….in the backwoods of Brown County
I have so many things to be grateful for. Timing is everything. Sweetie and I moved to the backwoods of Brown County Indiana in 2002. We sold our beautiful condo in Elgin Illinois and headed southeast, feeling a little like the Beverly Hillbillies in reverse. This is how it happened…
My daughter(Mindy) from a previous marriage was about to have her first child. She had moved to Brown County shortly after college. She is a potter and Nashville Indiana is an artist’s community. Sweetie and I had been to visit a few times and just loved the area. When we received the call at 5 am,on a Saturday morning, that they were off to the hospital, I quickly packed a few things and headed out to stay with them for a week, to help with new baby, Isaac. Sweetie came down the following Friday evening. We had planned a short trip to Mississippi to visit his children, so we left from Mindy’s on the following Saturday.
Sweetie was very unhappy with his work situation and he knew how much I wanted to be near our new grandson so we started to talk about….moving. We decided to just pray about it and make preparations. We committed to each other if a door closed we would stop, and remain in Elgin. We returned to Brown County after our visit in Mississippi and started to look at some property. We spent a week looking at dozens of places. We stopped and visited with a realtor who told us about a place way back in the woods. We left his office with a map to find it. Once we drove up the lane we both looked at each other and said “This is it” That started it all. This place needed a lot of work but it had a brand new two car garage, with a studio. That is just what we were looking for. The house did not matter too much. We are both very creative people and knew we would have to figure out how to make a living so the garage was essential. We called the realtor and made arrangements to “look” at the house the next morning, before we had to leave to go back to Elgin.
We drove back to the kids place and told them all about what we had found. We were about 15 miles from them, which we thought would be perfect. They wanted to drive over and look at it. Mindy’s hubby, Bob, said he knew exactly where it was so we followed him. Imagine our surprise to find out the house was only 4 miles from them, and on the same road! The name of the road changes about 500 feet before the house. Too Funny!.
The next morning, we met with the realtor. Boy did the house need some work! We knew we could do it! We put an offer in on the house before we left. The next week was a whirlwind! We had not even begun to think about selling our condo. Our offer was excepted. We had to sell our place right away. We had to get out of state financing for the new property. We had to have a meeting with our condo association, as Sweetie was the president. We called a loan officer from a bank the realtor had told us about and ten minutes later he called back with an approval. We thought it was going to be a lot more difficult to finance out of state. We met with our association and resigned our positions, turning over all the records. We called a realtor in Elgin to list our home.
The very next morning, the realtor called and asked to show the house at noon, right after church on Sunday. There were two more showings that very day. On Monday morning we received a call, the first person who looked, wanted to sign a contract. WOW! This all happened so fast. We sold our condo for more than any other place had ever sold for on our street! The buyer agreed to our asking price. There were no doors closing here. When the hand of God is in something, this is how it works. Amazing! We had one month to get everything in order and…..MOVE!
We were still not sure how we were going to make a living, but we were wiling to trust God for all of our needs. Sweetie had just finished a huge job at Ohare airport, installing lifts. He met the project manager, who lived in Indiana. Sweetie told him we were moving out there and this guy was pretty excited. We would be only about twenty miles from his office so he asked if Sweetie would be available if he needed some work done. ….uh…let me see……YES!!!! Another problem solved without our help! The rest is history. We are as happy as we have ever been, living in the backwoods of Brown County.
Let Go and Let God! This is our motto. We wanted to simplify our lives. Get out of the city. Get back to living a life the way we grew up. We came here with no plan, just a trust in God. I am so thankful to be here, in the hands of God, and in Brown County. I am wondering if any of you have had a grand experience when you Let go and Let God? Please share it if you have, I would love to know….Have a grand day!
LET GO AND LET GOD - yes. I love this motto. Grrr8 post - you are a beautiful person.
I have a present if you want to come by. It’s here:
Spreading Lovies
and here is a funny WW: Wordless Wednesday #19.
*hugs*
~(Blush) You are always just too kind. Thanks for the Easter love and I want one of those desks!!! Hugs back…Mo
I love gratitude posts … and I’m so happy for you in reading this post. Trusting God yields amazing results. I’m always surprised at how things turn out so much better than I can even dream of when I step back in this manner. Thanks for sharing … and for stopping by my blogs today. I’m having a ‘party’ ya know ;–)
Hugs and blessings,
~Hi Story, You are having a grand party at that! Thanks for the visit, now hurry on back …you have guests waiting for more lovely lemonade…Mo
I am so glad you Let Go and Let God. Brown County is an amaziing place. I am glad you enjoy your home and the woods and to be close to family is wonderful also. I thank you for sharing this experience with us.
Love and Hugs,
Joyce
~Hello sweet Joyce, I love Brown County! You will have to let me know next time you come! Hugs!….Mo
What a beautiful story. When things are meant to be they happen. Great for the both of you. I have a feeling you will do even better now than when you were in the condo in the big city. God bless.
~Hi Sandee…I loved the nun joke! I am happy to be here and wouldn’t ever move back to the city………..Mo
let go and Let God,that is how I finallly became sober.He has his ways of guideing us where and when we need it,all we have todo is ask.I’m glad that he guided you to where you needed to be.
~Thanks Mike, for sharing how you got sober. God does lead if only we will follow………..Mo
Wow! That is certainly a great experience. I can see God’s hand at work. He is all powerful and can make things happen in an instant.
Thanks for sharing your beautiful story. I would love to see some photos of your woods.
Blessings,
Mary
~Hi Mary, it was an amazing experience. I will share some photos once spring is here. It is a dark glomy woods right now(LOL)…..Mo
That was an interesting read as to how you came to be living in Indiana. I am glad you are enjoying it there.
~Hi Betty, I am glad you enjoyed it. Have a great day!………….Mo
that is truly an inspirital story. Peace
~Hi Dianne, I am glad my littlte story inspired you. I think it is interesting how much our landscape is the same……Mo
And now for the rest of the story. . . As one of her oldest friends, I can tell you that her family thought they were half nuts to up and move without a definite income for Tim, not to mention the “home” they purchased. I personally did not think the home was that bad, especially knowing Mo’s talents for making silk purses out of sows ears. But the rest of the family had thought they had gone off the deep end. They both put their blood, sweat and tears into their property and today they have what I refer to as a comfortable home. You feel at peace as soon as you pull into the drive. I am thankful I get to enjoy the peace and comfort from time to time.
~Welcome Paul Harvey!!! (LOL) I remember it well. When you brought my Mother out the first month we were here. She thought we were nuts for sure. I appreciate all the nice things you had to say. We do try to make it peaceful and comfortable for all our friends to visit. Speaking of that when are you coming out?? It is almost two years since we have had the pleasure of your company. I hope you can make it when the weather breaks and the gardens are blooming. Big Hugs!!……….Mo
LOL - I was hoping you would pick up on the Paul Harvey intro. And yes mom thought you were “off your rocker” but she was wrong. I am hoping to take a drive your way in late spring. Two years? its been two years! No wonder I have been so depressed! lol
~LOL…2 years! I thought maybe Easter for the long weekend but since you are not working in Holmes County you probably won’t get Good Friday off. Have a great day!………….Mo
God IS AMAZING! I have been spring cleaning and should be back to normal tomorrow. I am soooo behind on my blogging…including a meme you sent me.
Have a wonderful day…
Hugs,
Phyl
~You have a great day too!……Mo
Oh my, I cannot belive how it all worked out for you… Good for you!
~Hi, It really has worked out so well. Thanks for the visit!……..Mo