My husband works at nuclear plants as an ironworker. He works outages for them which means we travel from job to job. There are so many plants, that it's possible not to work at the same plant twice. The first place we went to was over close to Dothan, AL. We were there for almost a year and a half (off and on). Last outage we were in MS, south of Vicksburg. This time, the job took him all the way to Miami, FL. :)
He left out Sunday for a "make it/break it" welding test. This means that if he doesn't pass the test, he has to come home. If he passes, he gets the job. He took the welding test all day yesterday and when they tested it, he had PASSED! I'm so proud of him! I thank the good Lord above because we were trusting Him 100% on him passing. This job had a high flunk out rate, so when he left, he was going against the odds on passing, but he did it! :D
Now for the hard part... Hubby's down in Ft. Lauderdale, FL filling out all of his paperwork before he goes down to the job site south of Miami and I get the job of wrapping up all the odds and ends around the house so we can go join him. :)
The day before hubby left we were able to get the rest of the hay for our cows to make it through the Winter and we were able to meet up with the guy drawing up our house plans and get him started on the final draft. :)
So now before we can go to FL, I'm waiting on a few things to happen.
1. Next week the children are going to Kid's Camp with our church. Talk about excited! They've been wanting to pack for the past two weeks! lol
2. Than I need to buy the children's school books and supplies. I normally drive over to Pensacola, FL to buy our supplies and I'm thinking I'll drive over there the week the children are at camp. I'll have peace and quiet so I can find everything I need to get for the school year. lol
3. I also need to get our COMPLETED house plans from the guy drawing them up. YAY!!
4. Than I need to get our tags on our vehicles renewed before we leave. This puts us leaving in August. This also puts us into birthday season for the Reed clan. Isaiah's is in August, Hannah is in September, and Elijah is in October. I'm thinking I need to have a small party for them before we leave town. Oh, so that makes #5!
Wow, the more I think about it, the greater my list grows. I do believe I need to stop thinking about it. lol
I'm looking forward to traveling down to S. Florida. The furthest I've been in FL to date is Panama City! I'll be sure to keep y'all updated on what's going on with us. What an adventure we are up for! ♥
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Paper bracelet tutorial..
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| Isn't it beautiful? |
I've been looking into things to make that would fall under recycling. I'm not a wacko about it, but I am conscience of my environment. I am also frugal so it's a win win situation. haha I came upon the idea of making my own beads from paper. Yeah, PAPER! I thought, "Hey, I can do that!"
I had magazines on hand, but in my reading it says, you can use just about any THIN paper you may have on hand.. The thinner the paper the better. That way, the beads have a smoother appearance when completed. The beads can be made in different shapes and sizes. With that being said, let's begin! :
Step 2: Cut the paper into a strip from about 1/2" - 1/4" at it's widest, down to a point on the other end. The narrower the base, the shorter the bead. The longer the paper strip, the thicker the bead will be when it's completed. You can also thicken your beads by using more than one strip of paper. I used up to five on one of my beads.
Step 3: Take a toothpick and start rolling the paper (face down) starting with your widest end of your paper strip on the toothpick. You can see I made 2 smaller beads on my toothpick. I was attempting to make my center pieces for my bracelet, but decided not to use them. :)
Step 4: Add glue to the last 2" of the paper and roll the rest of the paper onto the toothpick.
Step 5: Once the paper is rolled and in place the way you want it, take clear fingernail polish and cover the entire bead.
Step 6: Once dry, slide the bead off of the toothpick. If you'd like the bead shorter, this would be the time to take the scissors and trim the ends back. See the newest bead in the middle? These were my rejects I discarded from my selection of beads for my bracelet I made. You can see here the different shapes and sizes that can be made. That biggest blue bead was made with five strips of paper.
To make my bracelet, I had some green floral wire on hand. I threaded my home made beads with some store bought beads. Like I said previously, I tried to make some solid colored beads, but I thought the store bought beads looked better overall. :)
This is a great great project to do with your children. My 7 year old even made 2 bracelets for himself. They weren't even trying to color coordinate them and they turned out cute! Hmmm.. Let me see if I can add a picture of Elijah's and Isaiah's bracelets.. :D
There they are! :) The two on the left were made by 10 year old Elijah and the two on the right were made by 7 year old Isaiah. I didn't do ANYTHING to theirs at all! They made them all by themselves! They even look boyish don't they? haha I have to admit, I want to steal some of their beads.. *giggles* I'm still waiting on Miss Hannah to finish hers. I think she's a little OCD like myself and wants them to be perfect.
