Testimony in the Making
A Homesteaders Testimony in the making…
If you had asked us 5 years ago what we thought our life would look like today, I can say with 100% certainty that we wouldn’t have come close to this.
My name is Amanda. My husband Phil and I have been married 17 years and have had 3 beautiful children. Mason would be 18, but passed at 16 years old, Oliver is 16, and Josie is 10.
In 2018 I had begun my career as a Registered Nurse. At this point of my life I had developed a drinking habit that just continued to worsen over the course of the next few years. During this time, we were able to acquire some land that had been in our family for a couple of generations and begin building our new home. At the time my husband Phil was the owner/operator of an 18 wheeler and crashed, totaling the semi and leaving him unemployed. Thankfully he walked away with minimal injuries and was able to step away from truck driving to complete the build of our new home. We were able to close on it without difficulty due to my nursing career and my husband was able to start his own masonry business like he always wanted.
In 2020 the walls began to close in around my drinking habits. Every time we attended church I felt the conviction of the Holy Spirit and knew the Lord was asking me to surrender this addiction to Him. Eventually my oldest son, Mason, confronted me about my drinking. It was that day that I decided to “drop the bottle”. Praise God.
In 2022 I was working as a night shift nurse in Labor and Delivery. I hadn’t been looking for a new job, but one came up in my Facebook feed that I decided to apply for. The position was remote and extremely flexible. No nights, evenings, weekends, or holidays.. and it was the easiest application and interview process I had ever had. It felt as though this job just “fell into my lap”.
This job allowed me to get my routine back. I began doing a challenge called the “Holy 40” which included daily time in the word, going for a “Jesus walk” and working out daily.
Then February 10th, 2023 came when we lost our son Mason to suicide.
It wasn’t long after that that I realized God provided that job for me, knowing full well the season of grief we were about to step in to.
Psalm 34:18 states, "The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit". This verse became my lifeline. The Lord divinely aligned me with the right people and resources to survive the depths of grief we endured. I learned to hear His voice and follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit more clearly, and met some people that helped me and prayed for us along the way.
In my time with the Holy Spirit, I began to understand that God was calling us into homesteading. One of the resources He aligned me with is Homesteaders of America, a network of likeminded people who understand the assignment and that we are in a homestead revival!!!
I thought it was going to be difficult to convince my husband, but God already softened his heart to the idea. To my surprise, he not only said “yes” but went above and beyond my expectations. What began as 10 chickens, 3 sheep and two milk cows has quickly evolved to 12 sheep, 35(ish) chickens, and 11 cows in just ONE YEARS TIME!!
Let me tell you, what the Lord calls you to He is faithful to provide for.
If you have read this far, thank you for taking the time to familiarize yourself with our story (in a nutshell). If you feel the nudge to homestead please reach out! I would love to connect and pray with you.
For more resources on homesteading, see the following:
Keeping a Family Milk Cow Joann S Grohman
Devil in the Milk by Keith Woodford (Author), and Thomas Cowan (Foreword)
If you would like to learn how to hear/sense God’s direction more in your life, I highly recommend this course. It is foundational to our faith.
