Old McDonald...

...had a farm... and he might just be the guy at the end of the road! :) Maybe I should back up a bit. We submitted an offer, they countered, we accepted. Wow... did I just type that? We are under contract for a farm! Well, I still call it a farm, it's so small it's really more of a "property" but in our hearts we'll soon have our farm! This vision is in its very beginning stages... but. This is step one. Get the land. Our closing date is scheduled for June 25. I need to get some pictures next time we're out there. If all goes to plan (which it rarely does, so this may change) we will officially own a farm by the end of June! How exciting! The *only* thing that might *possibly* change things is the Army Corp of Engineers, they have to come out and survey the wetlands to give us our boundry lines of where we can build & what we can't touch. If for some reason the wetland report would come back signifigantly more than what the current owners thought, we may have to look elsewhere. But, we know at least an acre of the property is wetlands... as long as its no more than 2 acres total we'll be fine & will love protecting our little piece of Charleston.

So about this farm... there's nothing but a lot of weeds, tree's and a big fat dream sitting out there right now... (the dream being my little imagination going wild with possibilities) In other words, its vacant land. The front 3/4 acre is cleared. The rest of the acreage is wooded or wetlands. The plan (which again, is very subjective) is to build a "cottage" for my Mother In Law to retire in. We should be able to complete the cottage within a year & our family will move into that while we work towards building our "big" house. After the main house is completed my Mother In Law (who will be retiring in 4 years) will move into the cottage. As to the farm side, we plan to move the first large greenhouse onto the land right away. The greenhouse is 96x30 feet (huge) which will give us a chance to put all 75,000 palm tree & Japanese Maple seedlings we currently have at our peanut of a house into pots so they can really begin their growth. At some point, hopefully by the end of the summer, we'll move a matching greenhouse next to the first which will be for our aquaculture farm. This greenhouse will be home to two large tanks of tilapia (about 2500 fish) which will then provide the appropriate nutrients on a hydroponics system to the rest of the garden plants in that greenhouse. This greenhouse will house all hydroponic plants which will enable us to have a completely chemical free organic garden which will hopefully be large enough in about a year to fully supply all our fruit & veggie needs along with regular donations to our church food pantry. (That's the goal anyways, we'll see how fast they reproduce) I can't wait. My veggie list keeps on growing, I can't wait to start the canning process & get some of the fruit tree's going as well! We'll probably have a miniature orchard somewhere close to the greenhouses for fruit/nut tree's as they'll grow too large for the greenhouse. We found some pear tree's that have 3 different kind of pears on one tree! And an avacado tree that produces avacado's the size of small footballs! WOW. Then we want orange, banana, plum, cherry, apple & a few pecan tree's as well. If we get all miniature tree's they'll only take up a small footprint while producing full size fruits. I'm super excited about that.

But I'm getting ahead of myself... the first step is closing. Once we've made it past the closing table we'll need to get the footers poured for the cottage, and that isn't a cheap venture. Oh, and did I mention we're going to try our darndest not to take out a construction loan? That's why this might take awhile... if we pay as we go it'll save us thousands upon thousands of interest money however the process will completely depend on how the tree business is faring. So as long as the tree business continues to thrive, we'll slowly put our vision into reality.

Sorry this was so long, but I needed to write these things down. I'm so excited & thankful... God is amazing. His timing is perfect and we are continually blessed. The process is slow, and its hard to be patient... but I continue to pray on a daily basis that we are in the center of God's will for our lives. That is above all most important. This farm is our mission, a vision... and a huge step away from the "norm" But instead of wishing the waiting period would fly by we've decided to embrace this moment. We're excited about the future, but also excited about this moment. Today.

As for this moment, we've had some fun times lately. I have two new girlfriends, Sue & Jane that I am convinced are angels in disguise. They are both the most incredible mama's and are raising their children in the image of Christ. Such a breath of fresh air. I adore these girls. Today we spent the day together at a playdate. Jane made a wonderful quiche that we all enjoyed and then made loaves of bread to send home with Sue & I. WOW! The kids had a great time as they always do together. I just love this crew. Their kids are precious, a perfect compliment to these beautiful women.

