February 22, 2007
Freeing Mr. Visionary
Posted in Loving My Husband
Where I come from, "It's snowing down South", is the common phrase to
communicate to a woman that her slip is showing below the hem of her
dress. As grateful as one certainly is after receiving such
information, it is still rather disconcerting to realize that the thing
has crept down on you without your knowledge. Life is like that
sometimes, though. Just like that undergarment that quietly slides when
our attention is elsewhere, we slip into patterns of living that
honestly, are just boring and without life. Survival mode on auto pilot
becomes the norm as we lead lives of quiet desperation, not knowing
what it is that is missing.
After becoming convinced that the Lord wanted to do a work in us regarding the mortgage,
I didn't wait until a great "talking moment" to cautiously mention it
to Mr. Visionary. I did not bait him with a, "By the way, I have
something big I want to talk over with you" set up. But one day, when I
was kissing him goodbye, I whispered that I'd be perfectly happy if he
wanted to sell this house and move to Nowheresville and live debt-free.
If this was the Lord's will, I believed He would speak to Mr. Visionary
and confirm what I had heard. The Lord I know, although He uses means, and often does speak through people, did not need my help. Anyway, this was not about getting he and I on the same page. It is about each of us being on God's page.
It was the spark he needed for the Lord to kindle his smoldering embers
into a burning desire again. Mr. Visionary was no happier than I was
about the way life was going. He, too felt that there was something
more that the Lord had for us than just existing, but he was trying to
do what he thought the family needed. I knew that a Visionary any
man (or woman for that matter) who is not actively pursuing the dreams
and calling the Lord has given him is dying. I had forgotten...but the
Lord had not.
That one statement, or rather, the Lord's confirmation of it, freed my
Mr. Visionary. Newly reminded that I was on his side, that I had his
back, and was prepared to follow him wherever the Lord leads, Mr.
Visionary began to hear, and the dreams began to flow. He has been
working on plans for a new house that will be off-grid, with himself
working at home, because he truly believes it is God's will. The moving
and being debt-free are all means to the end of having Dad back home
where he belongs ~ where God originally put him.
All I want is to follow the Lord with my husband and children. I
believe He has a work prepared for our family to do as a unit. Culture
Smulture. The Lord never intended for Daddies to be away from their
families all day (or night for that matter). He never meant for Mammas
to raise the children alone all day, either. Not a homeschool-friendly
statement, I know ~ but it is true. I have had folks argue this point
with me from a cultural perspective or a 'practical' one, but a truly
biblical case cannot be made to refute this. I know this because I have
read about the Garden ~ Adam and Eve were together by design.
Father brought this woman and this man together
because He wanted us to BE together. Father put these children into
this family because He wanted them to be raised by the two of us together. We only have one opportunity to raise the sheyna kepelahs (pretty heads) the Lord has given us. That is freedom,
not pressure. Focusing on how we want ourselves and our children to
have a rich relationship with Him ~ to KNOW Him, makes it easier to
slough off all the extraneous baggage of life and get back to basics.
Knowing that He leads us to want to do His will and then to do it, means that we don't have to worry about how it will happen.
We can trust that if He leads us to something, He will lead us through it as well.
|
|
•
Post A Comment!
• Send to a Friend!
|
Comments
February 22, 2007 - Untitled Comment
 Posted by motherearth
|
|
I have a bunch of thoughts to say about this post, but the best way to sum them up is to just simply state, Well Said!! My husband and I are working on this very goal, debt free living, and him being home more, since my husband is a firefighter he works 1 day at the station and 2 days off. The two days off he is home working on our home business. Times can be tight as we strive to be debt free, but as you put much more eloquently we have to walk in our Saviors will. Thanks for your encouraging post.
|
• Permanent Link
|
February 22, 2007 - Untitled Comment
Posted by Anonymous |
|
Do you read Mother Earth News Magazine or have access to back issues from your library? Many, many families have built an off-grid home on their own and saved lots of $$$. I am not one of them!
Please keep us updated on locations you are researching. It seems like a lot of people buy large lots of land cheaply in TX and Canada. I don't know much about either area.
