our story - updated

well, it all began after mountain man and i had been married for a few years.  he really wanted more to land to expand on and i was just ready for a change. i was a little apprehensive then about living on more land than an acre.  i mean what do people do with so much land anyway?  oh man...have i learned a lot!!  it was so nice to live one minute away from the bank, grocery store, gas station, post office and family but we both needed a change.  little did i know what lay in store. 

we prayed...for about 9 long years for that change.  we looked at land and sold our house.  only, the contracts and all the plans fell through.  i think more than once.  why?  it wasn't the Lord's will.  we didn't want any part of it if it wasn't His will.

so...we waited.

i would have never dreamed of moving away from family.  much less out of state.  then, one day...that changed.  i looked at mountain man and said, "well...i guess we don't have to live here do we?"  he agreed and that was that.

a few months after that God opened a door for us to move to georgia.  mountain man managed a 74 acre tree plantation.  those 11 months were the best and by far the MOST challenging and draining times of our lives.

the company we were working for couldn't pay us, or make the house payments.  yes, on the house we were living in.  we kept praying all the while God told us to "stay put!"  so that's what we did.

but, let me tell you.  we CONSTANTLY fought fear and stress.  negative thoughts and bad attitudes.  we were literally physically ill. 

yes, that is why God wanted us there.  to learn to rest in Him.  

to learn.

we learned to trust in Him completely.  we wouldn't trade those days for anything.  we saw God move on our behalf like never before.  a loan company sent us a letter and told us our payment wasn't due for another two months.  doctors were blessing us with free appointments just because they could!  and the list goes on.  the favor of God was evident.  we had personally never seen anything like it.

we met some amazing people in georgia and made some life long friends.

we were able to attend Sherwood Baptist Church {the church behind fireproof, the movie} and meet the incredible, humble people there.  i was able to work on their newest movie "Courageous" {release date sept '11!} and mountain man was able to get their sports complex whipped into shape.  there, he led someone to the Lord as well.

one day, it was time to go.  don't look back, it's time to go.  just like that.  really?  we need to move 3 kids across country...again?  yes.

so i started packing...where are we going?  didn't know.  talk about trying to keep doubt at bay. 

but, everything, every detail fell into place for us to move to the mountains.  at just the right time. 

i remember mountain man saying, "now don't be surprised if the trailer is packed and we don't know where we are headed." 

my eyes got big and i prayed, "no way.  i can't do that.  Lord, i trust you, but...really...a girls gotta plan.  what will we tell the kids? and our moms?  please God, we need some direction."

God's perfect timing never fails!  and thank goodness we had something to tell our parents!

we now work for a great family and we feel very blessed to be here.  we are so very excited to see everything come together just how God always knew it would!

there are struggles and challenges of their own out here...but with God on our side what's not possible?

so...here's to our new life, mountain life!!

and do you remember me saying that i didn't know what people did on more than an acre?  well now we literally live on thousands.  yes, indeed...i'm certain God has a sense of humor :)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

well, so much has happened in a few short months. we so enjoyed living in the mountains.  in fact, i left a piece of myself there.  you'll find blogs and pictures about our amazing mountain life.

but we sensed the mountains is not where we needed to be anymore and we prayed.

God directed our steps back home to Oklahoma in June of '11. 

we are now waiting on the Lord to reveal where we are to live...currently we are at my amazing in-laws.

i am personally still digesting everything that has happened over the past 1 1/2.  everything about us is better.

i hope to share with you over time what i've learned along our path, the road less taken.

thanks for visiting our blog!  and hopefully, we won't be on the road again anytime soon!!