Have I inspired you to get creative yet? See, even a 7 year old can do it! :)
Comments, ideas, feedback???
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Still holding on..
Hey guys! It's been a little bit since I've posted. I just wanted to update to tell y'all that there is nothing new on the home front. ha Exciting, I know!
Since hubby was laid off at the end of April he decided it was time for him to go back to work. We were hoping he'd get a call for the next nuke outage but so far, this hasn't been the case. He's suppose to do some welding and fitting on his new job. Bad news, he'll be working nights, they are 12 hour shifts, it's temp work, it's about an hour and a half drive from our home, less pay, he's suppose to work 7 days per week till the job is over. Good news.. It's a JOB, it's a JOB, it's a JOB!
The bad part of him working nights is trying to keep 3 children quiet in a 28' travel trailer while he's trying to sleep. His working 12 hour shifts leaves about 6 hours of sleep each day. The older he gets, it seems like the more sleep he requires (haha). I kinda like it being temp because he can work a lot and than maybe just maybe we can get something done around the farm when the job's over. There's just no spinning the hour and a half drive into a positive.. Less pay? I am thankful it's something! :)
This company said they "may" want him to go to Pensacola, FL for more work when this one's over. Hubby said if he gets sent for that job that we'd pack up the camper and head over there and stay. I'm not liking this idea because we still have so much that needs to be done at home. We still need to gather up another 12 rolls of hay for the cows, we need to get our house plans finished. We also need to get the house site prep work done so we can start when the house plans are finished.. He still needs to cut down a TREE that sits smack dab in the middle of where he wants to put the slab!!! lol
I always try to see the positive in every situation.. Try! :)
More news on the home plans? NADA! Haven't heard a word yet.. I called him last week with my elevations (because it's going to have a floating slab) and he said he was going to work on it at the end of last week and get back with us this week. So far I haven't heard from him. I PRAY PRAY PRAY he gets it completed soon, so we can do our final revisions (if needed) and than have them sent over to the number's man who does all of the calculations that the county requires with the plans. Shew, crazy stuff!
We did have someone come out and see the spot on which we want to build. What a great help he was!
Oh wait, I do have news! We started our own fishing business. It's not fancy or anything, but hubby's bought his commercial freshwater fishing license and license to sell them. We had just bought the license on Monday when he received the call about this job. Crazy how things work. He has an order for $75 worth of catfish next Monday, but with hubby working 7/12's, 1 1/2 hours from home, I don't see it happening! He won't have enough time for sleep, much less fish!
Hopefully with hubby working again and our plans coming along, my dream of building our own home DEBT FREE will become a reality. I am trusting the Lord that it'll happen! ♥
Since hubby was laid off at the end of April he decided it was time for him to go back to work. We were hoping he'd get a call for the next nuke outage but so far, this hasn't been the case. He's suppose to do some welding and fitting on his new job. Bad news, he'll be working nights, they are 12 hour shifts, it's temp work, it's about an hour and a half drive from our home, less pay, he's suppose to work 7 days per week till the job is over. Good news.. It's a JOB, it's a JOB, it's a JOB!
The bad part of him working nights is trying to keep 3 children quiet in a 28' travel trailer while he's trying to sleep. His working 12 hour shifts leaves about 6 hours of sleep each day. The older he gets, it seems like the more sleep he requires (haha). I kinda like it being temp because he can work a lot and than maybe just maybe we can get something done around the farm when the job's over. There's just no spinning the hour and a half drive into a positive.. Less pay? I am thankful it's something! :)
This company said they "may" want him to go to Pensacola, FL for more work when this one's over. Hubby said if he gets sent for that job that we'd pack up the camper and head over there and stay. I'm not liking this idea because we still have so much that needs to be done at home. We still need to gather up another 12 rolls of hay for the cows, we need to get our house plans finished. We also need to get the house site prep work done so we can start when the house plans are finished.. He still needs to cut down a TREE that sits smack dab in the middle of where he wants to put the slab!!! lol
I always try to see the positive in every situation.. Try! :)
More news on the home plans? NADA! Haven't heard a word yet.. I called him last week with my elevations (because it's going to have a floating slab) and he said he was going to work on it at the end of last week and get back with us this week. So far I haven't heard from him. I PRAY PRAY PRAY he gets it completed soon, so we can do our final revisions (if needed) and than have them sent over to the number's man who does all of the calculations that the county requires with the plans. Shew, crazy stuff!
We did have someone come out and see the spot on which we want to build. What a great help he was!
