Monday, September 28, 2015

Feeling a Shift


Since our little homestead here in northern Vermont went under contract this past July, we have been praying and searching for where our next home would be.

On September 18th, our home became officially not our own - as we formally closed on it and the new owners took ownership.  We are more than blessed that the new owners are wonderfully kind and are fine with us staying here until the spring when they will move here or until we find our new home.  Knowing that we don't want to look for homes in the winter nor move during mudseason, we have been very busy looking.

We have been looking around where we live now - putting offers on a few different places - weighing pros and cons - praying - offers  not being accepted - minds changing....

Do we stay here with our church or do we move on to a new area - with new adventures and people?

We spent this past weekend in the midcoast area of Maine but inland a bit, close enough to attend the Common Ground fair (something that has been on my wish list for years!).  We stayed at a Christian summer camp and retreat center, staying in a little cottage right on the lake - so beautiful the setting.

We had two properties on our list to see.  Maine has been in our minds for some time because of the little bit of a higher population, more culture, and the lower property taxes.  The first home we saw, made us not want to see the other.  We saw it on Friday afternoon after our long drive over.

Saturday was spent at the fair and we did a little more exploring of the area after.  There is even an Amish community in Unity.  We felt at home among the people, among the rolling hills and farms, and learned that there is a strong homeschool community there - where there is none where we are now.

We told ourselves to enjoy Sunday, arrive home, see how we felt at home, sleep on it, pray some more, and then make a decision this morning.  Unfortunately, God can't make decisions for us, He has left that up to our feeble human minds.  We know that wherever we live, we are to bring glory to Him, put our family second, and then serve the community.

So we put an offer on the house this morning.  The amazing part of it is that the asking price is so much less than anything else we have looked at.  It has seven acres, is an older cape but in good condition with an attached garage for the workshop.  Our payments will be much less than what we had here in northern Vermont and if all goes well, we will have our own wooded acreage to supply our business and maple trees to tap for a year supply of our family's syrup, plenty of grazing room and garden space (although I will be starting from scratch again).

I will keep you posted as our life takes a new direction - a new place but really just a continuation of what we began 6 years ago when we took the leap to support our family with the works of our hands.

12 comments:

  1. How exciting for you and your family!! Did you stay at Pilgrim Lodge? We love Maine, you will too :) I wish we lived a bit further north as our town is getting a bit too big for my liking, but for now it is home. I pray everything goes smoothly for you.

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  2. Excited to see where you find shelter

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  3. Such a roller coaster type of time I imagine. I'm looking forward to hear some about it. All the best.

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  4. Wishing you all the best! We've moved 9 times to new homes and areas....it can be stressful! Have a great day!

    Blessings,
    Jill

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  5. Hello Tonya...It has been a long while since I've been in touch and I find you are on a new path that seems to be full of promise and new dreams! I admire how much faith and trust you have in the process unfolding as it should...I will wait to hear if the offer is accepted. Good luck!
    xoxo Jules

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  6. That's a wonderful area...we love it there. We were hoping to make it to the fair this year, but it didn't work for us. And we, too, looked for a place there before finding out we had the chance to buy our farm.

    We love the Belfast area, too (there is a great co-op there). :)

    Thinking of you and trusting it will work out soon!

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  7. Ahhh! My neck of the woods. I love Maine :-) I wish you the best!

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  8. Congratulations! Looking forward to hearing all about your new journey!

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  9. Wish you all the best. We will be facing som similar choices next year. It can be pretty scary, but God knows we are feeble and stays close. Pam in Norway

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  10. Wow! First I read the CGF post and thought, we were there Friday! I wonder if I'd have recognized your kids from the blog... And now this post! We live in Maine, near Augusta. I look forward to reading about this next phase in your journey!

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  11. We are from Maine as well, central Maine. I hope and pray all goes well in this stage of your journey. We love Maine, and know some of the Unity Amish as well. They are spirit filled Christians. If you end up moving to that area, we would be glad to help you with your move on this end. Blessings, Amy
    LampLighter Farm

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    1. Amy,
      I think you must live right near our new-to-be home. Would you mind emailing me some time?
      naturalearthfarm@netzero.net
      Thanks so much for your kindness.
      Tonya

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