out of the way--and I mourned the loss of it. I really felt the time passing--and my vision of raising our children in our dream home was vanishing.
Out of the blue a different home in the neighborhood became available and our hopes were raised. We toured the home and decided it was just what we needed. The lot was beautiful and large, the home outdated and worn. It would take a lot of time and money to get the home into a comfortable situation and so it worked perfectly into our plans. We were so excited! We planned to buy the second Ridgeland home, sell the first one, move into a rental, tear the house we had just bought down, and begin building our dream home. It all seemed so perfect--as if God had been planning this for us the whole time. We discovered this had been part of his plan, but just a step. While walking the new property we were inspired to live in it while we built behind it. It was a wonderful thought and we were so excited. Why not take advantage of the home that was already here? It was larger than any rental we would find so close by, we would be on the property while the house was being built, and we would get use of the house until the new one was finished. We were ecstatic. We quickly decided to hold off on tearing it down. This would turn out to be a blessing in disguise. Our first Ridgeland home sold very quickly--to the first family that looked at it after we had moved out of it.
It wasn't long before word of what we planned to do reached those around us. We petitioned for a variance from the city to temporarily have two homes on the lot--the old one and the one that we would be building. Through several misunderstandings a few of the neighbors had some objections. This--added to the fact that my chickens would not be allowed in the neighborhood--convinced us to start looking around for other possibilities. Several of them were interesting, and we checked them out. One property led to another, and led to another, and led to another, until we saw a single sign on a road--60 +/- acres for sale. The neighborhoods around it were very nice, and our curiosity was piqued. Seeing it on the map, we realized that it was a prime piece of property with beautiful lake access and views. We prayed and fasted about it and really felt this was the right path to take. We made an offer, and after a little bit of negotiation it was accepted. So here we are. We've really come full circle. We will be able to build our dream home on a beautiful piece of land. My chickens will be free to cluck away to their hearts' content. There will be room for gardens, a duck pond and a mini cow, pygmy goats and beehives, a swimming pool--and what my Western born and raised husband has always wanted--a view.