Oh wait, I do have news! We started our own fishing business. It's not fancy or anything, but hubby's bought his commercial freshwater fishing license and license to sell them. We had just bought the license on Monday when he received the call about this job. Crazy how things work. He has an order for $75 worth of catfish next Monday, but with hubby working 7/12's, 1 1/2 hours from home, I don't see it happening! He won't have enough time for sleep, much less fish!
Hopefully with hubby working again and our plans coming along, my dream of building our own home DEBT FREE will become a reality. I am trusting the Lord that it'll happen! ♥
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
I can still eat toast with preserves and still eat low carb!
As you all know, I have been doing the low carb/sugar free diet for about 9 months or so now. Maybe longer, maybe less. I'm unsure of when I officially started. Anyhow, I have now exceeded my goal of 25-30 lb weight loss and am now at 40 lbs of loss. WOOHOO! I DO NOT need to loose anymore weight. I actually stopped trying months ago but just continue to loose. It's not at a rapid pace or anything, but loosing none the less. With that being said, I still don't want to completely go back to the way I was eating before I lost the weight, because I don't want to gain the weight back again. So I still watch what I eat and keep a close eye on my carb count and sugar intake. Any time I want to eat higher carb foods, I look for the low carb alternative and give it a try. :) With this blog I'm going to share some new preserves I've found and compare the sugar and carb counts between eating toast the "regular" way as compared to "low carb/sugar free" way. I think you'll be shocked and eager to try it for yourself.
First let's look at the carbs the "regular" way.
I buy the Golden Bake Wheat Bread for my family to eat. It has a total of 15 g of carbs, less than 1 g of fiber, and 1g of sugar for 1 slice of bread. So if we take the fiber away from the carb count (although it's less than 1g) that's 14 net g of carbs.
Butter/margarine have 0g carbs
Now for jam. I don't have any regular jam, jelly, or preserves on hand but I found this one online. Bama Jelly carbs and sugar count It says there are 13g of carbs and 13g of sugar for 1 tbs of jam. I'm not sure what the difference would be between jam, jelly, and preserves, but I'd assume they'd be similar. 13g of carbs for 1 tbs! Uh oh!
All of this comes out to 27g of carbs and 14g of sugar.. WOW!!! When you start out on Atkins, that 27g of carbs is more than you're able to eat ALL DAY long! This also has LESS than 1g of fiber per these ingredients! Yikes!
Now let's look at the bread I use to eat sandwiches with and compare the two together.
I looked over EVERY label on the bread isle and I think I found the one with the lowest carb count. For myself, I buy Sara Lee 100% Whole Wheat with Honey Flavor. The label shows the count for one or two pieces but I will just show you the amount for 1 piece for comparison. For one slice of bread it has 7g of carbs, 2g of fiber and 1g of sugar. When you take the fiber away from your carb count, you have a net carb count of 5g of carbs per piece and 1g of sugar. Not outstanding, but you've cut the carbs per slice by 2/3rds!!! You can eat 2 pieces of bread and STILL be under the carb count in ONE of the regular pieces of bread. :)
We all know there is 0g of carbs in the butter/margarine..
Now for the preserves... I'm SOOO excited to share these preserves with y'all! They are new on the market. I have NEVER ate preserves in my life! I've always been a jelly girl. I like to see through what I'm eating and never liked my spread to be chunky. lol I'm strange, I know.. but anyway I found some Polaner Sugar Free Preserves WITH fiber at Walmart and thought I'd give it a try. It comes in a 13.5 oz jar.
Here it is on Amazon..
Now for the nutrition facts! 5g of carbs, 3g of fiber, and 0g sugars per tbs! No LIE! That gives you a net carb count of 2g of carbs and 0g of sugar! That is 1/6th what regular jam has in it!!!
Now let's look at the total for the new improved low carb/low sugar toast.. It comes out to a total of 7g of carbs and 1g of sugar!!!
If we compare the two together.. Remember, this is one piece of toast now..
Regular toast: 27g net carbs, 14g of sugar, and less than 1 gram of fiber
Low carb/sugar free: 7g net carbs,1g of sugar, and 5g of fiber!
Just picture what the totals would be if you at 2 pieces.. That's 54g of carbs, 28g of sugar for the regular toast and 14g of carbs and 2g of sugar for my way! WOW! Don't forget to add the fiber. 10g of fiber for 2 pieces is nothing to turn a blind eye to. Fiber is the good carbs! I can eat 4 pieces the low carb way (not saying I should) and will just make it to the carb count in ONE piece the regular way. What do you think about that???
