As you might have seen on social media, Brandon and I have spent the last couple of months going through the process of buying and moving into our first homestead! It has been a whirlwind process, but through it all, I have learned some things that might help you in the trial you find yourself in!
The buying process really began in late April when we first reached out to our realtor Michelle. (LMK if you need a recommendation for buying in OK/TX, our realtor was seriously the best!) We discussed budget, preferred location, and timeline. The more we talked, the more we leaned towards Texas. We thought we wanted at least 50 acres, but may be we would settle for 10-20 for the right place. We wanted to be close to my sis-in-law and Texas friends. And mostly, we didn't want to get close to the the top of our budget.
LESSON 1: Have a plan, but hold it with an open hand.
Just about every thing I listed above was different than what we actually bought. Through this entire process, Brandon and I prayed constantly for God's will to be made clear. We we first saw our property listed, it was listed $40,000 above our top budget. We just couldn't do it, but the house kept coming up and we couldn't shake it from our minds.
God said, "Don't compromise on the amount of land." Our house sits on 40 acres. God did say to compromise on EVERYTHING else! We are in Oklahoma, we are 3 hours away from our closest friends, 5 hours from my sis-in-law, and right at the top of our budget. But this house came with such a peace that we couldn't deny God's blessing and plan.
Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path. Psalm 119:105 “The Lord is Near! Do not be anxious about anything. Instead, in every situation with prayer and petition with thanksgiving, tell your requests to God. And the peace that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7
LESSON 2: As long as you have heaven to look forward to, nothing is insurmountable.
Though there was peace about this house being the right house, the house buying process is STRESSFUL y'all! There were documents to sign, and change, and sign again, and money. SO MUCH MONEY! The total amount kept changing up until closing, but we made it!
Over the 4th of July, Brandon and I got the U-haul loaded, packed up our car, and hit the road! We closed on our house on the 5th and thought the hardest part was over. Little did we know, the real hard stuff wouldn't hit until the end of the week.
My parents arrived to help us unload and unpack on Wednesday then we left early Thursday morning to go back to Arizona. We left Arizona Friday night with our truck, trailer, two horses, and our cat, Frankie. Only an hour and a half into the trip, we had a blow out on the trailer...
Thankfully we were right at a rest stop, so we pulled off and Brandon changed the tire while I tried to keep Frankie calm in the cab. In a few minutes, Brandon had the tire off, changed, and we were about to go, when he saw something that looked off: a chunk of the old tire was stuck behind the axel. If we had driven away like that, we would have had some serious damage done.
Brandon couldn't get the piece of tire out so I began calling tow and roadside service companies. Because it was after hours, no one could help us. It was 91 degrees out, our horses were sweating in the back, our cat was panicking in the front, we were tired and scared and didn't know what to do. We prayed. Brandon kept working at the tire with a leatherman, laying under the trailer while it was jacked up with two horses moving about above him. I called every place I could find and finally broke down sobbing because I didn't know what to do.
Finally, two hours later, Brandon got it! The old tire piece was out, our spare was on, and we were good to go... Sort of. Our spare only had 40 pounds of pressure instead of 70. We needed to add air immediately! We were 30 miles short of Flagstaff so we limped it along, stopped at 3 gas stations and were out of luck. We didn't have enough change (you need $2 of quarters, not $1.50) or the air compressor didn't work at each gas station.
We didn't know what to do: Do we stop in Flagstaff for the night, leaving the horses in the trailer until morning or do we press on another 80 miles to the Love's that would definitely have air? We chose the latter, hoping our tire would be okay. Unfortunately, about 20 miles shy of the Love's, the spare blew. It was now 2:30am and we were stuck on the side of I40. We were on the shoulder with semis passing us at 80 mph.
It was still hot, around 80 degrees, and we still had 2 impatient horses and a freaked out cat. This time we were stuck until someone could help us. Our spare had just blown and there was nothing we could do. We felt hopeless. We cried. We prayed. We tried to sleep, but thanks to the Starbucks Double Shot Espresso that I had chugged in Flagstaff, sleep wasn't coming. We watched a movie on Netflix and we worried. A LOT. We tried to hand that worry to God but it was HARD. We were in a scary situation with nothing to do but sit.
We clung to the promise of heaven, knowing all the things of this world (good and bad) are temporary.
Eventually, we were able to get help and were back on the road by 8:45am. Yep. That's right. 6 hours and 15 min of sitting. Still, we chugged on. Thankfully, the next several hours were fairly uneventful. We even got some sleep! (One at a time of course) and then, outside of Santa Rosa, New Mexico, we had a third tire blow. WHAT THE HAY YALL?!?! We were wondering if this was really real life!!!
Thankfully, when we had the spare fixed that morning, we also bought a new spare! This time though, Brandon was fixing the tire on the driver's side of the trailer along the highway. SO SCARY! People really don't slow down or move over much. After getting this tire changed, we were back on the road, slowly going along, praying we wouldn't have another blowout. The thing of it is, we had out tires checked before leaving. We thought we were prepared.
