We did it! We found our forever farm. I wanted to write this blog to tell you the story of how we found it because I truly believe God placed this new farm in our lives as part of my journey to become a full-time farmer.
I want to tell you about how we found this place, but first let me tell you we weren’t even really looking! Mrs. Sunshine and I like to scroll Zillow and my favorite thing to do is look at huge, mostly wooded, properties that I can hunt on and do a little farming. However, one night, after a long afternoon of partially assembling a new metal portable shed, I was just about to close my eyes when my phone buzzed and as I tend to do even when I am dog tired, I looked at it. To my surprise, it was a text from my wife. Since she was lying right next to me, I thought it was odd that she would send me a text so my curiosity led me to open the text and in it was a link to a house listed on Zillow less than an hour ago.
The first thing I did was look at the price and thought, “ok, we might be able to swing that.” Then, as I always do, I looked at how much land it was on, then how many bedrooms/baths. “So far so good!” I thought. Then the pictures of the house were incredible. I loved the main bathroom, the walk-in closets, everything! I looked over at Mrs. Sunshine and said “Wow! I kinda want to go look at this property. It seems doable.” Or something to that affect and she was as excited as I was. The next day, I looked at the link some more on my big monitors at work and something struck me about the location – it was right next door to the farm we have been leasing!!! I was in shock and messaged my wife and she (as she is so astute) already knew that and was amazed as well. I immediately called our friend who is a realtor at Pearson Realty and she was happy to
meet us out there with our kids after we got off work.
The property was even more gorgeous in person than the photos online had led us to believe. There are two fenced pastures, lots of yard
for the kids and the interior was immaculate. The special amenities and little touches we dreamed about from watching too much We told the kids we were only looking and didn’t know if we were even serious about buying it. They didn’t care. They went off searching every cabinet and closet just having a blast. They eventually met my wife, the realtor, and me in the kitchen where we noticed the countertops matched the type we had installed in our current house perfectly. We LOVE those countertops and it was exciting thinking that we would be able to continue to see them even if we move. The kids enthusiastically interrupted our conversation to inform us THEY had chosen their new bedrooms so we asked them to show us. To our surprise, they had chosen the exact rooms WE thought would be best for them. What a relief! As we continued to walk through the house and around the property, I realized that we had found something really special. So, we made an offer the next day and eagerly awaited a response from the seller.
Meanwhile, I got on the phone with a lender at Prime Meridian Bank located in beautiful Tallahassee and started the process to get preapproved. The process was easy and our lender was very friendly. I highly recommend Kristen Phillips on their Home Mortgage Team. She was responsive, knowledgeable, and thorough. We honestly couldn’t have done this without her.
As we went through the mortgage process and inspections and a few minor repairs, we were able to go to the house several more times and look around. Each time, both my wife and I had this feeling that there was something about this house. We truly believe God called us to this place and wanted us to be here.
When closing day came, we finally got to meet the seller who was an angel throughout the process. The house needed a new well pump and to have the tank “shocked” to remove bacteria so it was good as new by the time we moved in. He went to no ends to make sure that when we moved in, we had nothing to worry about. The closing was an emotional afternoon on a sunny day. The seller told us about how he and his late wife had designed the layout of the house to fit the needs of their children and the desire to have animals and live a quiet, Christian life in the country.
It was at the end of closing that the seller revealed to us that during construction of the house, he, his wife, and his children had written bible verses on the studs. He couldn’t remember all of them, but the one he could remember was Joshua 24:15 which famously ends “…as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
I hope and pray that I can make him proud by treating our new home with respect and living with the land in a way that cares for the soil and the animals including our family) that benefit from it. But most of all, I hope I honor God by choosing not to serve other gods such as money, my career, or coveting my neighbor’s property. I hope that throughout our lives in this home, me and my house will serve the Lord.
