Monday, May 25, 2009

What does an answered prayer look like?

Prelude:
OK so here’s what happened: I had been struggling emotionally and financially with how I was going to keep the farm. The original agreement between the Ex and me is I would buy it from her this summer. I planned to have enough money for a down payment by Spring but as luck would have it my money making scheme of selling plants was a complete and utter failure.
I desperately wanted to stay at the farm but how was it going to be with the ex as my Land lord? or even if she would be willing to let me stay? I soon came to the sad conclusion it was time to let it go. Carissa and Carsten jumped in and offered for me to move the yurt and stay on their land. We thought this might work, there is plenty of room for my animals and it would be nice to have the support of each other. This felt great having an option. So great I was able to really consider that I would actually survive the loss of the farm I had lived and worked on for the past 6 years.

Admittedly I felt it might be more of a challenge to live in the yurt than it was when I first moved here six years ago. I lived in it for one year, it was a wonderful life changing experience but it was physically demanding. I’m walking up to my 44th year of life and things are creakier than they were when I was 39. But I was willing to give it a try. Linda and I decided that the move to the yurt would be a good time for her and I to merge our lives so……the possibilities seemed interesting. Not quite convinced this would be the right move, being at Carissa and Carsten's beautiful place seemed an amazing blessing.

So last week a realtor came to the farm to see what we may be able to ask for it. She was impressed and thought we would start at a higher asking price than I would have imagined. Enough to help me get settled somewhere else. But…….. I still wasn’t convinced I was willing to give up the farm……..

Now.
Thursday afternoon Heather Oakly, someone I greatly admire (global gardens) called and left a message that she wanted to talk to me. I thought it might be about a car (I’m shopping) I called her the next morning. She started out by saying…”you might think this is really weird but”……..”You know my family has this farm, its 400 acres”. Uh hu…..go on. “ the caretaker has left and my dad thought of you“. Knowing nothing of what I had been going through this came as quite a surprise. He knew I was settled in my own farmed but thought I might know someone like myself who could live and work on their farm

which right now wasn’t being used in the way they felt needed to be.
So I took a few minutes and explained my situation and thought maybe this would be an ideal place for me. Both of us very excited she gave me directions. Linda and I would go and take a look at it see if it was something we would be interested in. We would meet with the Family Saturday after market if we were.


Boys were we! I can’t even explain the feeling I had when I walked through the caretakers cottage, stepped through the iron gate into the properties beyond, walk down trails through one series of ponds to the next, watched the cows grazing peacefully and set foot on the wraparound porch of the log cabin which was built by this family and their love for each other and their love and respect of the balance of nature. Overtaken by the immense beauty of this place from my toes to the top of my head I knew this is what an answered prayer looked like. I couldn’t wait to tell Heather how much we loved the place!


The next day we met the family and spend about four hours together talking very deeply and openly about what this all meant to us and the possibilities that could lie ahead. A place for the dairy and the prospect of getting a licensed on farm processing facility up and running, A beautiful space for farm table dinners and a big garden, room to grow, trails for horseback riding, fishing, writing, living and creating and continuing abundant life on these lands.
The farm is right off of route 66 between Oklahoma City and Tulsa. 7 miles or so from Okie wine country. Couldn’t be a better location for us.
The amazing coincidence seems so perfectly in balance so perfectly divine. I can’t think of anything else. We are so excited.
This means I will be putting my lovely farm up for sale.

I have a feeling it may also be what an answered prayer looks to someone else.

2 comments:

Lost City Denise said...

Congrats!

Moving to a new place can be so cathartic!

Melissa said...

Congratulations!
Keep us posted on how you are settling in!