Also, Madeline got her first big girl hair cut this afternoon! Nothing too drastic, but we cut almost 4 inches off the back. *sniff* She was starting to look a little like an orphan child with her mop top hair always in her eyes. Now she has a cute little bob that looks adorable on her. So fun and exciting. :)

Elizabeth is beyond ready for Kindergarten. If ever I was worried, she has spent the week convincing me that she is eager to learn. I loaded up on some kindergarten/first grade work books this week & she has spent hours every day working on them. She is now confident in small word reading & is slowly getting the "sh" "ch" and "th" sounds down. She is also getting better at counting (something she was very behind on). I am confident that by the end of the summer I will have a full blown reader on my hands. She is such a stinker, but such a joy to be around. As she approaches 5 years old I find myself looking forward to times when I can take her with me on a mommy daughter date, just the two of us. She is maturing at an alarming speed, but still has some toddler left in her for mommy to enjoy & cuddle.

Speaking of toddler, Madeline is speaking in full sentances now. True, they are never proper sentances, but gone are the days of pointing and shouting 1 word. She'll now say "More outside time please!" or "Maddy need wipe for messy hands mama" which actually comes out sounding like "Maddy need wipe fo meshy heens mama" She talks from the time she wakes up, to the time she passes out for her nap or at night. And she runs. Everywhere. All the time. The child has one speed and it's full force ahead. My poor girl has more bruises on her head and knees from running into tables, walls & anything else that stands in the path of my little hurricane baby. But though I am one tired mama at the end (and sometimes beginning) of every day. My children are such a joy in my life. No matter how cloudy my outlook at times, a simple slobbery kiss from my toddler or a whispered I love you from my 4 year old can turn my entire day around. :)

So now that this post is approaching a novel length, I'll sign off. I'll be sure to update as we find out more on the farm! Pictures to come soon. :)

Waiting.

Did anyone ever tell you not to pray for patience because God will send you problems to teach you patience? You know, patience is a virtue, it must be learned and cannot be given? Yeah... I don't pray for patience. Ever. Never ever ever. I know better. My children challenge my patience daily and I can honestly (and sadly) say that I have a long way to go before I'll have mastered the art of patience... however there's another area of my life where I'm being taught patience. The farm. Jay & I both felt like God was calling us to create a farm... over 2 years ago. We were (and still are) excited. We were (and are) ready. We said "Where God? Send us! We'll go!" We were ready. Or so we thought... we've prayed. and prayed. and prayed. God show us where you want us to be. Show us the farm you'd have for us. Teach us to wait on your timing Lord so we only go where you want us to be. Your will be done.

In case you didn't catch that... "Teach us to wait on your timing" can be translated to "teach us patience" oops. lol We mean it. Still do, and still pray for God's perfect timing. But the waiting process is admitedly hard. God is shaping our vision of the farm... a place where people can come and rest. A place to grow tree's instead of taking them down. A place to get back to our roots & grow our own food, make a smaller carbon foot print & build a recycled home. We are excited about our vision, and we know it's from God. Without a doubt we know that our farm will provide us a place for friends and family to come and just be... be quiet... be with family... be away from the city... be surrounded by nature... just... be. I long for those moments and am so excited to see what God has in store for us. I struggle with the waiting period. We've prayed and asked God what He's waiting for... then prayed for forgiveness for our impatience... then prayed again that God would show us where he wants us to be... then prayed once more for forgiveness for our impatience. It's a slow lesson to be sure but I know that somewhere out there the perfect place for us is waiting... a place where I can home school my girls, teach them to look beyond their front door and explore their world...

We've found a piece of land that we are prayerfully considering... it *might* just be the one.

If its not, we know God will open the right door in His time so that doesn't worry me... but I have to say, this property takes my breath away... it's so beautiful. It is truly like stepping into another world. A mix of Narnia, a beautiful rainforest and an empty meadow of lush green grass... all on one farm. It's small, much smaller than we'd envisioned, but again, God is shaping our vision to what we need and what He can use.... which is anything. We'd hoped for 15-30 acres close to town... this property is merely 5. Five small acres, part of which is protected wetlands and thus unbuildable. I don't know why my heart is so excited about this property aside from the fact that it is undeniably the most beautiful property we've looked at during our long 2+ year search... It is close to town. Close to our church. But also far enough from the city to see the stars, hear the crickets & smell the clean air in the morning. Lord I pray this is the one for us. If it isn't please give us the strength to walk away and trust in You completely to provide. If it is the one, please open the door wide open and give us peace.

We are submitting an offer in the morning... praying for guidance... thankful for grace, and looking forward to what is to come.