DEBT FREEDOM! A Story Only God Could Write!

Since our very first announcement of Plan Move and our debt-free journey back in May of 2013 we have been on a roller coaster of a ride. Now we can look back and see how God perfectly directed each and every step!

To think since then we have saved up and paid over $60,000 to own two properties, and adopted two children! Wow!

This post is the follow-up to point out the very hand of God throughout our debt-free journey....let's start at the beginning!

In May 2013, "The Next Great Leap" we announced the blind leap of faith we were about to embark on. Destination: debt-freedom!

We had already paid off all car, loan and credit card debt thanks to Dave Ramsey's snow-ball techniques before the kids joined us. Shortly after making them ours we made the decision that the kids needed one stay at home parent more than they needed the pretty house in a cookie-cutter neighborhood. We realized paying our $250,000 mortgage would be a long and uphill battle that, frankly, didn't have the energy for. 

So we outlined our plan, contacted our realtor and prepared for the journey ahead. We figured if living a year or two in our 300sqft motorhome at an RV park meant paying cash for whatever house we wanted then we were so there! And we were off, "Alright God lead us!"

In August 2013, "Do You Ever Slow Down!?!" everything was happening so fast!

Our house sold the moment we got the "for sale" sign in the ground before it was even listed. We sold all our stuff and prepared to move yet didn't quite know where but as fast as the house sold we found and purchased a 7 acre plot of raw land that was beautifully trashed. We thought we could clear enough to temporarily park our motorhome on it while we saved up money to build....but God had other plans.... 

In November 2013, "So...Are You Moving or What?" we were working hard to get our land ready before Dec. 6th, the closing date on our house.

We found out that temporary housing permits restricted people from living in motorhomes in our county which put us in a bind...we have a month to get out of our house and we were now the owners of a 7 acre property but we couldn't live on it. What were we going to do and what was God up to!?!

November was also the month that God began tugging hard at our hearts making it clear that we needed to renew our homestudy again and be ready to open our home to another child...sounds crazy because at the time we didn't have a home! But God always knows and is in control. Read more here: "It is Not a Good Time"

In early December just before we moved out we were made aware of a tiny trailer on 4 acres for sale, we made the decision to take out a very small loan and buy it with the plan to pay it off in one year. That same month we were matched with our son, Sam. If we had been set on our plan to move into our RV and set on not borrowing money we wouldn't have been able to bring our amazing Sam home! 

In January 2014, "Debt Free Here We Come" we shared details and pictures of our new tiny home!

This tiny house was nothing special, it was a lot of work and we were hesitant about getting into debt to get out of debt. But if we had been set on our plan to move into our RV and set on not borrowing money we wouldn't have been able to bring our amazing Sam home! God knew what He was doing for sure and we grew to love that tiny house!!!

In December 2014 exactly one year since moving into our tiny (now paid off) home we were felt a strong pull to move out to our original 7 acre raw property. How? We owned the land but we knew that building a home or buying a mobile home to move out there would mean taking out another loan....the whole point was to get out of debt so why such a strong pull, God?

In December 2014, "Move in Progress" as quickly as we thought about moving again it became a reality. 

After finding a realtor who sold repo mobile homes we only viewed a few before we found our new home. God worked out the miracle of interest-free financing quickly and now we had enough to buy the home, move it out to our property and put in water, electric and septic. The repayment plan for the loan was one year. Although not debt-free, we were moving again. It was happening.  

In February 2015, "Feels Like a Mansion" we had finished all construction and repairs, were moved in and settled. 

As soon as we had hung up the last picture and began to take a breather we were contacted about a little girl, our Brittney. We can see now that if we had stayed in our tiny house another year as we saved up money to pay cash for this new home we wouldn't have been able to take her. Our tiny house could never become handicap accessible. We would have missed out on our sweet and joyful blessing that we have in Brittney!

In June 2015 we brought our sweet girl home!

In February 2016, one year after we moved into our current home we paid off our $20,000 loan! We were now mortgage-free!

DEBT FREEDOM!!!

In May 2016 just three years after we announced our original debt free journey we paid off a couple more small debts and are now proud to announce that we are DEBT FREE!

It certainly took some determination and focus but most of all it took the ability to be in tune with the Holy Spirits promptings and the readiness to trust God wherever He led us. We could have been debt free sooner. We could have chosen to not borrow another dime. But we just may have missed out on two great blessings if we had! 

