The Not So Simple Journey to the Simple Life

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In the comments on how we got here someone said “You make this look doable.”

Good, I thought, because it is. We’re not special. We’re still in the infancy of trying to do this thing, and boy howdy if we can do it just about anyone can. Seriously. Just come watch this greenhorn rodeo for a day.

Then Susan pointed out a few details that you might not have picked up from my post. I’m a big-picture person, and true to form that post laid out the big picture of how we went about getting here.

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There are a lot of things about that journey that you should know,though, like…

Sometimes it felt like we would never get here. There were physical and financial setbacks that kept us from moving forward as fast as we wanted to. Having a results-driven mindset could drive you batty. Just keep moving. Just keep trusting.

I had to do what I could where we were at. Before we moved onto the land, there was a period of time that I wondered what I should be doing. Stewart wisely said “Hey, why don’t you learn about some of the things you’ll be doing off-grid while we’ve still got electricity and running water.” Genius.

There are so many skills I tried and books I read before we got here that prepared me for the basics of growing and preparing food, hygiene & laundry, food preservation and old-time skills. All of those things are a bit different off-grid, but I am immensely grateful for that time of learning and studying.

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We messed up… a lot. We have had bad ideas, executed things incorrectly, and completely botched a lot of things in big and small ways. All you can do is keep learning from those things, keep reading up on how they did things before industrial farming, and definitely learn to laugh at yourself.

Sometimes it will be one step forward, two steps back. Sometimes it will seem like you’re making great progress. Other times it will seem like you’re treading water. And other times you will get knocked back to square one.

We’ve made compromises we can live with… for now. Before we moved, the only disposable item in the house was toilet paper, and even that came close to the chopping block. I’ve used disposable diapers, napkins, paper towels, and even the occasional dishes since we’ve moved off-grid. All of these compromises have come about for different reasons, and while it grates on every fiber of my don’t-buy-stuff being, these decisions were made thoughtfully. And I am living with them… for now.

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Things did not end up as planned. Almost nothing has turned out how we thought it would. The cabin wasn’t planned, the division of labor we currently have wasn’t planned, having a huge hole where a more permanent home might be wasn’t planned. We actually did have plans for those things, plans we discussed for weeks and months during late night plan-plan-planning sessions. But life doesn’t work like that, least of all an organic, raw existence such as this.

None of that really mattered. If we were doing this to fulfill an idyllic fantasy of lush gardens and cute cottages and dancing in fields of wild flowers then we probably would have high-tailed it a long time ago. We are here, trying our hand at this for a thousand incredibly important and deeply personal reasons. Anything but to keep on keepin’ on is just not an option.

Bumps, bruises, road blocks, and failures have all been a part of the not-so-simple journey to this not-always-simple life we have right now. We weren’t promised easy. We weren’t promised quick results. We have a sovereign God who is working on us through all of these seemingly difficult things.

In that, and only that, we find rest.

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7 Comments

  1. The whole thing about your difficult journey is you are teaching your children so many significant life lessons. It must also be rewarding to gain the successes amongst the failures. No matter how difficult the journey is in the end you win. Sweet!

  2. I’d like to thank you for sharing your journey as you delve into God’s path in your life. I’ve been following your inspiring and challenging days for a long time, and it has has given me such meaning and reminders to trust God in all matters, in all challenges, in all perceived’darkness’.Your blog has also on a very human level helped me to deal concretely with a physical disease I have – brain cancer and partial paralysis of my left side. Your ideas for simple foods, soul nourishing has truly helped me. God bless your family, your journey, your belief in a God centered life. Thank you again for your blog! A.

  3. Thank you for this post. I think it will be one I will need to re-read regularly. On many days, it feels like I only have obstacles in my path in my burgeoning interior design and antique/furniture business. Though an interior design business might seem frivolous, good design can be a beneficial to the mind and body as organic food. Your post is a gentle reminder that faltering is part of growing and a step we all must learn from on our separate paths. Thank you for sharing with us.

  4. Farming is HARD work! But it is enjoyable too and has moments of pure wonder. Thanks for sharing your journey.

  5. just have to say, as always, love your blog!! we are making steps along a similar path. paying down debt. practicing our hand at gardening and chickens and scratch cooking and frugal living. rasing babies to love the Lord. and looking forward to the day when we can buy a bit of land outright and start truly from the ground up.

    i’m always encouraged by your posts…especially to just “try the next thing.” something small…the clothes line or fermented cabbage or cloth diapers or living with less stuff so we can spend more time together as a family working outside. (although as a family of soon to be 6, the 300 sq ft house still seems small.)

  6. Gosh girl, you’ve hit the nail on the head again. The “greenhorn rodeo” made me giggle. Some days we still feel that way. Your post takes me back and, as always, helps me recapture that old feeling that I sometimes misplace. Not that I have any thoughts of leaving the life we’ve built or any question that the Lord is with us and guiding us, just sometimes I feel alone. Ya’ll come up and see us sometime. 😉

    Judy On Big Turtle Creek

  7. The important thing is that you are going through it together. We, too, are making steps to get off grid and onto a simpler life. Simpler in the way of no electronics and spending time doing things together. I, like you, have been researching many “how to..” sites while I have internet access to help ease the path when we finally get there. We are getting closer and closer and I can’t wait for the day that my hubby can quit his 60 hour a week job and be where he wants to be….on our own place, debt free, doing life….with us. 🙂

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