Our Story | Homesteading, Homeschooling, & More

Our Purpose in Starting a Homestead, and Why We Know You Can Do It Too!

I have always dreamed of living in the south. There was just this unexplainable draw to the hot weather, more outdoor activities, the warm and friendly people, and the historical areas. I craved the outdoor music, the delicious food, and the ability to grow more food for a longer season. I knew that to live the life that I desired, the South was where I wanted to be. Just the thought excited me!  

We lived in the Midwest where the cold of the Fall, Winter, and Spring seemed to go on and on, making it challenging to enjoy outdoor activities or grow enough food for our large family. I wanted my family to really enjoy and live life, to be active and outside more, playing and spending our time together well. I could not stand the cold, and we hardly ever wanted to do anything for most of the year. Obviously, many people do all those things just fine in the North, but our family was just made and wired for warmer weather.

Although I always wanted to live in the south, starting a homestead was not always my dream. If you would’ve told me a few years ago that I would be enjoying a simpler life, I would’ve laughed. I would’ve grabbed my leather jacket, in-ears, and climbed on a stage. My life was built in Music, and that is what I did and how I identified myself. But God had other plans for our family…

God called us out of the midwest to beautiful all-year Georgia. He called me to remember that I didn’t give my life to Music or Worship Ministry, I gave my life to Him. And He brings us in and out of seasons. He even gives us new callings and new beginnings. We don’t exist to do just one thing with our life. We exist to glorify God in everything we do, and whatever we do. He called us out of a busy, overworking life to a simpler, more abundant life. And I realized, just because my life looked different than what I thought it was supposed to, doesn’t mean I’m not right where I’m supposed to be doing exactly what I’m supposed to be doing.

Maybe you can relate. Maybe Homesteading, Homeschooling, or Homemaking, etc are not what you ever imagined yourself doing, but you know you’re supposed to get started in one of these areas. Just trust Him. Live your adventure! Love the story that God wrote for YOU!

The Call Planted

Several years ago, the Lord put Georgia in our hearts. Then, God began planting a new seed in our hearts to learn to grow our own food. There was this thought that we couldn’t ignore, that someday we would not have the convenience and ease of buying food that we had then. 

At first, the thought was to learn to supplement a decent amount of our grocery bill by growing our own food for our large family. As a young, growing family facing job loss in 2013 with a toddler and a newborn baby I wanted to learn how to grow food to supplement our rising grocery bill. So, I called on my mom to help me start my first garden as cheap as possible. I remember her stewarding a small garden from time to time when I was growing up, but I had no experience. We started one with blocks, soil, seeds, and a few starters that she helped me invest in. I learned to grow food a few seasons, took a break during a really busy ministry season, but then got back to it in 2020.

But the more we prayed, the more we felt like it was all so much bigger than that. There was a deeper purpose, much bigger than ourselves, to learning how to garden. The adventure we were about to embark on was not to arrive at a destination, it was to enjoy a journey.

Awakened to the Problem

We witnessed a global pandemic that shut down schools, stores, workplaces, churches, and more. Many people suddenly could not make a living, buy groceries, buy food at restaurants, get their education, or meet with their congregation. However, though we faced something quite different than ever before, people proved their resourcefulness and grit. Even though there were many creative solutions, this global experience left many wondering, what if this happens again?

Many people began to prepare for future emergencies so that they would never be shaken by a global event again. Some, however, ignore the signs and continue living without any preparation for the future. What if it happens again? Are we ready?

Acknowledging the Solution

After seeing what happened around the world in 2020, we understood why God had been telling us for a few years to move toward a simpler, more sustainable life. Our purpose in starting a homestead was clear.

We see the need now more than ever before to continue to learn to grow and raise our own food, homeschool all six of our children, and build up our home founded on godly principles. Building in these areas will allow us to sustain our family no matter what the future holds.

But we are not our only focus. We want to educate, motivate, create resources, and help contribute to families and communities. Our hope is to awaken people to their God-given skills and equip them to nurture and sustain their own families and communities by building up their homes through homesteading, homeschooling, and more. 

Lack of Experience

We had a garden only two times before in the midwest, and the first time my mom totally helped me get started. I give her all the credit for that one! At the time, gardening was more of an attempt to save money. My goal was just to grow enough for my husband and myself to eat. Our children were very small at the time. Gardening was not something I ever wanted to take on seriously.

