Table of Contents
Our Unforgettable Ranch Experience:
I asked my daughter last year what she wanted for Christmas. She said she wanted a farm, a pond, chickens, and an orchard. I remember giving her a look that essentially said, what an absurd and absolutely unrealistic Christmas list. I just said, “there’s no way.”
We live in the suburbs, in a house we paid off years ago. We’re not looking to sell it and move to the country. I was taken aback by her Christmas list and just disregarded it, until nine months later.
An opportunity fell into our laps that not just fit our daughter’s Christmas list, but exceeded it. Never in a million years would I’ve guessed that we’d have an opportunity to live on a gigantic ranch with four ponds, a creek, apple trees, and the fanciest chicken coop we’ve ever seen.
I remember hearing my daughter’s wish list, and laughing at the absurdity, just like Sarah when she heard she’d have a child in her old age (Genesis 18:12). But our Heavenly Father gave our daughter even more than she asked for. Isn’t that just like our God? He turns the impossible into reality. Our daughter’s Christmas wish came a bit late, but it came.
God Answered Her Outlandish Wish
Looking back, maybe I should’ve stopped and prayed and asked God for a way to fulfill my daughters farming dream. Her dream seemed so big and outlandish that I didn’t feel like it was worth the ask.
I have a laundry list of prayers that I ask God for, that in my mind took precedence, but He isn’t limited to that list or even to my prayers. Time and time again I’ve seen how God has given me the desires of my heart, those outlandish, unrealistic hopes that I don’t even think are worth a prayer. He fulfills those desires, making me feel more seen, heard, and loved by such a generous God.
Our trip to live on the ranch for a few months was just the beginning of God answering our unrealistic desires. I had been wanting to experience silence and solitude for well over a year and couldn’t figure out how to make that happen. Staying at a monastery and having a silent retreat has been on my bucket list for years. When I was told about the property, they told me that one of the closest things to it was, guess what, a monastery. I was able to go on a silent retreat and experience silence and solitude on the ranch.
Wait, there’s more.
Experiencing Little House on the Prairie
About five years ago I started reading The Little House on the Prairie books by Laura Ingalls Wilder to our kids. They’re our favorite series; we read through the entire set of nine books about twice a year. We’ve mapped out the places she lived and even talked about planning a trip to visit her various homesteads. But once we calculated the travel time, I started to think this is a great idea, but not very realistic. Driving 24 hours to the middle of nowhere, to visit her homestead and museum, seemed improbable.
When we had the opportunity to live on the ranch, Laura Ingalls came to mind. I was pretty sure the ranch was at least in the same state as her home where she wrote all the Little House on the Prairie books. So, I looked it up. We would be living a little over twenty miles from the Wilder homestead. I couldn’t believe it! What are the odds? And as we were driving to the ranch for the first time, we passed through Laura’s town and saw a sign for their annual Wilder Day’s Festival. I looked it up and we could go. Our kids were literally squealing with glee.
The Wilder Day’s festival was beyond amazing. I was totally fangirling. It was like my Disneyland. We were able to hear Pa’s fiddle being played in front of her homestead, which only happens once a year. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I was able to experience this once-in-a-lifetime moment.
We were able to tour her two homes and see her house left just like it was when she passed. Her nightgown was on her bed, and Almanzo’s medicines were at his bedside. It was incredible! The books came to life in a new way for us.
I was able to lead a Morgan horse, just like Almazno. We walked into Laura’s orchard and I picked one of her apples from a tree she probably planted. Maybe I shouldn’t have done it, but I did. I took it back with us, and we all ate an apple from Laura’s land. We were even able to meet the actor who played Almanzo in the TV show. They were filming a documentary about Laura while we were there, and we may be in it. This experience was just yet another example of how God goes above and beyond to fulfill one of our family’s pipe dreams.
God showed up in even more ways.
Visiting My Old Kentucky Home
I’ve been wanting to take my husband and kids to where I grew up in Kentucky. From where we live, my hometown is a twenty-seven-hour drive. I wanted to show them the home I grew up in, where I went to school and church, and reconnect with my childhood friends and family friends. The last time I visited my hometown was twenty years ago. Living on the ranch was the closest we’ve been to where I grew up, so I planned a trip there.
That trip felt like home. I felt loved and missed. Honestly, it felt so redeeming and blew my expectations out of the water in a good way. I shed quite a few happy tears, made so many wonderful memories, and rekindled friendships from my past. I was able to share a part of my life that my family couldn’t fully grasp without being there to experience it.
Reflections on our Ranch Experience
Looking back, I would’ve never guessed that my daughters outlandish Christmas wish list would bring a downpour of blessings and life-changing experiences for our family. I’m blown away by God’s faithfulness and generosity that He would give us above and beyond what we could’ve asked or hoped for.
Here’s my big takeaway: don’t think that anything is too small, too big, or too unrealistic for God. He may very well blow your socks off. He knows the desires of our hearts and He sees every little detail. God can make a way when there seems to be no way.
“For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.”
Isaiah 43:19
Thank you for sharing what God has done with, through, and for your family. What a beautiful Blessing and Testimony of our God’s Goodness! Amen!
Joel, Thank you for your kind and encouraging words! I’m grateful to be able to share our story and appreciate you taking the time to read and respond. You’re right – we feel very blessed indeed. Thank you for celebrating with us!