Our family in 2005.
Laying firm foundation.
House raising party in 2006. Men from the community came to lend helping hands.
First stud wall up!
Daddy and some of my siblings.
Rafters are going up.
Roof raising party. Thanks be to God for all the helpers.
My sisters and I in the future living room/ dining / kitchen area. We are leaning against beams from world war 2 barracks.
The skeleton of a home.
Our home completed!!! (The white buckets were for collecting rain water for the garden)
My Father built a cabin in the woods.
Jonathan at the pump.
The barn. View from computer."Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say, Rejoice." Philippians 4:4 This was the beginning of the New Testament reading this morning at Church. My family especially has reason to rejoice in the Lord in this Advent season because we've moved into our long awaited home. We've been building it for four years.
"When are you all planning to move?" was a frequently asked question.
"By Christmas - we just don't know which year." was our joke, after it became apparent we weren't moving anytime soon.
"What is the story behind the house?" you may ask.
It began in year 2004. My uncle, aunt and four cousins moved in with us at the homestead "on the creek". ( In our area in Kentucky, we have ridges and creeks. If you have to drive up a big hill to get to your home you live "on the ridge" and if you can see hills around you I think you've found yourself in the "creek".) So Daddy, Mama, uncle, aunt and ten kids aging - 14,13,10,9, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 all lived in our one bathroom house for nine months. (Hey, it was like a big party for the kids.) Let's skip some details. It was decided that Papa would build my family a house in the back field (we had 4 acres) and my uncle would buy our house. But Grandpa heard about our plans and through his generosity and God's providence we were able to purchase a 15 acres piece of land.
The land had a little white house in which an elderly women lived in (which she had rights to until she died), two large barns falling down, an enormous amount of trash (Why send your trash to the dump if you can throw it over the hill?), an overgrown field and acres of woods. In the years that followed Daddy led in the development of the land ( cleaning up trash, putting in a driveway , clearing the fields, putting up fences, trimming trees, cultivating gardens, etc. ); fixing up the barns; building a cabin; planning and designing our house; developing two springs; and building our home. Not an easy job.
We sold our old home, shop and four acres to a home school family. Then we were able to pay back the money we had borrowed from Grandpa and build debt free.
On June 19th 2008, my family moved into the guest cabin Daddy and Ethan built in the woods. This cabin was complete with a bay window, wood flooring, faucet less sink, wood cook stove and back porch overlooking the ravine. What made the cabin unique for my family was the lack of electricity and running water. All the water we used for the family was pumped at the red hand pump outside the cabin. For cooking, washing dishes, baths, laundary, we learned to conserve water really well! As in: -"I think you can wear that shirt another day." We also learned how to live and work together in a tighter area. Let's say some days were better than others.
After a year and a half in the cabin, my father had finished the house and we eagerly bustled out of the cabin and into our beautiful new home. It looks as if we abandoned the cabin ! We took what we needed and left . One of these days we'll have to go clean out the cabin :)
Now we are in the house, just before Christmas year 2009. Thank you Lord for your provision in materials, time for building, friends and family who helped and grace to live one day at a time.