I know some may or may not be able to eat this number of carbs, but for me, it works! You can even share a half a piece with your child and shave off half of your total. I was bad this morning and ate 2 pieces, with the exception of my taste testers aka my children. lol
Living the low carb/sugar free way doesn't have to be sad, boring, depressing, or nasty.. This one is a KEEPER!
Let me know if you're going to try it and let me know when you do. I'd love to hear your opinion on it! :)
Thanks for reading!
~Mel~
First let's look at the carbs the "regular" way.
I buy the Golden Bake Wheat Bread for my family to eat. It has a total of 15 g of carbs, less than 1 g of fiber, and 1g of sugar for 1 slice of bread. So if we take the fiber away from the carb count (although it's less than 1g) that's 14 net g of carbs.
Butter/margarine have 0g carbs
Now for jam. I don't have any regular jam, jelly, or preserves on hand but I found this one online. Bama Jelly carbs and sugar count It says there are 13g of carbs and 13g of sugar for 1 tbs of jam. I'm not sure what the difference would be between jam, jelly, and preserves, but I'd assume they'd be similar. 13g of carbs for 1 tbs! Uh oh!
All of this comes out to 27g of carbs and 14g of sugar.. WOW!!! When you start out on Atkins, that 27g of carbs is more than you're able to eat ALL DAY long! This also has LESS than 1g of fiber per these ingredients! Yikes!
Now let's look at the bread I use to eat sandwiches with and compare the two together.
I looked over EVERY label on the bread isle and I think I found the one with the lowest carb count. For myself, I buy Sara Lee 100% Whole Wheat with Honey Flavor. The label shows the count for one or two pieces but I will just show you the amount for 1 piece for comparison. For one slice of bread it has 7g of carbs, 2g of fiber and 1g of sugar. When you take the fiber away from your carb count, you have a net carb count of 5g of carbs per piece and 1g of sugar. Not outstanding, but you've cut the carbs per slice by 2/3rds!!! You can eat 2 pieces of bread and STILL be under the carb count in ONE of the regular pieces of bread. :)
We all know there is 0g of carbs in the butter/margarine..
Now for the preserves... I'm SOOO excited to share these preserves with y'all! They are new on the market. I have NEVER ate preserves in my life! I've always been a jelly girl. I like to see through what I'm eating and never liked my spread to be chunky. lol I'm strange, I know.. but anyway I found some Polaner Sugar Free Preserves WITH fiber at Walmart and thought I'd give it a try. It comes in a 13.5 oz jar.
Here it is on Amazon..
Now for the nutrition facts! 5g of carbs, 3g of fiber, and 0g sugars per tbs! No LIE! That gives you a net carb count of 2g of carbs and 0g of sugar! That is 1/6th what regular jam has in it!!!
Now let's look at the total for the new improved low carb/low sugar toast.. It comes out to a total of 7g of carbs and 1g of sugar!!!
If we compare the two together.. Remember, this is one piece of toast now..
Regular toast: 27g net carbs, 14g of sugar, and less than 1 gram of fiber
Low carb/sugar free: 7g net carbs,1g of sugar, and 5g of fiber!
Just picture what the totals would be if you at 2 pieces.. That's 54g of carbs, 28g of sugar for the regular toast and 14g of carbs and 2g of sugar for my way! WOW! Don't forget to add the fiber. 10g of fiber for 2 pieces is nothing to turn a blind eye to. Fiber is the good carbs! I can eat 4 pieces the low carb way (not saying I should) and will just make it to the carb count in ONE piece the regular way. What do you think about that???
I know some may or may not be able to eat this number of carbs, but for me, it works! You can even share a half a piece with your child and shave off half of your total. I was bad this morning and ate 2 pieces, with the exception of my taste testers aka my children. lol
Living the low carb/sugar free way doesn't have to be sad, boring, depressing, or nasty.. This one is a KEEPER!
Let me know if you're going to try it and let me know when you do. I'd love to hear your opinion on it! :)
Thanks for reading!
~Mel~
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
My 1st sketch is complete!
Anyway, we go meet him and I take a look to see what he has. I'm happy with a few things he did to my original plan, but other ways I was freaking out! I am such an emotional person and get overwhelmed easily. He was feeding me so much info, I thought my head was going to spin and drop off. lol
I couldn't get out of there soon enough! I cried on the way to my vehicle. :( I questioned picking this plan, I questioned building a home, I questioned everything! I just knew my husband would be his less than supportive self. He gets upset because he doesn't like to see me upset, but it doesn't help.. ya know?
Don't get me wrong about this guy drawing our plans.He is a very nice guy. He knows what he's doing. He doesn't even know I was upset (I hope). He just wants us to think of every possibility.
