MOVING TO EL PASO
I didn’t realize how attached I had become to our property and home on Nameless Road. Yes, we had raised our children there, so it was home to them. For 3 1/2 years, all six of us lived in a small, two bedroom trailer that was located on the back side of the ranch, while we completely restored the 50 year old small farm house we had fallen in love with. Of course, we didn’t realize it would take us 3 1/2 years to complete that project! It all started with three coats of stark white paint on the walls, until Mark decided that the house needed to be leveled. The problem was, when we replaced the rotted cedar posts and raised the house, all of the sheetrock I had so carefully painted, cracked! Once we realized that the sheetrock would have to be replaced, Mark suggested that we replace the dangerously old wiring and plumbing that was now exposed. We had decided before all of this that one day we would add on to the house, since it was really too small for our growing family. Well, now was our chance! So off to the drawing board I went. I spent the next 6 months or so sketching up floor plans and elevations, trying to figure out how to work with the existing structure. I even put it on autoCAD! Meanwhile, we had succeeded in completely tearing out anything that could be torn down - the kitchen cabinets, the old carpet, the bathtub - until everything was stripped. The chain saw and sawz-all became our best friends! Then all the fun began.
The End Result
Our Beautiful Creek provided hours of entertainment!
During this time, Mark’s sister, Kathy, had moved in with us in the trailer. She shared a room with Jacob, Michael, and Hannah. Mark and I had the smaller bedroom with newly born Christi. We didn’t mind being a little squished - we had 15 beautiful acres to roam on, with an enchanting creek that stretched across the length of our property. A cliff rose sharply above the creek, and white-barked sycamores decorated its edges. We loved being on “the ranch”. The kids could ride their bikes and shoot their BB guns without worrying about being hit by a car, or shooting out the neighbors windows!
About the same time we had moved to “Nameless”, Mark launched a new business in Cedar Park, an extension of PEECO, his step-dad’s engineering firm. He had also gone back to school at the University of Texas to obtain his second degree, this time in Civil Engineering. We had also decided to home school the kids, since we could not afford private school at the time, and didn’t want to send them to public school. So between Mark’s new business, building our house, teaching kids, and studying for hours, we were a very active family! Mark would stay up into the wee hours of the morning just to have some quiet time to study. Right after dinner, we would all go down to the house where Mark and I would try to figure out how to build a house! Christi would sit in her little swing on the front porch for hours, and Jacob was left in charge of his siblings. He would walk by every now and then and give her a push to keep the swing going. They would ride their trikes or skates, and race each other through the house while Mark and I sawed and hammered away. What we didn’t know how to do, we would figure out by driving to a new construction site to see how they were doing it! I must say, those were some of the happiest times, raising a family and tending to our myriad of animals we had soon collected. Over time, we accumulated five horses, a couple cows, a sow and her 13 piglets, a billy goat, chickens, dogs and cats, not to mention the indoor pets! Whew!
In 2003, my mom came down with uterine cancer, and six short months later, went home to be with the Lord. It was such a shock for all of us, as she was the epitome of health, and took good care of herself. She was a beautiful Christian woman, who had a heart to serve and love other people. When she died, we got permission to bury her in the small community cemetery that sits in the middle of our property. It was nice to have her close to us. Her and Dad had moved to Cedar Park three years earlier from Indiana, so it was a treasure to have her nearby where the grandkids could get to know her before she left. She would cook and paint with the girls, while Dad would teach the boys how to build their own cars in his “wood shop”. Her and Dad even lived in the trailer for six months or so, while searching for a house. It seemed fitting that she would be buried on the property that we felt so attached to. We had poured our “blood, sweat, and tears” into fixing up the place.