How will you support yourselves? I buy my country, free range eggs from a woman who supports herself by selling eggs. They are $3/dz (same as grocery store price for organic, free range eggs in my edge of large urban city world). I like buying from her because I like watching the chickens run all around my car when I stop there, and I think it is great that she has figured out a niche way to support herself. The egg money supplements her social security.
|
• Permanent Link
|
February 26, 2007 - unsolicited advice
Posted by Anonymous |
|
May I give you some unsolicited advice? In parts of the US, I believe real estate is headed for a major correction. My advice is PLEASE do not contract to buy anything else until your home is sold. It may be inconvenient to have to rent in between homes, but you will be so glad you did. Where I live there are lots of people who are stuck with two or three mortgages (one being a bridge loan) who cannot now sell their original home because the market has stalled out completely.
|
• Permanent Link
|
February 26, 2007 - Thanks, but...
 Posted by oldpathsfamilyfarm
|
|
Thanks so much for your concern!
However, if you will notice, the whole point of this is that we will have NO mortgage. At all. Zip. None. Yeaaahhh!!!
We aren't even looking for the property until the cash from this one is in our tight little fist. We aren't into debt leveraging, but we are into trusting the Lord to provide for *this* day, instead of presuming upon tomorrow's grace. "Give us THIS DAY our daily bread..." The cool thing is, He always does.
We will also be building our own home, and living in our RV on the property while we build. So no renting in-between, either. But they were valid concerns, and I appreciate your mentioning them.
One more thing...just a little unsolicited advice...it comes across more politely to leave your name with your comments ~ especially on a Southern girl's blog. (warm smile)
~Julie
|
• Permanent Link
|
February 27, 2007 - awesome!!
Posted by panshrmu |
|
God does work in mysterious ways and in HIS timing. I totally agree with your post about mommy and daddy being home, that's right. I am thankful that my boys have their daddy home almost all of the time and that they can go fishing together and play basketball together.
So many blessings are in store for you all.
Deana
|
• Permanent Link
|
February 28, 2007 - I am just really concerned right now...
Posted by Illinois girl |
|
Julie, I wrote the comment about selling before buying. I did not know you were willing to live in a trailer with 7 kids while building your new home...something I also would do!
Please do not take any offense from my previous comment. I just don't understand what is happening economically now. I don't see how individuals can continue to borrow money and how the government can just continue to print money. None of this makes sense to me, and I have a BS in Finance.
I am extremely concerned that we may be heading into a depression, so I am oozing with anxiety.
Your plan sounds wonderful. I am glad you are being ultra conservative with your finances...maybe not for the same reason as me (fear) , but you and your family will be in far better shape to weather the upcoming storm with no debt.
I am living on the east coast now, and I can't tell you how many people I know who are in financial straits, have decided they have to downsize, and have bought a smaller, less expensive home without first selling their current home! Unfortunately, they have believed the realtors who tell them their home will sell right away...meanwhile the market where I live has gone down 10% in the last 12 months and unsold home inventory is piling up. We have had a mentality here that prices only go up, so if you want to buy something you had better buy it quickly. So many people have fallen into that trap, and it is a musical chairs game and the music has stopped.
So, when you originally posted that you were going to sell your home and use the equity to pay cash for something of lower cost, I did not know you were planning to tough it out in a trailer.
The fact that I fear that we (or Israel) will begin bombing Iran my mid-March also adds to my anxiety.
Best wishes to you and your family on your path to living debt free.
|
• Permanent Link
|
March 1, 2007 - Sounds familiar...
 Posted by workinprogress
|
|
Your post completely echoes how I feel. We hope to one day live off of our own land as agrarians with no debt and mommy AND daddy raising the children. We are right now in debt - student loans - and are contemplating a mortgage or not. You have really encouraged me to let go of wanting 'a place of our own' right now and just be thankful for what we have and keep working towards what we should have. Thank you for posting this!
|
• Permanent Link
|
March 13, 2007 - So excited for you all!
 Posted by UnlikelyHomesteader
|
|
I look forward to hearing what the Lord is doing each step of the way through you all. What a wonderful Spirit/Obedience Led adventure for your family.
|
• Permanent Link
|
