The Narrow Way

It’s time.

Time to share a story, but also time to stir up hearts 💪 In a time where life seems so unpredictable, I want to ask a crazy question: what dormant dreams are resting inside of you? What has God put in you to do that you’ve had to shelf for one reason or another? 🤔

In the past I’ve eluded to sharing the testimony of God bringing my husband and I to “our promised land,” our homestead and ministry, but I’ve never actually gone there.

Recently we started a small business called Promised Land Homestead, LLC to help us take advantage of tax breaks, marketing, and limited liability as we prepare to be shepherds. Our plan is to have a small flock of Katahdins, a hair sheep, to supply our family with meat. Any extra lambs, we plan to sell for stock or meat, which in theory should create a nearly free meat source for us. Plus, why should I have to mow when a flock of sheep can do that and turn my lawn into dinner? 😅 It’s a little more complicated than that, but you get where I’m going 😉 But this process got me thinking about our homestead and the testimony behind it.

Are you familiar with the story of Abraham in the Bible?

It’s found in Genesis and the short version is: Abraham was a man who walked by faith through many trials. He and his wife Sarah longed for a child, but she was barren. Far beyond her childbearing years, God promised them a son. Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. Also during this time, God promised Abraham that He would bring him to a land flowing with milk and honey (think lush and abundant), that this barren couple and their descendants would call home—forever 🌈

It took time, faith, and overcoming of many obstacles, but God was faithful. Abraham and Sarah had a promised son, Isaac, and went to dwell in a promised land.

For years I felt like Abraham and Sarah.

My husband and I lived in various cities and yearned for the country. We also longed for a child. Month after month, year after year, we would pray for a family and a special property we had in mind…

We dreamed of a place we could house others set out on a couple of acres somewhere. We prayed for fruit trees, some woods, space to garden and have chickens. In our mind we had hoped for a place like our friend’s ministry in South Africa, Alabanza. We feared it would be a long time before we could afford such a property, so like everything else in this time of life, we tucked it away in our hearts as a “someday” prayer.

There were times of frustration, doubt, and fear, but through it all, God sustained us. Regarding a child, He spoke one word years apart through two different people. “You will be a Sarah,” they both said. Not exactly what anyone wants to hear 😔 One furthered the narrative by saying “do not settle for Ishmael, wait for Isaac” (or basically, don’t make this happen on your own like Abraham tried to when he fathered Ishmael through Hagar, trust the Lord for a natural child). So we waited. 😐

Then, in 2016, we felt the Lord telling us to prepare our property for sale. We didn’t know where we would go, but if we hadn’t found a house by the time we sold, we would live with my parents for a time.

Meanwhile, I had been teaching a class at a church in my hometown, about an hour from the city we lived in. A woman named Mary was part of it. She subbed for me on a week we were gone. I wanted to hear what she shared so she invited us to her house for a meal and teaching.

Mary’s house was in the country, a beautiful property overlooking a wildlife refuge. It was also HUGE. It is basically 2 houses stacked on top of each other. 5 bedroom, 2 bathrooms, 2 kitchens, 2 fireplaces, etc. It had such a familiar feel to me…like Alabanza…it was partially wooded, had an apple orchard, berry bushes, asparagus, a large garden, it was everything we had prayed for really. What I didn’t know was they were planning to sell it! 😳🤯

We discussed the property some, but it didn’t seem feasible. Financially speaking it was double our mortgage. Not only that, we didn’t exactly have the equipment needed to take care of a larger property…how would we mow? Clear the driveway? And how could I handle staring at 4 empty bedrooms? It would all take God and seemed a tall an order at the time. We committed the idea to Him and gave Mary the greenlight to list it.

I’m going to leave out some details to keep this from getting too long, but as we took steps towards selling our house, we also prayed for God to release us from our church home. I distinctly remember walking in the woods with my dog crying out to God to move on our behalf. Literally, that day, He sent multiple forms of confirmation–it was time to list the house.

