Ok, here’s how it all started. Since my husband and I were married in the summer of 2007, we have had this dream of owning a small plot of land and building our own house. Being so young and fresh in our careers, we didn’t voice it to many people, and honestly, we had no idea how this could ever become a reality. Last year we believe God began to stir our hearts to pray. We weren’t sure what for yet so we just began to seek him out and listen. On multiple occasions my husband and I had read verses from the Bible about “asking God.” Two times, we had unknowingly been lead to the same verse about this topic and came together to share this only to find out that the other one had read the same passage that day. After months of hearing the same message from God, we finally got the picture. He wanted us to ask him for something. At this time we weren’t sure what that was so we began to write a list of requests. These included healing for friends and family, healthy pregnancies for friends who had recent miscarriages, and the list went on. Towards the end of the list we guiltily wrote down some desires of our own: a piece of land that we could call home, where we could raise our kids, work the land, and build a house. We began to pray daily for these requests as a couple and as a family, including our children in our petitions to God. Soon after, something incredible happened! We began to see our prayers answered. First, it was a good doctor’s report from a friend who had been suffering with severe vertigo and was unable to work. His MRI came back clear and he progressively got better! Next, two of our close friends (two sisters) who had miscarriages late in their pregnancies, got pregnant at the same time. They went on to carry these babes to full term and give birth to beautiful, healthy little girls. Finally, in August of last year, my father went in for a life threatening surgery; a complete liver transplant. The story is long but I will indulge you in some of the romantic details. We had been praying for years for him to find a donor but it just wasn’t happening. As he progressively became sicker, we became more relentless about prayer and research. His wife, my stem-mom, after years of asking and pushing the doctors, was finally approved to be his live donor. She laid down her life for him (literally) and gave him a portion of her liver. The surgeries went smoothly and they are both fully recovered today. My dad is healthier than ever and they are planning a trip to Europe this summer. I am still in awe and amazed that it has been almost a year since this miracle took place in our family and it is just one more reason for us to thank God and praise him each day. God is so good!!!

After all of these remarkable happenings, nothing could shake our faith. We had no doubts about what God had called us to at this time in our lives….ASK ME! We were shown time and time again, how much he loves us and wants good for us. It still gives me chills! Just knowing that he wants us to ask him for things because he wants to give to us. It is an overwhelming and amazing concept.

Some time went on and we still had that one request at the bottom of our list. That one, selfish desire that we truly felt almost guilty about. Sometimes, it’s easy to ask God for things for other people but for some reason, it seemed wrong for us to ask for something we wanted. But we kept asking, and looking for land. We looked at countless lots and houses with acreage but nothing fit the bill. Finally, we gave up. Although we continued praying, this dream was put on the back burner and we thought that maybe, it wasn’t the right timing. We tried to get these thoughts out of our heads and move on, content with where we were and honestly, happy. Then, one day I saw a for sale sign on a piece of property I’ve driven by every week for years. It was a small sign, sale by owner, that said “6 acres for sale. “It was virtually flat, which is almost impossible to come by where we live, and looked absolutely beautiful. I told my husband we should call on it and he was less than thrilled. His only thought was that it would be way too expensive because it was too beautiful and there was no way we could afford it.  Needless to say, I won the battle and we ended up touring the land hours later. When we first walked the property, we both felt at peace and had a sense of home right away. It was truly a gift from God and an answer to our prayers. Although there were obstacles in our way that included finances, timing and others, we purchased the land soon after.

During the coming weeks, we continued to see confirmations of the decision we had made. On the day we signed the closing papers, my husband was walking the property and found the most beautiful pair of deer antlers, perfectly placed in his path. This might seem unimportant to anyone else but to us it was somewhat of a small miracle. For two years, we had been looking, asking around, and shopping for decorative antlers and there they were; laying there on our newly purchased land. OUR land. It’s a little silly but when Anaiah brought them home and told us the story, the kids and I jumped up and down with joy; another simple way God was saying yes to us. Yes to our request. Yes to our dreams. Yes. I know that God’s answer will not always be yes for us and in the past, it hasn’t always been, but for now, we are thankful for what he’s given us and know that it is not something we could have accomplished on our own. That’s the beauty of this whole story. It’s not something we can have pride in; it’s all because of God. He told us to as him and then he did the work for us. Now, we want to do everything we can to use this land to its fullest potential.

So, why “The Homegrown Apple?” Well, obviously we have an apple orchard but not only that; we want to someday be self-sufficient. To us, this means everything we eat is “homegrown.” That is our goal which we are far from today but we have plans in mind and are making steps towards that goal. For lots of years my husband has encouraged me to share my thoughts on homemaking, cooking, crafting, and now homesteading and with this new addition to our chaos, we thought is was the perfect time to do so. This blog will also be a way of sharing my own recipes, how-to’s and more. Follow our journey of homesteading our small piece of paradise; from learning how to care for the orchard, planting new crops, building a house from the ground up, and our family lifestyle in between. Welcome to The Homegrown Apple!

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