He wants us to add more sq ft to our house plan. lol I just wish he understood where I'm coming from. We have lived in a 12'x55' mobile home for 10 years with 3 children. We have lived in an 8'x28' travel trailer for the last 2 years and will continue to do so part time once our home is built. I wish he understood that we don't need a big blank wall for a 55" flat screen t.v.. Those are just not our goals as a family. He really is obsessed with the length of our walls in the living area.. lol This house is literally 4 times as big our travel trailer! It'll feel like we're living in a mansion at under 1200 sq ft! lol
My goals for a home? Hubby and myself PRIVATE space so we don't have to kick the children out to get alone time. Having a decent sized OPEN living area because we spend most of our time together in one room. A porch on either the front or back for our enjoyment.. Have at least one bathroom, my washer/dryer inside, washing machine, wood burner/fireplace, and a few others quirky things that are a must for me. lol It's also important to keep small enough to build with cash! Bigger the house, the more money we'll need!
I honestly try not to be difficult........ Hubby may say differently. lol
Anyhow, after seeing and thoroughly going through his sketch, we have decided on the revisions we want made to the plan. We will have to set up a new meeting with him and show him the things I want changed. I'm feeling a lot less overwhelmed and a bit more optimistic about the process. I just want it DONE and hubby had to explain to me that it's a process and that this is the most important part and we don't want this part rushed through.
Please pray for us in this area and that the Lord will provide the finances? Thank you!
*Living by faith*
~Mel~
Sunday, May 20, 2012
House built by faith!
Just a short short background.. Well as short as I can get it. lol
I have been married for 13 years. It's been my dream, as it'd be with anyone, to have my own home. Hubby and I bought the property we live on about about 16 years ago with the dream of building our home on our property. We've lived up here in a trailer that cost us $2500 and was suppose to be temporary when we moved up here 12 years ago.
Back about three years ago we had FINALLY made it to the point that we thought that maybe, just maybe we could get our dream home built. We went and was EASILY pre-approved for a mortgage. This was the time when the housing market took the nose dive. We told them everything up front and they told us everything was fine so we went and paid $500 out on some house plans through a contractor. At the time we didn't owe out ANY debt, hubby was making good money at his job, and we were putting up $70,000 worth of land to build a house that cost $120,000 to purchase. We thought for sure everything was going to go smoothly. Well it didn't! They found every reason they could find to turn us down. Talk about upset! I was VERY upset! I cried for literally WEEKS! I just didn't understand after all we had done. After trying to do the right thing, not trying to get in over our heads, or biting off more than we could chew... After waiting till the time was right for us, we were turned down for this construction loan. I was utterly devastated!
It took me by complete shock! Don't think I'm trying to toot my own horn (at all) but after paying all of hubby's child support off, after paying all of our other debts, having good credit, trying to do everything right, we felt like we were being punished.
If I'm going to be completely honest here, I was upset with the Lord as well. All those years of waiting till the right time, waiting till we were at a place we could afford it, all the time of trusting the Lord to provide, I felt that He wasn't providing for us. I know this my sound bad some "religious" folks, but it's the truth. Like I said I was devastated!
Waiting all these years in a single wide with three children, the place falling down around us, and we can't get a home! I still don't think I'm completely over it. I'm no longer mad at the Lord, but I am at the whole system. I'm mad at the banks!
After this happened, we FIRED our bank! We bought a truck through them, had a business account, checking account, and all the children had savings accounts and we fired them! I wasn't going to allow them to make one more penny off of me if I could help it. Even if this meant I had to drive further to go to another bank.
After all of this happened 3 years ago, we looked at our live and tried to figured out what the Lord had in mind for us. We were in business for 8 years and we closed it down when the housing market fell. He was working for contractors and wasn't happy with what he was doing. We couldn't build a home. The trailer we were living in was in bad shape so we knew we had to do something so we just sought the Lord.
For a few years hubby has felt the call of the Lord on his life to go out into the highway and hedges and preach the good news of Christ (A street preacher). We felt like we were not to rely on anyone to give us money to do the work of God. Not knocking anyone who does, but we just believed that if God wanted us to do this, He was going to have to make a way for it to happen. This was going to be our way of knowing it was His will and not ours. Well when we were turned down for the loan, we felt this was Him telling us that He was making that way for us. Sound crazy? This is what it means to walk in faith. I knew that if the house wasn't His will for us, than SOMETHING else MUST be!