So, the call to building a homestead seemed like a feat. I never used to be able to keep even a houseplant alive! So, I didn’t quite consider myself to have a green thumb, and neither did anyone else who knew me. It sounded overwhelming! But I believed we were called by God to garden, so I just set out to learn. I had to trust God. As a professional musician and teacher, I knew that if I believed anyone could learn music, then I could certainly learn gardening. Right?  

Just Getting Started

I was an always exhausted part-time professional musician, part-time music teacher, part-time leader serving the worship ministry in a large church, and full-time homeschool mom. I hated cooking, couldn’t stay on top of clutter, felt almost constantly overwhelmed, and couldn’t even keep a houseplant alive.

The doubts rolled in, but I began researching and reading, watching videos, and learning in my spare time. I started praying about God’s will, and brainstorming goals. I started with journals full of notes, Pinterest boards, YouTube videos, and tons of printables to organize everything.

Then, we jumped in by starting two 4 x 4 garden beds on our own this time. We had a small, but healthy harvest that season. However, we knew there was so much more to learn and that we had to expand and grow more somehow. And then, less than a year later, God made the way for us to move to Georgia!

The Call Sprouting

After moving, we really began to enjoy a simpler, slower, more abundant life. We began building up our home, homestead, homeschool (in a fresh new way), home businesses, and more. Now, my husband still works his job full-time and works the homestead part-time. And I am still a full-time homeschool mom, but with the help and support of my husband and family, we can now add homesteaders, gardeners, chicken raisers, livestock owners, from scratch cooks with our now family of eight, dogs, flock chickens, garden beds, herb garden, berry bushes, and nearly twenty fruit trees! We cultivated most of that in less than ONE year on less than a 1/2 acre of land!

In only our second year, we are enjoying the fruits of our labor successfully providing colorful eggs and beautiful, healthy chickens as a business from our home. And I am successfully keeping these gardens, animals, and children alive! (unlike those houseplants) Even more, our children have become the lead chicken caretakers!

It all started with hearing the call, seeing the problem, acknowledging the solution, and just getting started. It took grit, patience, time, and discipline, and we know that you can do it too!

Are You Ready to Get Started?

Part of getting started is knowing what you want to learn and why. What is your purpose in starting a homestead, homeschool, etc? Or building up what you have already started?

If you have found the purpose, but haven’t really started, we want to encourage you. Social media is saturated with beautiful posts and images of master homesteaders, farmers, and gardeners, who are so far along in their sustainable journeys. It is inspiring, but it can also become hard to focus on our own journeys. The thought of being able to do it all can feel overwhelming, discouraging, and even impossible to those just starting out, or who haven’t even started yet. But don’t be deterred, be encouraged that they have proved it can be done!

We hope to bring encouragement and authenticity to what it actually looks like to just get started. We are here to inspire you to live abundantly through slow living and sustainability, working with diligence and delight along the way. Our large family lives on a small homestead right now. Our hope is to move our small homestead to a full farm someday, helping to sustain, not just our own family, but our community. To read more about our current farmstead, click here. We are just working hard right where we are, delighting in it along the way, and we hope you are inspired to just start right where you are!

Do you know what you want to learn and grow in? What is your purpose the adventure? Do you value your reason enough to just get started? Comment below and let us know what you want to grow in, and if anything is holding you back. We hope to provide resources and articles to help you!

Our Adventure

Challenges will look different for all of us. Maybe the challenge will be money, space, climate, land, or materials. A challenge can be not having enough time, helping hands, support, or encouragement. One of the biggest reasons why we have decided to share our journey is to create a place that will support and inspire beginners, offer simple resources, and motivate people through challenges. We hope to create a community ready to start their journeys!

There will be real ups and downs during the journey, but that’s where the adventure lies. We plan to have a lot of fun and laughter along the way! If we put in the effort and work, remembering the skills and abilities that God has given us, we will not just survive, we will thrive.

“Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26

Build a life you love by building up your home, and live abundantly! Join the adventure, and start your adventure by signing up to our newsletter below. You will receive education, inspiration, and tools to help you live abundantly on your journey as a beginner homesteading, homeschooling Christian family.