Here at the farm.ily We will never forget July, of 2020 when we were beyond blessed with a 51.5 acre farm just outside of Lincoln Missouri. To say it was our dream farm was an understatement!  We thought we might be lucky to finance (at most) a small 10 acre farm. However, God had a different plan and one day out of know where (in April) Nathaniel sent me a link to a farm just down the road from my parents as a joke. I chuckled and told him there was NO way we’d ever have a farm like that! That evening we were bored after work, and we decided to go for a drive and I asked him if we could go by the farm he sent me. Somehow we asked to look at the property (I really don’t have any idea what we were thinking!!) Let’s just say that it was ONLY by the absolute Grace of God that we were able to go through an awesome realtor who was so willing to tell us about USDA and the new loan programs they had available.  Also the family who had this farm was super patient waiting for us to work with USDA on the land. And after 3.5 months we finally got approved and got to sign papers on this beautiful 51.5 acre farm!

 

We bought a small camper and moved onto our farm immediately.  We started right away on cleaning everything up. Looking back I remember us standing at the end of barn overlooking our property seeing the most beautiful rainbow ever! It truly was a promise from God and a reminder that God is the only reason we were blessed with our farm and that everything we do on our farm is for HIS glory!  The first project was making the yard look like a yard as the grass was to my waist in some spots and it was where the previous owner fed hay to his cattle. Next we did all the water lines and electrical work to get camper hook ups put in so we could start living on our farm. After that we worked on fencing to move the beef cows, goats, and LGDs to the farm. That included fixing the barn up to have suitable kidding pens. We also can't take all of the credit because had lots of help from our family and friends who stopped in to support us,bring snacks and helping hands.

I hated my job, but I loved coming home to get to work on the farm. It was the highlight of my day! I begged Nathaniel to let me quit my job and just run the farm.  Even though I knew we couldn't afford it financially, he kindly told me as soon as I make as much on the farm as I do my job I can quit. I was SO determined! By that winter I was able quit my job and worked strictly on the farm. We quickly realized that my beef cows were not making any money and we’d never be able to make it on our farm with them.  So we sold all but my two bottle babies and began to focus on our goats which were profitable. We then took that money (from the cattle) and started investing in Highlands and they have been so amazing to raise! 

After a year and half of saving we had enough money saved to build a our tiny dream home.  It is a 14x44 house, its a small 1 bedroom,1 bath/laundry room, with a loft, and an open kitchen and living room.  It took exactly two months to build our first home, and we were so ready to be moving out of the camper.  However, we are incredibly grateful for our time in the camper and that it gave us the ability to build our home debt free. 

God has truly blessed us with everything we have. We don’t brag and we never will  (except about the Lord that we serve) but we will tell every single person we encounter about our farm and the blessings that God has done for us. We couldn’t imagine anything different, And we are  blown away daily that he chose us to run a farm so beautiful when I never in a million years could’ve dreamed about what He has done.

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After 2 years of living in our tiny home the Lord blessed us with a family who purchased our Tiny home. Since Nathaniel hauls portable sheds for a living we were able to deliver it to the family who got it. We are now building our forever dream home on our land and cant wait to be moved in this fall!!