Well, if you've read the first few posts on this blog, you know that we recently finished our house--a 5 year process. So, any normal person would assume we'd be staying here for quite some time! However, we're getting ready to start all over again! Back in March we stumbled across a beautiful piece of land in Jefferson, Maryland (about 1/2 hour from where we live now). We'd found a different lot on the internet that was in our price range, and went there to see that. But, adjacent to that property was a 5-acre piece of land also for sale. It didn't show up on our internet search, because the price was too high. But the seller came down a significant amount, and (after what seemed like forever) on Friday we bought it!! It's absolutely what we were dreaming of, and the first property we visited that we BOTH really, really loved. The property has a large clear area, surrounded by trees on all sides, with a good amount of woods in the back, and it even has a stream running through it. The boys have loved the stream we have now, and I thought that was one thing we'd have to give up if we found a new place. But the Lord has worked this out beautifully for us...the way we "stumbled" across it, the price reduction, the fact that it's exactly what we've been looking for, the perfect location, and His gorgeous creation that we'll get to enjoy there! It's on a very secluded road that makes you think you're way out in the middle of nowhere. (Let's just say that if you continue past our lot on the mostly-gravel road when it's been raining a lot, you may have some trouble at the ford in the road. Yes, you really have to drive through the water.) However, it's only about 10 minutes from the convenience of the city of Frederick. It's exactly what we've dreamed of, and we are so thankful!
Now, the next step is selling (or renting out) our current house, so that we can afford to build our new home, and not have to enjoy the beautiful piece of property from a tent! We have our house plans already, though we've changed a few things from the plan pictured here. Heath's going to do most of the work himself, so it'll be a very busy year or so while he's doing that. Please pray for his physical strength and safety, and for my mental health having him away so much. And also pray for the financial and stress-level aspects of this. While we're waiting to sell our current house, money will be very tight, especially with the adoption going on, and moving complicates the adoption process a bit. We wouldn't have planned to be adopting and building at the same time, but that's the way it's worked out, and we know the Lord will see us through. But we can definitely use a lot of prayer for wisdom, and for peace during a stressful but exciting time.
Can't wait until we can invite you all to see our new home! We'll keep you posted on the progress. Here we go . . . !!!