Now on to the journey of farming, self-sustainablity and starting our own family business...and who knows, maybe another blessing on the way! ;)

Click here to see our business, Redemptive Love Farm, page

Posted by Shannon

Move in Progress. Saying Goodbye to our Tiny House and Hello to Hard Work!

I can't bear to wake up the kids yet, even though it is 10 in the morning. We rolled into bed at 3am after pulling a LONG night of working after waking up early to begin our long to-do list! And yeah, I am totally the mother that at 8pm, which is normally bedtime, I give my kids a pot of coffee and say, "We are pulling an all-nighter!" We are making memories for sure! Praise God for Nanny Diane, who has offered to keep our little ones as long as we need, they are gettign spoiled and loving it!

Our moving plans are becoming a reality. We have lived in our tiny 700sqft for exactly a year. Despite the fact that we have sacrificed a ton of our material items to move in and sacrificed our large, comfortable personal space boundaries we have found great contentment living in these tiny quarters! I truly did find a love for this tiny house, plus having 4 acres in the country has been amazing for this city girl.

 

Click here for the post explaining our move into our tiny house back in January 2014

  

In August God brought us a family interested in becoming debt-free also and possibly wanting to rent our tiny home for a season. God put a stong pull on our hearts to get out to our other property, a 7 acre raw property we paid cash for over a year ago, that was just sitting there and we are paying taxes on. We were tempted to take out a small loan so we could buy a used home and have it moved to our property. After much thought, prayer and wise counsel from others who have gone before us we decided that it was best we weren't unequally yoked to a mortgage company again. As we let go of this new dream of moving we had a brother in Christ offer to loan us money on biblical terms, no interest, 7 year forgiveness, on a handshake, to buy a home to put out there. We felt that although this was a hinderance to our plan to become debt free it would allow us to follow our strong urge to be where we really felt led to go!

  
  

After much shopping and looking at repo/forclosure mobile homes we found OUR house. It was an 1996 Homes of Merit 1904sqft mobile home. It needed new flooring and paint, maybe electrical and plumbing but the bones (as Dave Ramsey says) were BEAUTIFUL! We were able to purchase it for $11,500 and have it moved for $6000, we thought it was a great deal. Of course all big purchases come with "hidden" costs or at least costs that we fail to take into account. Permitting ended up costing almost $2000 and installing a septic system was just under $4000. God has blessed us tremendously by putting charity on the hearts of others. Mr. Rooter donated all plumbing work, a short-term friend offer to do our electrical work for free, and Brian's brother, a contractor from VA, flew in to re-do all our AC duct work, fix walls, repair floors, etc. We even had a sweet friend share our story with Lowe's who in turn let us buy all our supply needs at cost (a 40-60% savings from retail). And God provided any of our other needs through giving friends, thrift stores, free ads on craigslist and even the "trash" on the side of the road! God has been good to us through and through!

So here we are, a week before Christmas, busting our tails to get this house turned into a home and move in! God will work all things out in His timing! We may only have our tree up for two days this year but either way we will celebrate the birth of our Savior, the one who gave Himself up for us and lavishes us with continual, unmerited blessings!

 

 

Before and after pictures, prayerfully coming soon!!!

 

Click here to follow us on Facebook for more frequent updates!

 

 

 

Posted by Shannon
Soli Deo gloria - Glory to God alone

 

Debt Free Here We Come!

UPDATE TO OUR PLAN TO BE DEBT FREE!
Sell everything (All that won't fit in RV is sold, just a dining room table, tv, and bed to store)
Sell house (House is sold and closing was Dec. 6th, 2013)
Buy or rent small piece of land  (Our 7 acre property will be paid off by March 2014 or sooner)
Move into small, low-rent house (We moved into a 700sqft mobile home on 4 acres Jan. 1st, 2014)
Save up every dime of Brian's income for 2-3 years
Pay CASH for whatever house we want
Pray for a new plan (kids say adopt 20 more kids...hope that isn't God inspired)

 

We made it through over half our goals in 6 months! 6 months must be an important timeline for us ;) When God put it on our hearts to get debt free He wasn't kidding. He certainly pushed us down this path quickly and effeciently. (Click here to see our previous debt-free post from November 2013).
 
