The Search Continues

Often in life what appears to be a good thing turns out not so good. That is how our search for property has been. For example the description of one piece of property sounded good. It had a pond and the two out buildings looked good in the photo.

As Kat and I drove onto the property we began to get the real picture. The barn looked bigger in the photo and in good shape from a distance. The pond turned out to be nothing more than a 30 foot circle with lots of cattails.

As we walked the property we had a good laugh because what we thought was the property from the air turned out to be the property across the street which of course looked good even from the ground.

Life is like that. What sounds like a great deal often turns out not so good. The key is what we do when we realize things aren't as good as what we thought. Kat and I have chosen to laugh and keep looking. We know that we are not going to find the perfect place and that everything is not going to be exactly the way we want them to be. What we do know is if we keep open to what God wants we lead us to the place He wants us to have. What appears to be imperfect will be made perfect in Him.

We began this journey knowing there would be bumps in the road and that detours would come. Some of those bumps and detours happened because of my insecurities and some because life happens. One of my insecurities has to do with finances. I do not want to go heavily into debt and I want to have a plan for paying the bills. That insecurity can come across at times in a negative way especially given my tendency to be somewhat defensive and maybe even direct when I feel that insecurity rubbed. Wanting to have the finances figured out is not a bad thing but the insecurity of it controlling me is.

One of the things rubbing that insecurity was the location of the farm. Property tends to be more expensive closer to large cities and in counties with a lot of building restrictions. What Kat and I have decided to do is look for less property and maybe a little farther out from highly populated areas. We are finding we can purchase more acreage for less money if we move the farm's location just 30 or 50 miles farther out. The downside of course is there seems to be less market or the perception that the market is less the farther out we go.

What we have decided to do is change our idea of our market. For example one of the markets we were going to seek out was Restaurants, which the Kansas City area has many to choose from. One of the areas we are looking at is close to the Lake of the Ozarks, which has a good number of high quality Restaurants. Another market was going to be people who had high incomes who would join a CSA or want fresh vegetables delivered to their door. Lake of the Ozarks has a similar population although it may be a little more spread out. In reality the markets are similar although they appear different.

For me a key part of the Restoration Farm's focus is going to be on providing a safe environment for pastors and missionaries who are in need of restoration from the experiences they have had. Since we are not going to be actively seeking funding from churches or organizations we feel locating in a less costly area with less restrictions will allow us to provide a nicer setting for the Restoration Center.

So what we are doing is opening up the search to a distance of 135 miles to the east and south of Kansas City and 70 miles to the west and south of Kansas City. We have a plan if the property is located near Lake of the Ozarks and we have a plan if it located closer to Kansas City. We believe both plans have been generated with the guidance of God and both require us having faith that He will guide us in the process.

Detours will come and plans will change but the dream will remain the same.

Thanks for dropping by to read the latest post.

Being Open to Change in Plans

As Kat and I travel the road of making The Restoration Farm a reality we have found that there are detours in the road now and then. As we take those detours we realize that as one part of the dream sort of closes something new always takes it's place.

For example in my last post I shared about our dream home.

I have also shared some of the properties we have looked at. One particular property has many of the things we are looking for such as proper fencing and a pond but part of the property line is facing a highway. From certain parts of the property the noise of a passing trailer truck can be heard. Farther back on the property the noise level is not as high but the trucks can still be heard. At first this seemed to be a big negative. Upon visiting the property again this week we noticed that as we walked the property the noise of passing vehicles was evident but it was not as bad as we first thought.

We discovered something this week which we knew all along and that is important in our journey. When faced with a detour we need to remember that God is driving the vehicle and that He knows what route we need to take to get to our destination, "The Restoration Farm".

For example, our dream home along with the cost for the property we like would be about $20,000 more than what we were hoping to spend. Earlier this week I received an email from www.barns.com and we began to research building a barn for our house. What we found is we can build a nice looking barn style house on the property we like for about $20,000 less than the land and log cabin price.

Here is what the barn style house would look like minus the garage doors in the picture.

This building is actually about 200 square feet more space and it, in our mind, is just as attractive.

Most importantly it keeps our plan within the budget that we have set.

We believe what looked like a detour is turning out to be the plan God has in mind for us.


The lesson we believe that God wants us to learn from this process is that reaching our destination requires us to move with faith. As we do so we might find a detour in the journey but if we continue to move in faith God will always lead us along the right road.

In the case of the property and housing. The property is priced about $20,000 more than we want to spend but the barn style house is about $20,000 less than what we had budgeted for housing. If I had not been open to looking beyond the facts we may have taken the wrong path to our dream. It would not have been a sin but it could have resulted in going deeper into debt than what we needed to.

I hope that God spoke to you about something in your own life that looks like a major road block or detour to your dream. I encourage you to look beyond whatever lies in your path and let God make the path straight for you.

Our Dream Home

Kat and I have looked at so much land the last three months that I think we know every gravel road in Bates County and almost as many in Kansas. We have narrowed our search down to looking for 10-15 acres and we are close to the location that we want to be in.

This is a photo of the cabin we want to build on it.






To ensure we have water for the gardens we plan to have a water well dug and then connect a wind mill to it for drawing water.

One piece of property we looked at this week had a sunset going on almost like the one pictured here.


Hopefully in the next week or two we can post a photo and overhead shot of the land we will call The Restoration Farm.

Kat and I are excited that God is leading us in the direction we are going. We both know that in the beginning it will require some hard work but once we have established some success things will get easier. But we are prepared that as often is the case in life it will not get easier but more challenging.

Kat is learning more about emergency preparedness, which she hope to pass on to others through classes held at our small center. The center will have a small kitchen and meeting area, a laundry and restrooms with showers. The center will not be very large but sufficient for what we plan to do.

I am putting together the plans for the small cabin(s) that we will provide to pastors and missionaries. These cabins will be rustic but comfortable. My idea for the center and cabins is to provide a safe place for servants to spend some time getting healing and without someone trying to fix them. I believe God's Holy Spirit will do the fixing and my job is to provide the environment.

We have put together our budget and believe we have narrowed things down to fit well within that budget. We believe God wants us to do this within the budget we currently have and right now it is within $150 per month of our current monthly expenses, which Kat and I are very pleased with.

Check back soon because you never know when God will take us to that piece of property that says The Restoration Farm all over it.