Nothing felt right... until it did.

Aaron found it. A property on 5 acres in our price range.

We quickly contacted our realtor because houses were selling like hot cakes. As we walked onto the property it felt different. And quite honestly, with every step, we fell in love.

Sure it was a fixer upper but our gaze was drawn to the land. It was overgrown with tedious weeds and grasses. The fields needed maintenance and the fencing was lacking. As we walked through the house and stared at the popcorn ceiling, took in the rose print wallpaper, and experienced the unique odor of the urine stained carpets (pet urine we hoped), it took a lot of imagination to see what this place could be. The carpet was in desperate need of attention, the kind of attention that you take a sledge hammer to. However, as we walked through the house, we felt peace. "Is this where you want us?" I asked. But then we got the call no one wants from your realtor...

"Someone else got to it before us" he said.

The sellers had accepted a cash offer. We were heartbroken.

That night we put the kids to bed and climbed out onto the trampoline looking towards heaven. If this was ever a trying of faith, this little moment sure tested us. We gazed and talked about how we both knew that house was meant to be ours, but didn’t understand why we felt like that when we didn’t get the house. We cried and held each other and prayed for comfort to move on. “Ok God, you take over now. We thought this is what you want for us, but maybe we were wrong. Please lead us to where we need to be.”

Weeks later we get another call from our realtor saying “Hey! You guys still want that house?” He said excitedly. "The other buyers backed out and it’s yours if you still want it!” “YES! Yes we want it!" we yelled.

Once we finally got our house, we realized God indeed wanted us to have it, just not the way we expected. 

The more time we spent redoing things, the more things we found to do.

Luckily we had the help of my Uncle Steve, who’s soul I'm sure is embedded in the house, since he helped us with basically everything. He helped us demo and texture popcorn ceilings. He taught us how to texture. He textured and tiled our entire home. I think his craftsmanship will always speak to me and make me think of this house that love built. I’m pretty sure my daddy was right there beside him at times helping too.The place was gutted. There was no heat or flooring. The fireplace was replaced so we could sit around it in our camping chairs as we tried to get warm from the biting cold of working outside. We often lived on take out pizza, but the kids didn’t seem to mind. We worked hard to make this our home and we wouldn't be here without the help from so many of our family and friends.

Weeks later we get another call from our realtor saying “Hey! You guys still want that house?” He said excitedly. "The other buyers backed out and it’s yours if you still want it!” “YES! Yes we want it!" we yelled.

Once we finally got our house, we realized God indeed wanted us to have it, just not the way we expected. 

This farm has changed us. It’s made us tougher and more compassionate.

It’s made us want to share more of what we have with others.

We didn’t realize how much we’d love it, or be happy to give up an old way of thinking and start a new way of living. Yes it’s hard. Not everyone does what we do. But it’s worth the peace we live with here. It’s worth sitting under the stars at night. It’s worth taking care of an animal who needs your help. It’s worth the sacrifice in the garden to grow nutritious and beautiful food and not rely on the store.

You don’t need all the animals. You don’t need all the land. You just need a place to inspire you and to hear God tell you what He wants you to do with it. One step at a time brings you a step closer to growing a garden or raising your own food, and that alone can make a difference in this world.

What's next for 4K&F?

4 kids, 5 acres, and 100+ animals later, our dreams and goals have changed from what they once were in that tiny 2-bedroom apartment.Now we want to focus on YOU. We want to inspire and teach you a reasonable way to grow your own food. We'll show you that it's not as hard as it may seem.We'll be expanding our educational content on the farm by designing and launching a family-friendly course called, Farm School.

LEARN MORE ABOUT FARM SCHOOL

PHOTOS FROM OUR RENO DAYS!