We couldn’t shake the idea of Mary’s property, but we also didn’t want to force something that wasn’t right. Taking on a few acres, larger house, changing jobs, and acquiring a much larger debt wasn’t appealing if God wasn’t in it. I thought again about all of the equipment we would need (and didn’t have) to care for the property. I thought about the down payment and empty bedrooms, and I prayed. “Lord, if it is your will, provide a large down payment and people to fill the house.” We decided to go back to Mary’s house and chat with her and her husband.

After touring the property and being filled with excitement (again), we went into the kitchen to pray together. Immediately after, Mary’s husband said, “I’ve used a 4-wheeler to plow the driveway in the winter, and a John Deere riding lawnmower for the grass. We won’t need those, so I figure I just leave them behind for whoever buys it.” My jaw dropped.

This wasn’t a done deal though, we still needed to sell our house and come up with a good down payment and people to live with us. 🙏 We put our house up for sale, and within 5 days had an accepted offer (really good for that market).

I remember one morning driving to work feeling unsettled. I called my husband and shared how we didn’t have to take on this debt…. God wasn’t forcing us to do something bigger than we had faith for…. 🤷‍♀️ He agreed. Despite things seeming to come together, we just didn’t quite have what we felt comfortable with. I told my husband “If we had just $300 more per month, I’d be in, but without that, I’m just not there,” he felt the same. Later that day, my husband messaged me from work. He had just received his yearly review (4 months early) and was notified of his bonus. Not only was he getting the biggest bonus he had ever received, but his raise (also the biggest he’s ever had) came out to exactly…yes…$300/month! I was floored. 😭 All of this, plus our largest tax return ever seemed to be a nice down payment. But what about people? 🤔

We decided to move forward in faith 💪. Another morning driving to work I was thinking about this property and distinctly heard God say “Promises are fulfilled in the Promised Land.” My heart raced a bit, thinking just maybe He was going to bring our baby, but I didn’t want to get too excited, I had learned over the years to guard my heart for survival… 😔

As we prepared to move in with my parents, I offered to Mary that her daughter (18 at the time) and her friend (19) were welcome to stay in their lower level rooms once we move in if they wanted to. They declined🤷‍♀️. Hmmm….it wasn’t all lining up, but we also couldn’t ignore all of the leadings up until this point either. We continued forward trusting that the last pieces would come together. During this time, a generous person approached us and offered us a large chunk of money towards our down payment. “Yes,” we decided, “people or not, God was taking us to our Promised Land.”

One week before closing the young ladies decided they would stay and live with us.

6 weeks after closing, our promised boy was on his way.

God is faithful. He had provided all that we asked for and more. Often times it is God who puts desires (godly ones) in our hearts and He longs to fulfill them. He desires to stretch our faith and take us on a journey like Abraham and Sarah.

“Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” Ps 37:4

Some of you might be reading this from a mountain top, while others are in a valley, can I just encourage you wherever you are to not give up? Don’t quit. Don’t lose hope. If God is for you, who can be against you? It may seem a dark age to have dreams in, and it is, but that just makes it all the more glorifying to God unfolds the pathway and satisfies your heart.

As we journey into more fully utilizing our Promised Land, I’m reminded of God’s faithfulness. Through the years not only has He added to our number (we are a happy family of 4), but He has filled this house with people needing a safe place and some company time and again. He has truly been a good shepherd, leading us beside streams of running water (Ps 23). He’s also kept us from making big mistakes (not like we haven’t made some, but nothing unredeemable–Ps 91). 🙌

The world is a little crazy and scary right now. 😬 It might seem like the walls are crashing in on the dreams you’ve had and hope is dwindling. You might even have people discouraging you from stepping out in this time. Can I please be that wild voice that says “go for it”? Pray, ask God to confirm things for you, live according to His word, wait, and walk. As He brings opportunities about–boldly take one step at a time towards your destiny and ALL of desires He’s placed in your heart! Don’t let fear hold you back and remember it’s ok to go slow if you need to. Let things unfold in His timing.

I’ll end this with the same scripture in my previous blog:

“Trust in the Lord with all of your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all of your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths” Prov 3:5-6

As always, thanks for stopping by. May God breathe on the things He’s placed in you and may you walk in all that He’s called you to do.