Hey family!
A lot has happened in our family, so I wanted to create this private page to share everything.
As you all know, it was 5 years ago that we first stepped foot into Arkansas, not knowing that it was going to be the beginning of quite the adventure.
Everything started at the camp, where we spent almost two years rebuilding cabins, fixing unending water leaks (37 so far), moved more rocks than I thought was possible. After 2.5 years we had our first camp, and to date, we have had over 400 people!
We knew that the camp wouldn’t be our “home” so we kept our eyes and ears open for land that we could raise our kids on, without making the camp our homestead as well.
So about 2.5 years ago some friends of ours were heading out to become pastors, and their father had a farm that they had inherited. That 40 acres have been home to our clan, and again – full of builds, fixes, rebuilds, fencing, adding driveways, etc. There has been a lot of investing in this land, thinking that it would be our forever home…
However, God had other plans for us…
Before I share – let me reassure
We still have the camp, still do camps, and are still investing in improvements and developing the camp into an even better place!
Also, we still have this property in Evening Shade, AR, and will keep this property.
But there has been a few changes.
About 5 months ago Ellie and Caleb officially got engaged and our first thought was… let’s have it on our property!
We did all the plans, looked into building a “chapel”, started fixing up the old barn, and even put in a circle driveway. But when we looked at the timing and the investment… We called a wedding venue nearby and miraculously they had a date available (Nili had called them months before and they were completely booked – so… God).
Excited about not having to rush into all the projects I shifted our conversation into building our forever home. We drove the 4×4 up to the top of the property and stood looking at the land.
We LOVE the land, and we LOVE the property – but it just didn’t feel like the right place to build our house (for kids, grandkids, and great-grandkids). In fact, Nili, who never pushes for what she wants, said to me at the top hill “Ben, I don’t want to build our forever home here”.
I asked her, what would be ideal.
- Far from the road – safety
- Deep property – security
- Rolling land and lots of grass – beauty
- Horse and Barn facilities – animals and farming
- Can’t see neighbors – seclusion
- Large enough to entertain – friendships
- And the kicker… close to our property (Nili literally said within 5 miles).
I was like… hmmm where would we find that!!!
But we both felt at peace.
Wouldn’t you know it – a piece of property less than 2 miles from our farm had been for sale for 6 months.
We went and looked and we were blown away at the Beauty (reminded me of when mom and dad found their land in DeRidder). The land was everything we would be looking for, but it was expensive and the house was a mess (really a wreck).
Here is a video of the property!
But we prayed about it and we put a LOW offer on the house (almost 25% less than they were asking) and they accepted!
What?!?!
So, I have been working hard (even though I am not supposed to with the surgery) to get it ready before the wedding (my kids have been working SO hard) and we finally turned a corner. Its looking like we MAY get it in time
But here are a few of the miracles
- 1 – Closing happened in less than 20 Days
- 2 – I actually had good credit even though I haven’t had debt in 16 years
- 3 – We had the money to put down on the property
- 4 – It fits all the criteria
- 5 – It allows us to use the farm for some dream ideas (hosting event center, horse eventing, weddings and even some church stuff – as God has been pushing us in starting something).
- 6 – Gives a source of income for our family on both properties (events, hosting, cattle, hay, etc).
We are excited and wanted to share this with you all
Here are few pictures from the new property… Lots of work to do, but its coming along
Love you all and let us know any questions you have
