hello

Over the weekend, my husband and I looked at a small house in western Minnesota. A small house on a ten acre farm, I might add. To add some perspective, my husband was born in Tokyo, one of the busiest and most populated cities on the planet. I was born in St. Paul, the capital of this state, and lived a portion of my life in Tokyo as well. We are straight up city kids! Why on earth would we be looking at a farm house?!

I guess we aren't exactly 100% sure why we looked at the house either. But it just felt... right. Simplifying feels right. Stepping out of the ordinary feels right. Becoming less and less distracted feels absolutely right.

This year we have had several goals: to get out of debt, to get rid of unnecessary things around the house, to stick to a frugal budget, I had a personal goal to get rid of 1/2 of my clothing (which I did, I think before the new year even began?), etc. We have been marking these goals off of the list, and it has been awesome. I always say that this year (so far) has been very little talking, and just a lot of doing. (It probably doesn't hurt that Andrew and I both work 12 hour days and spend a minimum of 4 days apart every week, so there isn't a whole lot of talking going on. But yeah.) We motivate each other, I think, and life with less clutter feels so good.

Earlier this year I began looking into what it would take to start up a self-sustaining farm. I spent a lot of time researching how to make this happen here in the city, and on our .25 acre lot, it just wasn't going to work. I shelved the idea and plotted out my three small gardens instead, and started sketching out the design of a chicken coop that I was planning to build in our garage. I have had successful gardens for 4 years now, so that isn't anything new, but the chickens were to be a new adventure. Then Andrew got a new job working in the country. Then he met this family selling their small farm that is literally equipped with everything we would need to become self-sustained! Quite a coincidence, right?

I have been feeling weighed down by my selfishness this year---by my earthly passions and by the things that distract me from what matters. It seems extreme, but like with smoking years ago, I had to just quit cold turkey. I am not a person who can have a cigarette here or there and not become addicted. I get addicted to absolutely everything. I'm honestly probably addicted to the thought of moving to a farm at this point! But in all seriousness, this place was perfect. Far away from the city, close enough to town in case we need anything, a little run down but not falling apart... just perfect. It needs inhabitants and a little tlc.

At this point, I'm not sure what God has in store for us. We are doing our very best to seek first His Kingdom, are working hard at everything we do, and are waiting patiently for guidance on this one. Moving to a farm would in no way be easier, but a simpler life with less electronic distraction, less emotional distraction... for me, anyway, sounds so, so great. I love to be challenged, and doing my part to maintain a small farm house would be an incredible challenge! And wow, what an amazing place to raise children.



I'm hoping to use this blog space to keep these thoughts somewhat collected, and to provide my future self with a timeline of the events yet to come. We'll see what happens.