So after seeking the Lord, hubby decided to get on with the local Ironworker Union. We knew that no matter what, we could no longer live in our trailer. The roof leaked, the plug ins were smoking and trying to catch fire, mold growing everywhere and a host of other problems. Let's just say it was NOT livable. Most of it's issues came from 2 very active hurricane seasons in which we had to flee to the North so we wouldn't get swept away.. Gotta love living in the South! ha
So believing the street preaching was the Lord's will we decided to hit the road! We bought a travel trailer and went! Since being rejected for the loan we have been on the road approximately 2 of the 3 years. Coming home to visit, and a few months here and there to work close to home. Hubby gets home sick often. lol Each time we come home we have to stay in our travel trailer because of the issues with our old home. It still sits out back desperately needing to be torn down. We're going to tear it down board by board.
A home has always been in the back of my mind. I think of my 13 year old daughter having her own bedroom and hoping and praying that we'll have one before she's grown and gone from my home. :( The thought of her space consisting of a space the size of a full size bed (literally) and sharing the top (bunk) portion with her brother. The thought of having to kick my children out of the travel trailer in order to get alone time with my husband. It all makes me tear up just thinking about it.
So not to to long ago, I'd say sometime last year the Lord started speaking to me. He kept showing and telling me on a few occasions that HE was going to give me that home I want. He told me to trust Him. I questioned Him on how. Isn't it crazy how we want to see the ending before the beginning? What did He tell me? That He was going to provide. He told me that as I walk in faith and take each step, He was going to pave the way for the next one. It was so hard for me to believe, but I do! I do believe Him! Problem is, believing Him is not enough. Having faith requires action. I can say I have faith all I want, but unless I do something with that faith, I'm not sure if you could call it faith. Well?
Anyhow, this gets us to today! We have decided yet again build a home for our family! This time we decided to do it differently. One of the major differences.. We are no longer going to rely on a bank, we are going to rely on the Lord. This is His way, not ours. We are no longer going to build a bigger house that is to much for us. We're planning on building something that is approx 1200 sq ft. We plan on building with CASH as the Lord provides! Lord knows we don't have the money at this point to build, but that is what living by faith is all about.
This is what He has told us to do. I can't see the end, but He is having us begin, trusting that He will make a way. Since the time He told us that He was going to provide a home for us, I started doing things online to make money. EVERY penny I make is going to my home. Anything over and above bills and living expenses is going to our new home. The Lord gave me a great ability to budget. Thank you Jesus! So living on little is something I'm comfortable with in order to get what He has promised me.
Last Friday, May 18th, we met with a guy my uncle recommended to us to draw up our house plans!!! We gave him all the ins and outs of the home we want to build and gave him the $300 to get started. I am so nervous and so excited all at the same time. I just have to trust the Lord that He is going to make a way where there seems to be no way. At this point in time, hubby's laid off from work, we have no income coming in to our home, not even unemployment. We don't know where/when the next job will come, but we trust God to provide. We have enough to get the plans, the building permit, and maybe even the foundation. :D How exciting!
We still believe in the Lord's call on hubby's life. We still believe that his job gives us a means and a way of preaching the gospel to the lost without asking a penny from anyone. HE will provide the way! We just would like to have a place to stretch out when we come home, thus the house He is going to build for us.
The reason for this blog? So y'all can see where we've been, where we are, and where we are going as a family. I'm hoping that through this little (little?) I said here, it will help to build your faith and help you to seek the Lord on His will for your life. Without knowing His call and His will for our lives, things aren't near as good for us. His perfect will is where I want to live!
Get ready, because I plan on providing plenty of updates!!! :D Thanks for reading my little story! ♥
I have been married for 13 years. It's been my dream, as it'd be with anyone, to have my own home. Hubby and I bought the property we live on about about 16 years ago with the dream of building our home on our property. We've lived up here in a trailer that cost us $2500 and was suppose to be temporary when we moved up here 12 years ago.
Back about three years ago we had FINALLY made it to the point that we thought that maybe, just maybe we could get our dream home built. We went and was EASILY pre-approved for a mortgage. This was the time when the housing market took the nose dive. We told them everything up front and they told us everything was fine so we went and paid $500 out on some house plans through a contractor. At the time we didn't owe out ANY debt, hubby was making good money at his job, and we were putting up $70,000 worth of land to build a house that cost $120,000 to purchase. We thought for sure everything was going to go smoothly. Well it didn't! They found every reason they could find to turn us down. Talk about upset! I was VERY upset! I cried for literally WEEKS! I just didn't understand after all we had done. After trying to do the right thing, not trying to get in over our heads, or biting off more than we could chew... After waiting till the time was right for us, we were turned down for this construction loan. I was utterly devastated!
