The other day I was having a conversation with a friend, and I realized I've been doing this podcast for 4½ years. A couple years ago, around episode 100, I introduced solo shows every 10 episodes. So, here we are – episode 230. Today's episode is about something personal to me.
0:39 – We bought a farm!
- If you follow me on Instagram or read my blog, Still Being Molly, you know that my family and I recently bought a farm. I know that for a lot of people, people are probably thinking, "What? This is random!"
- It's something we've been dreaming and praying about for a really long time. Today, I'm going to tell you the story about how it all happened.
4:11 – The lowest point in my life
- In fall 2010 I was at arguably the lowest point of my life. I was tens of thousands in credit card debt. I didn't know many people where I lived and worked a bunch of jobs. I didn't know the Lord. I was struggling with broken relationships.
- In late 2010, I started dating my now husband, John, started attending church with him and was saved.
6:06 – Talking about hopes and dreams
- John and I began talking about our dream of owning a farm. When we got engaged, we dreamed about what our life would look like. One of the things we talked about regularly was buying land, building a house and being more self-sustainable.
- I was working hard to pay off my debt.
8:37 – Serious conversations about money
- As a young married couple, John and I had a lot of conversations about money. John didn't struggle with money, but I did, so we wanted to have clear communication. We have a joint budget and track every dollar that comes in and goes out.
- We started to put money away for a big expense down the road like land or a house.
11:00 – Our little garden
- We started with a garden in our backyard, and it started with one little garden bed, and it was a giant fail. I had this dream of having this massive garden.
- The only food we were able to grow was cucumbers, and they took over and grew through the fence.
- As the years went on, we got better at gardening. After five years, we had a truly, truly successful garden.
13:32 – Getting aggressive about savings
- About two to three years ago, we really started being very aggressive in our savings towards land. We hustled and we worked really hard.
- At the end of 2019, we began to realize this could become a reality sooner rather than later. We began looking at land and had many contracts fall through.
18:20 – Pursuing houses on land
- We finally decided to pursue houses on land instead of building a house. We looked at upwards of 15 houses and put in offers but kept getting rejected or outbid.
- John came home one night frustrated about the home-buying process. We had been praying. Later that night, three hours later, a house came on the market. We both looked at it, we looked at each other and said, "I think this is it."
- We went to see the house that weekend and finally got the house.
21:52 – A dream come true
- We aren't living there yet. We are doing renovations, but we are just so, so thankful. It is a dream come true. In a lot of ways I still feel like I'm dreaming.
- I share this whole story because, for nearly a decade, this was something that John and I had talked about and dreamed about and prayed about and saved for. I want to encourage you, if you have a dream, make little steps each day.
- We want to be able to serve others with this home.
FEATURED QUOTES
"My family and I recently bought a farm … People are probably thinking, 'What? This is random!' … It's something that we have been dreaming about and praying about for a really long time."
"A house came on the market … We both looked at it, we looked at each other and I said, 'I think this is it.'"
"We are just so, so thankful. It is a dream come true."
"I share this whole story because, for nearly a decade, this was something that John and I had talked about and dreamed about and prayed about and saved for."
"We want to be able to serve others with this home."
