Harold and I married in 1980 and lived in an apartment for a couple of years and then rented a double (duplex) for several years. We continued renting various apartments and homes for the first 15 years of our marriage. Actually renting was convenient for us during those years as we moved around quite a bit: from Indianapolis we moved to Tampa; from Tampa we moved to Los Angeles; from Los Angeles we moved to Jacksonville Florida; and from Jacksonville we moved to the Dallas/Ft Worth area. Amazingly the last four moves were done within a five year period.

So in 1994 we decided it was time for a change. While renting an apartment in Lewisville, Texas, we took the plunge and bought 10 acres of undeveloped land in Krum, Texas. It was pure country and it was absolutely beautiful! I could just sit and stare at the land for hours. In every direction we looked it was green, it was big, it was peaceful, and the sunsets were amazing.

Harold dove in immediately and began putting up fence. Within a few days we made a trip to the local ER after he busted his hand and broke his thumb with a post hole digger. Ouch!

A few weeks later we began the next chapter in our lives and moved out of our Lewisville apartment and on to our new land, and into a little travel trailer.

It was a really old travel trailer.

And did I mention it was little?

And that there were four of us!

It was so small, when the girls were sleeping, we had to climb over their bed (couch/hideaway-bed) to get to the kitchen! We didn’t even own it; we rented it!

While living in the travel trailer we built a 12-stall drive-through barn and made 4 of the stalls into living quarters:

⁃ one stall for the kitchen/bathroom

⁃ one stall for the living room

⁃ one stall for our daughters’ bedrooms

⁃ and one stall for our bedroom.

It was kind of like a log cabin except instead of logs the walls were made of untreated 2 x 4’s. Our bedroom was located next to the horse stall and on many an occasion the horse would wake us up by kicking the walls. Ha! We also had a few roosters 🐓 but that was very short lived because they “cock-a-doodled-do” way too early in the morning (I’m talking like 4:00 a.m.) so we gave them away to the first neighbor who would take them!

When the living quarters were finished we moved out of the travel trailer and into the barn. Actually our neighbor to the east of us needed a travel trailer so he took it and used it while he was having his home built.

Now Michelle, our oldest daughter, wasn’t very fond of living out in the country and was even less fond of living in a barn, although she did like the horses. Our other daughter Megan, was just the opposite. She absolutely loved living on the farm and loved all the animals. In addition to the horses and a dog, we managed to acquire a few cats, rabbits, donkeys, goats, sheep, and cows too.

We also had some emu’s but suffice it to say, that didn’t turn out very well. They were not very friendly either.

So having lived my entire life in the suburbs up until this time, living in the country was quite the culture shock for me. Living in a barn was very different than what I’d ever experienced before, but I decided to treat it like an adventure. It started reminding me of the old TV show, Green Acres, staring Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor. It wasn’t long before I found myself walking around singing the theme song to Green Acres:

Green acres is the place to be!

Farm livin’ is the life for me!

Land spreadin’ out so far and wide.

Keep Manhattan, just give me that countryside. (As sung by Eddie Albert)

New York is where I’d rather stay!

I get allergic smelling hay.

I just adore a penthouse view.

Dahling I love you but give me Park Avenue! (As sung by Eva Gabor)

The chores! (Eddie Albert)

The stores! (Eva Gabor)

Fresh air! (Eddie Albert)

Times Square! (Eva Gabor)

You are my wife! (Eddie Albert)

Good bye, city life! (Eva Gabor)

Green acres we are there! (In unison!)

Not surprisingly Harold absolutely loved everything about living in the country, and he was just fine with living in a barn. So much so that I was a little concerned that we were never going to get around to building that new house that he’d promised me when we first bought the 10 acres.

So I prayed about it.

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. Philippians 4:6

Although our address was in Krum, we actually lived closer to the town of Ponder and that’s where the girls went to school and where we attended church, Ponder Baptist Church.

Michelle and Megan came to faith in Christ there and were baptized, and my faith grew as well. I was involved several ministries; outreach visitation, VBS, Kid’s Hope, choir, and high school girls Sunday School. It was during this time I began to tithe. It wasn’t the first time I’d considered it but it was the first time that I was convicted to try it.

Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 2 Corinthians 9:7

Then, while living in the barn we had a little surprise; I became pregnant and gave birth at age 42 to our third daughter, Mackenzie!

When we were first married back in 1980 I remember thinking about our future and about having children; I daydreamed of having three children one day. God blessed us with Michelle in 1981 and Megan in 1986. But during this time I also suffered several miscarriages. So, by 1996, and in my early 40’s, I had long given up on my hope of having three children; but God had other plans.

Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4

So in 1997, after 17 years of marriage, and after approximately a year of living in that little trailer, and a year of living the barn, we moved into the first home that we could call our own. Harold was 48, I was 42, Michelle was 15, Megan was 11, and Mackenzie was just a few months old.

We also added a pond (aka a “tank,” as they call them in Texas) in the front yard and a pool in the back yard.

It was all so very beautiful but eventually we found the 10 acres required more work than we were willing to do.

So,

In 2003 we sold the 10 acres and moved to a new home in the suburbs, in a two-story 2900+ square foot corner lot home; within walking distance to several restaurants, doctors’ offices, a movie theater, a gym, and several small shops and stores.

I look back on those years spent on those 10 acres with a smile and recall the many sweet memories we made there together as a family, including having my mom live nearby for several months in 1994.

God is faithful.

Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. Psalm 36:5

Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. Psalm 107:1