It took me by complete shock! Don't think I'm trying to toot my own horn (at all) but after paying all of hubby's child support off, after paying all of our other debts, having good credit, trying to do everything right, we felt like we were being punished.
If I'm going to be completely honest here, I was upset with the Lord as well. All those years of waiting till the right time, waiting till we were at a place we could afford it, all the time of trusting the Lord to provide, I felt that He wasn't providing for us. I know this my sound bad some "religious" folks, but it's the truth. Like I said I was devastated!
Waiting all these years in a single wide with three children, the place falling down around us, and we can't get a home! I still don't think I'm completely over it. I'm no longer mad at the Lord, but I am at the whole system. I'm mad at the banks!
After this happened, we FIRED our bank! We bought a truck through them, had a business account, checking account, and all the children had savings accounts and we fired them! I wasn't going to allow them to make one more penny off of me if I could help it. Even if this meant I had to drive further to go to another bank.
After all of this happened 3 years ago, we looked at our live and tried to figured out what the Lord had in mind for us. We were in business for 8 years and we closed it down when the housing market fell. He was working for contractors and wasn't happy with what he was doing. We couldn't build a home. The trailer we were living in was in bad shape so we knew we had to do something so we just sought the Lord.
For a few years hubby has felt the call of the Lord on his life to go out into the highway and hedges and preach the good news of Christ (A street preacher). We felt like we were not to rely on anyone to give us money to do the work of God. Not knocking anyone who does, but we just believed that if God wanted us to do this, He was going to have to make a way for it to happen. This was going to be our way of knowing it was His will and not ours. Well when we were turned down for the loan, we felt this was Him telling us that He was making that way for us. Sound crazy? This is what it means to walk in faith. I knew that if the house wasn't His will for us, than SOMETHING else MUST be!
So after seeking the Lord, hubby decided to get on with the local Ironworker Union. We knew that no matter what, we could no longer live in our trailer. The roof leaked, the plug ins were smoking and trying to catch fire, mold growing everywhere and a host of other problems. Let's just say it was NOT livable. Most of it's issues came from 2 very active hurricane seasons in which we had to flee to the North so we wouldn't get swept away.. Gotta love living in the South! ha
So believing the street preaching was the Lord's will we decided to hit the road! We bought a travel trailer and went! Since being rejected for the loan we have been on the road approximately 2 of the 3 years. Coming home to visit, and a few months here and there to work close to home. Hubby gets home sick often. lol Each time we come home we have to stay in our travel trailer because of the issues with our old home. It still sits out back desperately needing to be torn down. We're going to tear it down board by board.
A home has always been in the back of my mind. I think of my 13 year old daughter having her own bedroom and hoping and praying that we'll have one before she's grown and gone from my home. :( The thought of her space consisting of a space the size of a full size bed (literally) and sharing the top (bunk) portion with her brother. The thought of having to kick my children out of the travel trailer in order to get alone time with my husband. It all makes me tear up just thinking about it.
So not to to long ago, I'd say sometime last year the Lord started speaking to me. He kept showing and telling me on a few occasions that HE was going to give me that home I want. He told me to trust Him. I questioned Him on how. Isn't it crazy how we want to see the ending before the beginning? What did He tell me? That He was going to provide. He told me that as I walk in faith and take each step, He was going to pave the way for the next one. It was so hard for me to believe, but I do! I do believe Him! Problem is, believing Him is not enough. Having faith requires action. I can say I have faith all I want, but unless I do something with that faith, I'm not sure if you could call it faith. Well?
Anyhow, this gets us to today! We have decided yet again build a home for our family! This time we decided to do it differently. One of the major differences.. We are no longer going to rely on a bank, we are going to rely on the Lord. This is His way, not ours. We are no longer going to build a bigger house that is to much for us. We're planning on building something that is approx 1200 sq ft. We plan on building with CASH as the Lord provides! Lord knows we don't have the money at this point to build, but that is what living by faith is all about.
This is what He has told us to do. I can't see the end, but He is having us begin, trusting that He will make a way. Since the time He told us that He was going to provide a home for us, I started doing things online to make money. EVERY penny I make is going to my home. Anything over and above bills and living expenses is going to our new home. The Lord gave me a great ability to budget. Thank you Jesus! So living on little is something I'm comfortable with in order to get what He has promised me.
Last Friday, May 18th, we met with a guy my uncle recommended to us to draw up our house plans!!! We gave him all the ins and outs of the home we want to build and gave him the $300 to get started. I am so nervous and so excited all at the same time. I just have to trust the Lord that He is going to make a way where there seems to be no way. At this point in time, hubby's laid off from work, we have no income coming in to our home, not even unemployment. We don't know where/when the next job will come, but we trust God to provide. We have enough to get the plans, the building permit, and maybe even the foundation. :D How exciting!
