It seems that we're at it again...change that is. When we moved here in 2012, we purchased a piece of property that was about 50' wide by 100' deep. It had a large fifth wheel on it which we were given. After my husband lost his job, we got knocked off our feet and it gave us a chance to get back up and start over. It definitely wasn't perfect but we loved the wooded area surrounding it because it had the feeling of seclusion and privacy...but as winter came and the bushed between our neighbor and us lost a good chunk of their leaves and there it was, a house, not far from us. As time went on, we had Kaylee and things became more and more crowded.
Back in December we were forced to move from our old office due to mildew in the ceiling and a leaky roof. We were able to purchase our own office space which was nice but of course leasing a space in a large building vs. buying your own large building has a definite increase in price. One of the things we have been trying to avoid is being in debt, especially in any large amount. Being members of the LDS faith, we believe that it is best to stay out of debt. The church website states...
"Since the early days of the Church, the Lord's prophets have repeatedly
warned against the bondage of debt. One of the great dangers of debt is
the interest that accompanies it. When it is necessary to incur debt,
such as a reasonable amount to purchase a modest home or to complete
one's education, the debt should be repaid as quickly as possible."
In the last week we have spent time praying for guidance as far as what we should do. Now that we have chickens, we want more...more space to raise our own livestock and grow our own fruits and vegetables, and overall, more room to be self sufficient, but we can't do all of that where we are. We have decided to move into our office as it is quite large and has plenty of room (larger than our old house). We knew when we bought it that it wasn't set up to live in, sure it has a 3/4 bath and a 1/2 bath but it doesn't have a full kitchen and we would have to rewire/remodel everything to fit in a stove/oven. As we have felt this great desire to be out of debt we have found ways to work around that by using an electric skillet, something we already do for breakfasts and lunch and a convection oven. Our goal is to take the money we would be spending on our property here and put it into the office so we can pay it off faster and start looking for something that would fit our long term goals more.
The last week for me has consisted of washing, drying, folding and putting every article of clothing, bedding, etc. we own in a tote...well, okay, I'm still at it. We had a moth that laid eggs on our screen door a year ago and they hatched before I realized what it was. Just when we thought we'd gotten rid of all the moths inside, we found more that were sneaking in around the screen anytime we opened up our kitchen window. Ahhhhhhh So, needless to say, to keep them from going with us to the office, I'm washing EVERYTHING.
Yesterday, Alex came home during the day and worked on cleaning up around the property. He took the weed eater and cut back a lot of the brush while some of the young men from church came and helped mow the lawn. It gave the property a more open/bigger look for when we list it. We have a guy coming Tuesday morning to buy and pick up the carport from out back. Our goal is to most of the way out of here by mid week. I will still have to come back and forth to take care of the chickens until we can get a coop built for them out back of the office.
I have to say that this wasn't in our plans...in fact, it was something that we went back and forth about many times trying to decide whether to keep the property and just rent it our, or sell it and move on. I can't wait for the day that we can purchase another piece of property and build our very modest dream home. Until then, this will help us to follow the guidance we've been given while giving the kids (and ourselves) room. I know that following the promptings we've been given leads to blessings that we can't always see. Sometimes, you must sacrifice good for something better and then you must sacrifice the better for the best. As for now, we're stuck at home with two kids and Alex not feeling good. Praying that some extra sleep will do them all some good because we have a busy week ahead of us.
