Welcome to Whispering Hollow Farm!!

Hello! So much has changed around here the past year. As I posted a few months ago, we moved from a village into the country. My husband Matt and I have prayed about this for nearly 20 years! We moved into the village in 2011. It was where God wanted us at the time. Moving there allowed our girls to get the services they needed. But our hearts desire was to have a couple of acres with some farm animals and a large garden. We felt as if God just wanted us to be in the village forever. It was at that moment that we became content with where God had us that God began to work BIG time. 

 Over the years I have sent different possible properties to my husband. EACH time he said nah I don't think it is possible at this time. I just continued to pray. Honestly I was so discouraged! But I knew God had a plan for us. If that meant staying put so be it. Doesn't me I was going to like it (HAHA)! I'm kidding...sorta. :-)

I lived on a farm until the age of 10 years old. It was always in my blood though. The desire to be outside, planting, caring for animals and my family. That is probably why I loved going to my grandparents house in the summers and over vacations. They had horses, a large garden, and lived up on a hill in the woods. I just loved being there, so peaceful, especially first thing in the morning. 

2018-2024 were horrible years for our family. We had so many things happen. We had illnesses, loved ones pass away, sickness, the world shut down, job stress, my son involved in a horrible accident, financial stress and so much more I'm probably forgetting. I would walk outside after a snow storm. The air was so crisp, it seemed like everything just stood still, not a sound could be heard except for the snow crunching under my boots. It was February 2024 I just cried out to God. I spilled everything to Him. I was really missing my mom and dad. They go to FL over the winter. So I asked my husband if we could just take the time off and go to FL to visit? I had also not seen my sister, brother in law, niece or nephew in many years! I was shocked when he said YES! On one condition, we had to drive down. I was fine with that. Just getting away from daily stress is what we needed. It was what our marriage needed. We took that time to really pray like we had never prayed before about finding property. Now if you know anything about the real estate market from 2020-today, it is CRAZY!! People are paying thousands over asking prices. Not only that, but WAY over the full market value of property. 

I saw this above house on the list of properties for sale. It wasn't far from our current home, I thought it was going to be another NO. Shockingly my husband said, OK lets go look at it. I was honestly SO surprised he said yes! This was the first step God gave us to obtain our dream home!

We took our daughter Hannah with us to look at it. She has developmental disabilities and autism. So this decision was just as much hers as ours. We were worried about how she would do moving away from our home. 

We pulled up and were SO surprised at how Hannah became so excited. We met with the realtor outside on the front porch. The view from the porch was breath-taking!!! I was sold then and there without even looking inside. 

This was a sunrise this summer. I often sit here and just take in the beauty of this land. Now back to the story of our journey to Whispering Hollow Farm. 

As I mentioned we stood on the porch looking out over the field. I knew deep down this was where God wanted us. I know odd having not seen the inside yet. My husband, Matt thought the same exact thought, but we did not tell each other. 

We walked in the door and saw such a beautiful kitchen. Now I know most people want marble or stone countertops, new cupboards and so on. This was perfect in our eyes. We love the old and vintage looking homes. 

So as we entered the home we were chatting with the realtor about the property. Next thing I know Hannah is nowhere to be found!! I called out to her, all of a sudden we hear this small distant voice saying UP HERE! She had decided to go exploring on her own. She was already in love with the house! The whole upstairs is huge. There is a bedroom, which is hers, a full bathroom, a smaller room, that she calls her living room and a spare room. 

This is the large room upstairs. If you are familiar with old farmhouses, there are what is called tandem rooms. They are pretty much all just connected in a large circle with doors dividing the room. Hannah's living room would be the only room you have to walk through to get to the hallway. 

The spare room / guest room needs to be gutted and walls and ceiling redone. But that is another blog post. 

We spent about an hour at the house the first time we looked at it. We were jumping for joy inside (but remember neither of us let on how excited we were). Besides we were certain we would never be able to afford it in this current real estate market. Homes were selling for thousands over the full market value. 

We left the house and went home. Watched the listing for a couple of weeks. We both prayed, had family pray and our church pray. Hannah kept calling it our house. I was worried she would be totally crushed when we were not able to get it. 

We asked the realtor if we could go back and look at the house again. She gladly allowed us this second opportunity. Matt and I wanted to walk the property and just cry out to God for His will to be clear to us. We would need to sell our house and have this house's offer accepted. BUT we asked God to move a mountain so we would not have to carry a mortgage. I know BIG request.

We walked the whole perimeter, all 2 acres of it!! I think the realtor was getting a little huffy with us for taking this long. But we wanted to be certain before talking numbers with her. 

We got to the front corner of the property. I looked down and saw this above picture. A Chinese lantern. It was another God Wink! My grandparents had these growing all over the side of their driveway. I had seeds from hers but could never get them to grow. Also along the hollow there was a long row of wild black raspberries. I would walk my grandparents driveway to pick these each summer. Another sign from God. Was this our dream property? Was God whispering in our ears that we needed to trust Him?

Everywhere we looked there were signs and whispers from God. Trust Me, I will not let you fall. So on the way home Matt and I decided to place our home on the market and put in an offer. The realtor said there had not been too many offers. The next day at work I did my research, and spoke to my supervisor. See I am a title searcher for real estate. Everything looked great! 

We put in an offer about $40K less than the asking price. I figured that would give us some wiggle room. Now comes the BEST part of the story. The couple that was selling this property had been praying that they would accept the correct offer. They wanted a family here that would love the home and property as much as they do. This was the wife's home for most of her life. 

She prayed for each person who stepped onto the property. WELL our offer was accepted! I could not believe it! I still cannot believe it!! She said she knew we were the ones God wanted here. She use to work with people with developmental disabilities. Another God wink. Our house sold within days of having it listed. It went for over the asking price. So we broke even and we do not have a mortgage!! 

We officially closed on this property on June 14, 2024!! 

So how did we come up with the name? Remember all the times I said we heard God Whisper? The picture above is the property just south of our home. It is a deep hollow. So that is where we have: Whispering Hollow Farm! 

We already have a flock of 9 Sapphire Gem chickens, with 1 being an unexpected rooster. The first project we did was renovate a shed that was already on the property.

You can see it there in the distance. You know priorities! HA! 

Starting to paint the outside. Next we added a dog kennel we found for pretty cheap. Then it was moving in day for our babies. 

They are the most beautiful chickens!! I am amazed at how they have different personalities! A friend of mine is working on a logo for our farm. We will be adding sheep this spring! AHHH! Another dream come true! More on that later!

So there you have it! The story of how we were given our dream by God. We still wake up and cannot believe we live here.