We still believe in the Lord's call on hubby's life. We still believe that his job gives us a means and a way of preaching the gospel to the lost without asking a penny from anyone. HE will provide the way! We just would like to have a place to stretch out when we come home, thus the house He is going to build for us.
The reason for this blog? So y'all can see where we've been, where we are, and where we are going as a family. I'm hoping that through this little (little?) I said here, it will help to build your faith and help you to seek the Lord on His will for your life. Without knowing His call and His will for our lives, things aren't near as good for us. His perfect will is where I want to live!
Get ready, because I plan on providing plenty of updates!!! :D Thanks for reading my little story! ♥
My newest baby!
When we came back home from out of town, we had decided to sell our cows. We felt that although we were paying our neighbor to tend to them while we were gone, we felt like he didn't want to and we were putting him out. We were also upset that we have had them for 2 whole years and not one baby calf was born, nor either one of our mamma cows were currently pregnant. I cried every time I thought of getting rid of them. Yes, they cost us a lot of money to have. Yes, we have to do a lot of work to keep them on our property. Yes, they can be as bad as an overgrown child on occasion, but there is just something about them. There is something peaceful about watching them eat grass. It's like time goes in slow motion. It's like with everything in life being so fast paced, it brings you down to earth. I know it may sound strange that I like watching them eat. lol It just amazes me how something that man finds as a chore (cutting grass) is the very thing that keeps them alive and they mow it for free!
We also have two that are so friendly they like to lick your hand. The mamma cow is the worst about doing it. She'll wrap her whole, LONG tongue around your hand and try to pull it into her mouth. I don't know what she thinks she's going to do with it once she get it in there. lol Her daughter took after her and does it too. hehe
Anyhow, when we came home, we went to our neighbor's house to get our young bull (he had went under a fence and went to his house). While down there hubby was telling him that we were going to sell our cows. I started crying. I went ahead and walked the bull back to our home and when I walked back to his house, hubby said they had gotten it all straight. He just said he flat out asked him if he wanted to do it for us or not. That if he didn't to let us know. He said that our neighbor didn't mind tending to our cows for us. :) It was such relief, because no matter how aggravation they can be, no matter how much I have to hear hubby fuss about them, no matter how much they cost us, I LOVE THEM!
Anyway, that gets us to this point.. We decided one of the ways to solve one of our problems. A big problem, was to buy a bull for our cows. Our young bull wasn't going to work. We now have 3 females that need a bull and putting them with the neighbor's bull just wasn't going to work. Been there, done that, to no avail..
We get ready to go to the auctions on Wednesday when we find out about another neighbor that's selling all of his cows and has a bull for sale. Since we had planned on going to the auction, we went ahead and drove over to the auction. We were there ALL day long! Didn't buy anything! They only had like 3 bulls we were interested in bidding on and it went so quickly that we missed all 3. To be honest, the bull down the road was weighing on my mind. I was scared to buy anything from the auction and than possibly wanting his bull too. So we come home and drive down the road to our neighbors. He wasn't home but we saw a big bull out in his field and knew that had to be the one for sale. We called the neighbor and rode down the next day to look at him. We saw him and fell in love! He's not only a bull, he is a MAN bull.. He's a 7 year old stud! lol We agreed on a price and decided to come the next day, Friday, to pick him up.
When we pulled up to his house Friday evening, he loaded up in the cattle trailer like he knew what was going on. After inside the trailer, he wasn't to happy. He's so big, he was rocking the trailer AND my Yukon it was attached to. lol I think it's safe to say he's probably pushing 2,000 lbs. He's a hoss!
We drive home and pull in. I was so excited to see how our cows would respond to having their own man! lol I had my camera ready! When we unloaded him, he went straight and checked out the 4 cows we have and than walked around the whole perimeter of the field he was in. It was quite comical to watch him going from cow to cow. He was chasing the young bull away from HIS women. lol
Yesterday afternoon he decided he liked one of the cows better than the other two and he stayed by her side. When she took a step, so did he. When we fed them this morning, he ran all the other cows away from the food, but allowed HER to eat. Was he buttering her up or what? lol Anyway, I would say that approximately 9 months from TODAY (Lord willing), we should have a baby calf born on Harvest Time Farm! ♥
I have decided to name him Sampson, as in Sampson from in the bible.. Isn't he handsome??? What a blessing!
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