We still have a little debt on our shoulders. We still have our small RV loan to pay off as well as just under $15,000 left to pay off our two properties. Yep, we sold our house and bought two properties, not one like those normal people, but two. I will try to tell the shortened story :)
 
Property one is a beautifully trashed (it is trashed but has an amazing potential to be beautiful) 7 acre raw property that was about to go to a tax sale. We inquired about it and God worked it out that we could owner finance it at $12,000 with no interest over 6 months. We had planned to park our RV and live there fully debt free but county ordinances forbid that. While we were trying to work all legalities out with the county our house sold and we needed somewhere to move to quick.
 
We were now stuck. We prayed and prayed and then our pressure washer broke! Our realtor asked us to have the house pressure washed for the final broker visit so we had to hire someone that same day. The person who came out to wash had done fix-it work for us years back. He asked, first, where all the kids came from :) then why we were selling our pretty little house. We explained God's prompting and our debt free journey. Then God moved. "I was going to sell a property of mine for what it is worth, about $40k, but the Lord is leading me to give it to you for what I owe." This sweet man pressure-washing our porch was too kind. I called Brian right away, turns out Brian was praying in his car that very moment for direction. This was that direction. We went to see this 2nd property that afternoon.
 
Property two is a humble, run-down, single-wide 600sqft mobile home on 4 mostly cleared acres. I remember having my arms crossed and nose up when I first saw this little excuse for a house. No way! There is no way this is what God has for our family! N O  W A Y period. Brian on the other hand didn't snub it's terrible appearance, "How much do you owe on it?" The washer guy seemed pleased, "About $12,000 and it is $200/month owner finance." Me: "We will take it!" It may need work and be small but it sure beats our plan to live in the RV if push came to shove!

  

So here we are, we have paid quite a bit off both properties and are almost there, goal is to own both properties and be mortgage free by May 2014 (Long term goal is to build our dream house on property one and rent out property two). We officially moved in January 1st and have been working overdrive to make it a home. We have painted every wall, installed wood flooring, patched walls, fixed leaks, rebuilt supports, hauled trash and put up fencing. It is humble, but it is growing on us and is now home. We spend a lot of time outdoors doing anything and everything. Our kids are free to run, play and explore. No streets or neighbors to worry about. We worried about the transition of our kids coming from hard places into our upper class home and now downsizing to a lower class mobile home. But no worries were needed. They wouldn't trade this amount of outside space for another thousand squarefeet of inside space anyday!

One would think that this move was enough change and challenge our family could handle, but God always gives us more than we can handle. Our next adoption story will be posted soon, like before Valentine's Day soon! Click here for a preview post on our 6th adoption, our 7 year old son!


Now some before and after pictures:
 
Yep, this is home. We put lattice all around the deck and built a small wall to make a covered pen for our dogs at night and when we are gone. We surrounded the home with a rock garden and pots that will bloom in spring. We also built a raised garden bed in front of all the lattice so vine produce can grow in spring. We have a large area seating area with a bon fire pit that can seat 15-20 out front, we call it our living room, then our RV is extra living space and our outside storage shed.



The front yard took some work: The trash pile turned out to be 880lbs of stuff we had to load and haul away! We took down and rebuilt the privacy fence. We also built a small puppy pen, hard to see in the after picture, and we fixed a pig/goat pen in the middle of the yard. We still have 3 more acres behind us!


Now for the inside tour:

We painted the main inside a mint green with white trim and installed cherry wood flooring. Finishing touches like pictures and curtains make it home.


There was no oven when we bought it, but after a quick trip to a local thrift store we found a used $1500 oven for only $99. There was no hook-up for the dish washer so we nixed it, cut the half counter and put our washing machine there. This is our living room, dining room, laundry room and kitchen, or as we call it our utility room.


We built the wall to make a second bedroom, the boy's room. Thankful for an inside area that can comfortably seat 10 for dinner.



Girls' room and 1/2 bath


Boy's room



The master bed and bath are secret....no pictures to come :)


Posted by Shannon
Soli Deo gloria - Glory to God alone

The Next Great Leap.

After listing pretty much every thing we own in ads and writing "for sale" on our cars so many people began to ask "are you moving?" "where to?" "why?". Here is the post to answer all questions.

Moving is our plan. It is difficult for me to even type "Plan Move" because the public-ness of making this announcement means it is real. No turning back. Our whole world turned upside down.

