The History of The Homesteader (Part II)

As I last ended my post I began to tell you about a time in my life when I was pretty depressive and felt alone. I basically worked and slept and had very little contact with anyone outside of customers. And let's face it, there are not very many meaningful relationships built over a pack of Marlboro and five instant lottery tickets. During this time I began reading my Bible a lot and listening to preaching on the radio, and I decided to start going back to church. While I was working at 84 Lumber I began to volunteer and do anything around the church I could. They started me working in our Junior Church. It was a job that was hard to fill because a lot of people don't know how to deal with kids. But as I began to just serve, God rescued me from my despair. About this same time, my Pastor and I began to pray for the perfect mate for me.

It was while working at 84 Lumber that I started dating the girl who is now my wife. The funny thing is that we had known each other literally since we were kids. She was a friend of my sisters. I saw her one day when I was still working at the convenient store and couldn't get over how beautiful she had become. I didn't think much more about her, as in my depressive state I figured there was NO WAY on God's green earth that she would go out with me.

I didn't see Amy again until my grandmothers funeral. As strange as that sounds, it was the most memorable thing about the funeral for me. Not that I wasn't close to my grandmother, I loved her. But my sister told me that I should ask Amy out to coffee and I did. We went to Applebee's and I couldn't tell you a thing about the coffee or the dessert. But Amy was beautiful and I couldn't take my eyes off of her. I definitely didn't let this opportunity get away. I asked her out on an official date. Surprise of all surprises she said yes. We went to a murder mystery dinner theatre and the rest is history! I ended up being an accounts payable manager for almost 4 years at Sealy Mattress Company, and then as they moved their headquarters to North Carolina, I moved on to a bigger and better job and salary. It was after I had been there four years that I had been called to get into Youth Ministry full time working with teenagers. I was ordained in April of 2003.

We bought a house about 3 weeks after we got married in 1997 and lived there until December 2002, when we moved into the apartment at our church and sold our house (well we ARE selling it on Land Contract right now) to cut back on cost so we could live on a lot less salary. We had purposely avoided big debt so we could eventually make the move to full time ministry.

We have 3 children and a fourth on the way. We have lost 2 children during pregnancies, one during a tubal pregnancy and another to a miscarriage. My oldest daughter is named Hosanna, my son is Noah, and my youngest (for a few months at least) is Chloe.

That brings us up to date to where we are now. Five, soon to be six, people living in a small church apartment. It is a choice that we have made though and a sacrifice that is well worth it. Now we are planning on buying a house with land, in partnership with my parents. We are going to build them a house on the property and split the cost of the land. We have looked at a couple places and actually put 2 bids on two separate pieces of land with property. Tomorrow we are bidding on a 3rd and hopefully last, as it is a beautiful place with 12.5 acres and a great home built in 1865. I will detail our hunt for a homestead tomorrow.

The Modern Homesteader