Finally, Saturday, after 23 hours in the trailer, we were able to unload our horses in Amarillo, TX and overnight them at The Big Texan. What a blessing! Our horses and our cat were troopers and by Sunday at noon they were safely home in Oklahoma. What a whirlwind! A 14.5 hour road trip turned into a 38.5 hour road trip.
God remained faithful through the trials. We were hurting, exhausted, scared, and fed up, but God showed up in the little laughs, by giving us strength to encourage each other, by teaching us patience, humility, and what's really important: keeping ourselves and our animals healthy. We got to share our faith with so many people that helped us along the way. We learned to be empathetic and to pray for people stranded on the side of the road. It's rough! God gave us an opportunity to chose the fruits of the Spirit and to chose to be positive when we really felt helpless.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Galations 5:22-23But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one. May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance. 2 Thessalonians 3:3&5.If Jesus could persevere all the way to the cross, then we could make it home!
LESSON 3: Trust is only trust if you always trust.
We were finally home, getting settled and unpacked. All was good... until Thursday. Brandon was working and I was unpacking. My parents had just left the day before. We were finally starting to see progress! Then I looked up and saw a huge plume of smoke just behind our house. A fire. A big, big fire that looked like it was right there.
We had only been in our house for a few days at that point (remember that road trip disaster?!). We didn't know a soul anywhere near us and now we had a fire that seemed way too close. We called the sheriffs department and Brandon scoured Facebook for news.
The fire was 7 miles away but blowing right at us. We prayed. We asked the Lord for a hedge of protection around our place. We packed our important things, hooked up the trailer, slept on the couch and waited. We called friends and had an evacuation plan. We were told someone would knock on our door if we needed to leave. We were told the fire was close. That was it. We waited. We prayed. We trusted. We surrendered all that we had to God.
We checked Facebook around the clock. We prayed for rain. We prayed for the winds to change. We prayed for a miracle. Finally, with the fire only 4 miles from our house, we learned Friday afternoon that our side of the fire was contained and the winds had shifted away from us. The fire still raged, but God had spared us. In all, that fire burned 10,000 acres before the tireless fire fighters were able to get it fully contained.
Through the trial, being held to the fire so to speak ;) we chose to trust God. We chose to trust His plan for us. We did not understand, but we knew it was bigger than us.
He ordered the furnace heated seven times more than it was usually heated. And he ordered some of the mighty men of his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. Then these men were bound in their cloaks, their tunics, their hats, and their other garments, and they were thrown into the burning fiery furnace. Because the king's order was urgent and the furnace overheated, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell bound into the burning fiery furnace.
Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up in haste. He declared to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.” He answered and said, “But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.” Daniel 3:19-25God is with us, no matter how hot the fire! Whether we can see him or not, Jesus is walking with us.
LESSON 4: Trials can deepen your faith or they can make you cynical.
Now, you may have read this far be like, okay Sara, but really none of that is that bad or big. You may be thinking, "You have NO idea what I am going through right now." And I don't know what you're going through. You're right, compared to world hunger, wars, fighting over politics, homelessness, and people dying without knowing Jesus, our road trip disaster and the fire aren't that big, BUT they were big to us. God used those to sharpen us. He used the trials to deepen our faith.
I have watched my mom walk through cancer for two years. Instead of being worn down, she has chosen to rise up, stand faithful, and embrace life. She is strength, beauty, love. She is the image of Jesus, but she had to choose to be that. She chose surrender.
Brandon and I have chosen individually, and together in our marriage to trust God. To trust Him when He prunes. To trust Him when He sharpens. To trust Him when He stretches. To trust Him when we are in the fire. This choice, though incredibly difficult, and not always what we want to do, always results in good.
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile. Jeremiah 29:11-14In the end, we can always choose God. I am thankful for these incredibly difficult but also incredibly strengthening times. Though it doesn't always happen so fast, God has already begun to reveal His purpose in bringing Brandon and I to this tiny part of Oklahoma. We have begun to be rooted in a church here who's heart is to grow the kingdom. It is filled with people who love Jesus and will help us to continue to grow.
The one thing we have prayed for the most since getting married is a church family and now we have it!
Thank you for reading this far and hearing our story! I pray that these lessons would touch your heart, that you might share with a friend, and that you would subscribe so you don't miss a thing with The Wandering Homesteader and Hershey Performance Horses! You can also follow along with our homesteading journey, horsemanship growth, and faith walk on Instagram and Facebook.
xo,
Sara
If you are looking for some resources to encourage your faith check out the links below:
I have read this devotional more consistently than any other devotional, year after year! This is a devotional for someone who wants to go infinitely deeper in their relationship with God.
Lysa Terkeurst is one of my favorite authors! She is funny, bold, and encouraging, and she has walked through some tough stuff! I have not read this book, but it is next on my list! Wanna read it together? Hit me up!!
Jennie Allen is a witty and smart! This book will encourage you, inspire you, and help you to tackle toxic thoughts you may not even realize you're having!
If you have books that have encouraged you, let me know! I would love to check them out.
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