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Our Great Venture

We feel so blessed that God has given us a property of our dreams. There are many questions ahead that could discourage us:

  • Will we as foreigners actually get permisssion by the end of the year to own this piece of land? (as stated in the preliminary contract we signed this week)
  • Will we be able to find all the building materials to build a wooden house instead of the normal block here?
  • Will we find enough volunteers from America to come and spend some time here building our house? If you are interested in maybe a short VS opputunity or would like more details, email us at jolasmucker@terramail.pl .
  • Will we get permission to cut down trees where we want to build our house if it is zoned as forest land?
  • How will we be able to give the time we need to this project with our already busy schedules?
  • Will the money stretch to accomodate all expenses with the extremely weak dollar?
Yes, there are no answers right now for these questions. But we choose to trust God. He has led us so far, giving us peace about this purchase, helping us find an honest inspector who will deal with all the building hassles for us, giving us a small cabin on the property for the VS boys to live in, helping us to agree on a house plan. You can view it here. Of course, I can't tell you about all the modifications. You will just have to imagine.

We worked all day Saturday. We cleared away dead branches and twenty-years' worth of leaves on the ground. Rewarding, but very slow work. There are windows to replace in the vandalized cabin, fence to build to keep the vandals out, insulation to be put in the cabin to make it winterproof, the bathroom redone to include a shower of sorts. We ended the day with a kielbasa roast with the whole team to celebrate!

There are some things I love about the place:

  • The children were playing and I couldn't even here them from the spot I was working on the two acres.
  • The pond and the TREES that are big enough for climbing and a swing.
  • The place to build the house has lots of trees between it and the road.
  • It is back a small lane, but yet in the village. (I love my privacy)
  • The whole team was grilling kielbasa and instead of filling up my whole back yard like here, we only were a speck on the property.
Yes, it is a venture of great faith, but as you can tell we are excited. Here are a few pictures for you:

The pond at the back of the property

The Cabin


Two little munchkins picking up sticks and playing on our property.


Conrad hard at work in the doorway of the cabin



Dad and Alli lighting a fire in the fireplace inside the cabin


Les hanging insulation upstairs in the cabin



Our grill of celebration


Look at the sizzling kielbasa!!!

Quote of the Day:

Dad (after he finishes reading the Bible story): Allison, what kind of skin did Jacob cover his arms with?

Allison: Children's skin.

Dad: What?!?

Allison: Dad, you said kid's skin!

Comments

Anonymous said…
hey i liked the pictures!! i wish so bad that i could go over there and help you cook or something if the guys go over later this yr. but we shall see. and alli is hilarious!! that made me a laugh and laugh! i read it to mom and she thot it was pretty funny too. she said she could just hear john saying, "what?!?" :) Gina
Anonymous said…
Hey, I loved Alli's reply! The pictures are great. I just can't wait to see it in July!! And the kielbasa made my mouth water... Mom still has some in the freezer, waiting for an "occasion". Hope ya'll are doing ok. Talked to Cor last night, looked like things are pretty well!! :) Blessings to you all!!
-Asia-
Momof3 said…
That's rich, Laura! So will this cabin be your home or is it an additional home on the property?
Well, Doc, we could try to squeeze everyone into this little summer cottage, but with such limited space, I have a feeling tempers wouldn't last!!! No, our vs boys will be priviledged to live here and we are building a house for ourselves. We feel blessed.
Momof3 said…
I just read your Poland report and was remembering....duh! That's what this whole building project and looking for a crew's about! I was forgetting the VSers would live in the cabin......

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