So after the Summit Orphan Conference (last blog post) we got our notice that our adoption homestudy is expiring and we get one free renewal. We began our update of paperwork, the home visit, more than a dozen references and just have to get our physicals to make it complete. I began dreaming about our next child. We began praying for two 7 year old boys waiting in Hong Kong (Lifeline link). We even began praying for a beautiful sibling group of five in FL waiting for adoption (AdoptUsKids link). Our kiddos REALLY want more siblings, like a lot more, five more scares me half to death, literally gave me an anxiety attack when we began to consider it. I am human. I get scared. I think "not me" but I know if that is where God calls us I will walk obediently and He will strengthen me and open my heart wide to love more regardless of the difficulty.

What does adoption have to do with moving? Nothing. That is the scariest part of this Plan Move. Adoption will be put on hold. Although many women struggle with infertility and although I am currently barren I know God is the giver and taker of life. I have actually taken comfort in knowing that I have two doors open to receiving the blessing of children. God can give me children through adoption or open my womb. Plan Move scares me. It closes the one door that God has used to bless us. It leaves only the barren door open. It tests my trust in God.

Okay okay, get on with it, what is Plan Move!?! I have to continue with a little back story so...you may want to go back to Pinterest if this is too wordy :)

Brian and I were your normal American dreamers. We were newly wed and both working full-time. We had our apartment and new car but seemed to just make ends meet. A year went by and our wealth grew, our pay raised and we bought a 2nd new car and moved into a nicer apartment. Another year and income is growing but our standard of living was growing faster. We bought a house. November 2006. We were finally there, after just two years. We sported the nice cars, beautiful, cozy, 3 bedroom house, perfect for our 2 planned children (one boy and one girl, of course!) in a very upscale neighborhood. We made it! But we didn't make it on our money. The payments began to pour in and we were sinking fast. The market crashed and we instantly lost any equity we ever hoped to have. Only a year into our perfect dream we were on the brink of foreclosure. Thankfully Brian heard Dave Ramsey on the radio and we became serious about staying afloat. We worked overtime, two, even three jobs to pay off the debt we had racked up so quickly. I dog sat, cleaned houses, Brian mowed lawns, we painted, built furniture, we did every odd job we could pick up. Finally in October 2008 we paid off $50,000, all that was left was the mortgage. The waters were lowering and we could swim again.

Then God captured our hearts. When our strength was spent and we were weary He adopted us into His family, His heritage, His inheritance. Our father quickly showed us in His word that we are to care for the least of these and we ran after that call by becoming foster parents (link to our fostercare/adoption timeline). We wanted to serve these children and their birth parents but God had other plans, He made us parents of five...QUICKLY! Now we are just a normal family but the door to serving through foster care has been shut...now what?

God has been convicting us to walk down a much more difficult path than adopting again. He is calling us to finish swimming in debt for good and walk again on dry ground. "Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another;" Romans 13:8 "The borrower is slave to the lender" Proverbs 22:7. God speaks a lot on debt in His word (google can tell you). We have racked up $20k in debt since kiddos joined us and still have our very high mortgage payment. So this is Plan Move:

Sell everything
Sell house
Buy or rent small piece of land (or pay rent at RV park)
Move into RV 
Save up every dime of Brian's income for 2-3 years
Pay CASH for whatever house we want
Pray for a new plan (kids say adopt 20 more kids...hope that isn't God inspired)

So that is it. Plan Move. Simple yet terrifying. Living in a 320sqft RV for 2 years with 5 kids and 1 bathroom will be a walk of humility, patience and contentment, all are SUPER hard, scary lessons. I pray that through this God teaches us, strengthens us, and helps us leave a legacy for our children. That they would not seek an American dream but a God's will dream! Not a fleeting dream but a dream that walks down the hard roads for the long-lasting inheritance in an eternal kingdom.


***For anyone currently in our shoes when we were newly married or even before marriage. STOP! Take the shoes off and do not borrow money! Work, save up, live low now and build up so that you are not dragging your kids into the low life later to rebuild.***


Imagine the money you could give if it wasn't tied up in your mortgage!
Imagine the ways you could serve if those credit cards were cut up!
Imagine the time you could take off to love on your little ones if you drove a paid off car!

That is where our imagination is. The journey may be tough but the reward will be GREAT!


Posted by Shannon
Soli Deo gloria - Glory to God alone