We're free!

16 years ago Jay came to me and said that he was going to start raising pigs on contract for companies and would be putting up 2 buildings to house them. He said that raising them on our own along with crops was not making us the money we needed to survive and if he didn't do something, we'd lose the farm. However, if this venture didn't work, we'd still lose the farm. I supported him 100%, but was so scared. The "what ifs" seemed to loom over me. I just had to go on faith that it'd all work out....which I am honest enough to admit, is very hard for me to do. I like things under control. I am not a control freak and think that I have to be the one doing the controlling, but if things are in chaos and no one else steps up, then I will get it back under control myself. God is constantly teaching me to have patience and faith. I KNOW he is in control and doing what is best. But sometimes I lose sight of that, and feel like nothing is getting done, so I should "help". Yea, let's just say, that usually doesn't work out well. LOL



Time came and went and a couple of years later, Jay announced he was putting up 4 more buildings, but for a different company. Again...you go on blind faith. Once those buildings were up, we were officially in debt $1,000,000.00. That's right...one million dollars. The mere thought of it made me sick (still does). I literally couldn't handle it. I had hives. I couldn't sleep. I got an ulcer. I wanted so badly to be able to go on faith, but those numbers were so large that I just couldn't. Jay promised me that the money generated from the buildings would not only provide us with an income for our family, but they would also pay for themselves. As time went on I saw that was true. But, I still couldn't physically handle those large numbers, so that is when Jay took over the checkbook and all farming bills. I completely handed it over and since that day I have absolutely no idea if we have $50,000.00 or $50.00 in our account and I am ok with that. As a matter of fact, it has saved my sanity, which might seem silly, but it's oh so true.



There were situations with the one company Jay was raising pigs for. Jay is a very ethical, honest man. There were some unethical things going on and Jay didn't like the way he was being treated when he wouldn't do the things they wanted him to do, so we took a big hit with a penalty for getting out of the contract early, and he started to raise for a different company. In time he turned over his other buildings to that same company and things were going well. However, the man who owned that company retired and turned it all over to his greedy son, who only had dollar signs in his eyes. He doesn't care about the people who are raising pigs for him, or even the pigs themselves. Finally, Jay had had enough and again we took a big hit on penalties and switched one more time to the company he is currently raising for.



All these switches came with large penalties that we couldn't afford, so he had to remortgage one of the sites...adding to the stress, and increasing the number of years on our loan. We just kept our eyes towards heaven and the future of "someday".







Sure we made a lot of sacrifices along the way. We didn't have a fancy home or drive fancy vehicles. Our kids didn't wear designer clothing and we didn't take trips or vacations every year to great locations. But, we were determined that I would stay home with the children and with the financial stress we had upon us, that meant doing without some of the extras, and we were ok with that....even if that made us look "bad" by other peoples standards.



Jay just called me and gave the best new ever. Our "someday" has arrived. As of today, all 6 of our buildings are completely and totally 100% paid for! They are ours. We own them outright! I cried at the news. We made it...we really made it! We had always hoped and prayed that we'd have it taken care of in time to help our children with college and we have succeeded.



Thank you God for leading us through this. Thank you for loving us as much as always, even when we had doubts and fears. Thank you for always making sure our needs were met, and thank you for allowing me to cry my tears of fear whenever I felt the need to vent to you.



Jay and I plan to go out for a very special evening to celebrate.