Why We Bought 10 Acres: A New Family Adventure

After three moves across the country in about there and a half years, we were desperate to find a place - a home - to be rooted in. So, around this time last year, after our first few months in Atlanta, we were deep in our search for a place to call home.

While we initially were searching for your more “typical” house in an average neighborhood, as the search went on, I came across a large (to me) property that was rather close to the city. 10 whole acres. Never in my life did I imagine I would care for that many acres, and yet, something in me became obsessed. That property didn’t end up working out, but it did spark a dream.

I couldn’t let go of this idea of buying a plot of land and using it to serve our family, our friends and especially, the people who were strangers now but one day could become friends. I wanted it to be a place of rest, play and belonging for the community. Driven by a memory of my time working at an addiction recovery program in Portland, Oregon, I recalled when women and their children in the program would go on retreats where they could rest, play, and take some time away to focus on simply being.

“This is it,” I thought to myself. And once the spark was lit, a fire quickly raged. I shared the idea with Brandon and the few things that I felt were necessary:

• 10 acres. (flexible, but was definitely pushing for at least this much)

• Within 30 minutes of the city.

• Preferably with a body of water,

• within a neighborhood and

• a house for our family to live in.

Not too much to ask for, right? (Brandon thought I was a bit crazy, but he agreed to try for it anyway.)

We decided to fast and pray for a month. If a door opened, we’d walk through it. If not, we’d look for a more “typical” house, but still hold onto the dream. If a door didn’t open, perhaps it wasn’t a no, just a not yet, we thought. And so we prayed.

Within about two weeks we came across a property we had actually seen once before but ignored due to the lack of photos of the actual land and the horrific photos of the house. It appeared dark, way too small and dingy. But it was listed as having 10 acres and about 30 minutes outside of the city; so, we took a closer look. Thanks to Google maps, we discovered that the property also had about an acre and a half of pond on it. And after further requests from the selling agent, we received a video of the property that we swear if it had been shown to anyone else beforehand, there is no way it would have stayed on the market. The property was beautiful. It needed some work, but it was already beautiful beyond what we could have hoped. Every box on our list was checked; so, we went to see it.

And a year later, I am typing this as I sit in front of the large bay window that looks onto the pond I fell in love with..our pond at Philo. (You can learn more about the name here)

With a barn, a mixture of open fields and forested areas, the opportunities are endless in regard to what can be created here. Our first focus is the house, because while it ended up being in much better shape than we thought - despite being vacant for two years - it still required a bit of remodeling that will likely take us years to complete, though we did a considerable amount of work prior to moving in.

When we consider what this place can be, we also look to what it was. Thanks to an encounter with a man who used to fish with his grandpa in the very pond I am looking at now, we discovered that this place of hospitality we’d like to create has already been engaging in the act of hospitality well before we laid eyes on it. We aren’t starting something new, but continuing what the couple who lived here before us had already started.

We are quite early in our journey of creating something here that reflects the vision of belonging and kinship, community and connection we want to establish. But, this past year we’ve already seen glimpses of the rest, worship and delight that can come through simply opening up what you have for others to enjoy. This is merely the beginning.

Welcome to Philo. Thanks for journeying with us.