Property Search

Today Kat and I made an offer on 13 acres located south of Princeton, KS.

We are hoping that the offer will be accepted and that the target date of taking ownership of September 2nd can be met. This date is somewhat meaningful to me. It was on September 3rd 1972 that my dad died and it was September 3rd 2010 that God began me on a journey of discovery about my great, great grandfather. Now in 2011 the day before that anniversary date He just might be providing our next opportunity.

Here is the overhead view of the property.

Kat and I have added some new ideas to our business plan. We are going to build a commercial grade wood oven and our cabins have been replaced with The Garden Shed and The Goat Shed.

We are excited that God is taking us on this journey and we are glad we did not hesitate in answering the call.

It has been my experience to shrink back when facing obstacles but this time I have pressed forward trusting that God will work out what I cannot and He has.

More to come as we move forward.

Thanks for reading.

The Search Continues 7-10-11

Today Kat and I took another drive to look at property. Our plan was to visit two new pieces of property and look at two we had already visited.

The first was 10 acres located outside of Waverly, KS. It has a creek running through the property, trees and open spaces. As we walked along in the 104 degree temperature and the sweat was rolling down our backs we felt good about this piece of property. It is priced right and really appealed to us.

The next piece of property was 13 acres near Richmond, KS that we had looked at before and felt it was too secluded. As we drove onto the land we decided to walk down the hill to the pond.










As we topped the hill we felt a cool breeze flowing up over us. It made the temperature feel about 10 degrees lower. This property has trees, a creek, lots of open space and shares a pond. The property is located north of Richmond, KS which is 54 miles from Lawrence, 66 miles from Topeka and 54 miles from Olathe.






This is a photo of the south east corner of the property. This is where we would locate the visitor's cabin.










This view is looking pretty much straight south from the road to the creek and trees.













This view is down along the tree line and creek.













The next piece of property was about five miles away and as we drove up to it we kept driving.

The last piece of property was 18 acres located south of Osawatomie we had walked three times before and were really impressed by it. It has a pond, trees and open spaces. It has new goat type fencing around the property. It is not secluded and is only about 30 miles from Olathe and located on Hwy 169.

As Kat and I talked after viewing the properties we felt as though the Holy Spirit had spoken to us as we walked the property near Richmond. It has the most potential, the best price, had a cool breeze and is located almost centrally between our future market possibilities.

Please join us in praying about this property as we prepare an offer to present to the seller.

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.