When we had first purchased the property in 1995, it had not been lived in for a year and a half, so it was very run down and grown over. It was a big risk to move onto this land. There were no guarantees if the well or the septic worked, and we had to buy it “as is, where is”. The old pole barn was full of junk that had to be hauled off, and the weeds were four feet deep everywhere, making it difficult to see how engaging the property really was. But somehow, when we saw the “For Sale” sign many years ago, we were instantly drawn to the beauty of the land, and felt God calling us to this place. Our pastors and dear friends from Atlanta gave us a scripture from Isaiah the first time they came to visit us. It was from the 62nd chapter, and its promises were amazingly fitting for our new life on this land. We found out later how spiritually rich this property really was. Settlers in the early 1850’s had begun their lives in this exact spot because of the deep topsoil that was so rare to find in the hill country, as well as the water nearby. They built a one-room school house, where their children would learn, and on Sundays it was used as their church. It still stands on the property today. The creek was used to baptize many a folk, and we learned that the very spot where our little farm house was built, was where they would have “brush-arbor” revivals. We heard testimonies of powerful moves of the Holy Spirit as people worshiped and prayed. Miracles and changed lives took place on this land, and it seemed Holy to the Lord. Indeed, the Lord gave us this property for His purposes.
So one might understand the confusion when Mark announced one day that he was accepting a new job in El Paso! For six months we wrestled with the idea of leaving our church, our friends, our house, our ranch - everything we had worked so hard for. However, we finally conceded and put the property up for sale. I remember walking the land one day and having it out with the Lord. I could not understand why He would ask us to give up something that He had completely orchestrated to begin with. I was very happy where I was. We had worked so hard to make the property look beautiful. I argued with God as tears streamed down my face. Before long, we had a contract on the property, but oddly enough, two days before closing, the buyer backed out. We had already signed for a house in El Paso, thinking we had the property sold. By this time, we were praying the ranch would sell so we wouldn’t have two mortgages! Another offer came through that was a lease to purchase agreement. We gave him a couple years to decide if he wanted to buy the land, but we had no doubt he would. We would always here how much he loved the property and how he would be closing as soon as he got the funding secured. This went on for five years. He tried so hard to buy our property, but somehow never was able to go through with it. We know now why he never could!
When Mark took the job in El Paso, we knew that this would be the job he would retire from. It was an amazing opportunity for him, and God restored to him what had been lost. After living in El Paso for five years, we had to make a decision about the kids schooling. It had been very difficult on the kids because of the cultural differences and the strong demonic influences in that area. The small Christian school they were attending closed down for lack of interest, and after attending the public schools, we knew they were not an option. There was no support there for home schoolers needing upper level classes. So Mark made one of the hardest decisions we’ve had to make in our marriage so far. The kids and I would move back to Nameless Ranch where the girls would finish school, and Mark would continue to work in El Paso, while commuting back and forth every other weekend. I felt like I had been abandoned. Surely the Lord would not split a family up like that. It was hard to see that this was the only option. My sole comfort was that perhaps Mark would begin his own company in Cedar Park one day. However, that day has long come and gone. Who knows the plans of God, or who can understand His ways? I cannot. But I do know that He has taken great care over me and my family through every decision and trial, and I can trust Him. I have learned that He directs our path, even though we don’t understand the direction He takes us. He knows our needs and our heart’s desires and will surely bring about good for us.
It’s amazing to me that after trying to sell our property for five years, it never sold. We were able to move back into our home, and settle back in to the life we had grown to love through the years. God gave it all back to us, and has blessed us in every way - financially and spiritually. We are all better and stronger because of the experiences we have been through.
I am reminded of a scripture in Isaiah 61:7 that says,
“Instead of their shame, my people will receive a double portion,
and instead of disgrace, they will rejoice in their inheritance;
and so they will inherit a double portion in their land, and ever-
lasting joy will be theirs.”
Just as the latter part of Job’s life was blessed by God more than the first, so our lives have also been blessed more than the first. God is the only one who knows the end from the beginning. He knows how everything will turn out. “And for every single person who belongs to Him, it turns out well. We are not the exceptions. Neither our sins nor our sufferings are big enough to offset the ordered outcome.” (Beth Moore)
It appears that God has given us this land as our inheritance - at least it is a portion of our inheritance! The best is yet to come!
