Desired Haven

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I thought I’d share a quick story about how we ended up out here, in what seems like the middle of nowhere sometimes, and how we named our little patch of earth Desired Haven Farm.

Andrew and I are going on 20 years of marriage (WOW!) and many ideas and dreams have changed over those years. For one, we thought we’d have 2 kids and I’d be back to work after having those kids. But that’s another story 🙂

But one thing that had been a desire of ours was to be out in the country. We had always wanted a little plot of land somewhere to do what we wanted and let our kids run. Often we’d talk about what we wanted and sometimes over the years we’d even go check out properties or land. Most of the time we thought about building what we wanted. But the cost was always prohibitive or we didn’t find what we wanted.

Almost four years ago is where the story really gets going. We decided to put our house on the market and see what we could find. We looked all summer long and couldn’t find anything and our house just wasn’t selling. So after a few months we took it off the market and decided to add on. We put on a beautiful sunroom (that I still miss) and then thought we’d be fine. And we were…until we found out we were expecting baby number 9. We just couldn’t fit in our house anymore; no matter how we tried to lay it out we felt very squished.

Fast forward to the following spring when we decided we should take a trip before baby came. Not just any trip…a huge month long trip to Germany…with all eight kids…and a very pregnant mama. No big deal.

Midway through the summer as we were booking flights and renting cars for our trip, we found out a house I’d always loved was going on the market. And at a price we could afford. I told Andrew about it and he said, “Let’s do it.” I replied, “Don’t you want to look at it first?”

So we took a look, fell in love, and suddenly we were in a whirlwind of cleaning, organizing, and fixing things on our house. We threw our house on the market three days later and sold it 28 days later, just a week before I was supposed to fly out with the kids and a good friend to Germany!

I have to say, it ended up being a pretty good deal for me. I left the packing, cleaning, and moving in the hands of friends and my very capable husband, boarded a plane and went to enjoy family and scenery! Andrew got the short end of the deal, having to get everything out of the house in less than two weeks, close on our house without me, and fly to Germany, all while still working full time. He was haggard and exhausted by the time he arrived in Germany and had a well deserved break from it all.

The strangest part was leaving my house to head to the airport and then returning to the states to a new house. And yet, it felt like home from the minute we walked in the door. And it still does.

As Andrew and I used to dream about what we wanted in our country house we never dreamed we’d get it all. I used to always say I wanted a big front porch with lights and fans where we could enjoy the country air and view. Andrew always wanted a big, heated garage with floor drains where he could work on cars. We wanted a barn the kids could play in and space for animals. We wanted big trees the kids could climb and build a tree fort in.

Funny how God works, isn’t it? We never specifically prayed about wanting those items in a house and yet He answered them all! He gave us exactly what our heart’s desired.

Just a couple weeks after we moved in to our house, I realized the craziness the Lord had brought us through. It was a whirlwind of a summer and early fall. Looking back I wonder how in the world we made it, but I also look back on it with a fondness that only comes from knowing the Lord was directing our steps through it all. I had been thinking, in the midst of it all, what we should name our little farm. And, funny enough, God provided that too.

I was at a Bible Study and we read the verse Psalm 107:30, “They were glad when it grew calm, and he guided them to their desired haven.”

It struck me so profoundly then, and it still does. That’s exactly what had happened. He had guided us to our desired haven and we were so glad that it had grown calm! Of course life doesn’t stay calm, but that’s another story for another day…

And that’s how our little patch of earth got it’s name…Desired Haven Farm.