Barn beginnings

The woodpile grew till it was over Joyce's head. Telephone and electric poles were gathered from the winter ice storms in Mo. and Okla. These would be used for the building the barn structure. Two other barns had been taken down to furnish us with the rafters, tin siding, foundational concrete blocks, and plywood flooring in the loft. But I'm getting ahead of myself. After clearing the land, we had the well dug and septic laid. Then the barn was begun at the back of the clearning, leaving room up front for the "home spot".

At the time we bought the property, we were living with and caring for John's grandfather in Rogersville, Mo. about an hour's distance from the property. We went up as often as possible and began clearing the land, felling one tree at a time. All cedars (which were the prevailing majority) were kept to build with and the remaining varieties were cut up for future firewood. Huge bonfires of brush motivated many prayers for the neighbor and our safety. After spending nine years in India as "guests" without physical labor, the many hours of hard labor that went into clearing was certainly stretching but it was with a grateful heart that we applied ourselves.

Coming home

August 2005 the Lord sent us home from N India to "set up a base". Within a week of telling us to go home, He provided the funds to do just that. We came home and began looking for "our place". We were in a coffee shop just before Christmas when the Lord directed John to go talk to a newcomer in the shop, asking him to take our family's photo. We met Paul that day who became our dear friend and real estate agent. We were his first customers and the first property he showed us became our new homeplace. Here is a pic of it as we first saw it.