Why are we doing this?

A good question, and one we intended to share anyway so here goes.

We believe whole-heartedly that being debt-free is a biblical mandate. Not only is it profitable spiritually, but as with all of God's "rules", it has HUGE physical benefits as well. Shawn feels a call to be more active in the children's lives, to be a better father, a better husband. Part of what has kept him from those tasks in the past is a huge debt burden and thus, the need to work long arduous hours. When we build this home and as soon as our town house sells, our debt will be less than half of what it is currently. A move in the right direction don't you think?

And though we could have probably down-sized or something right here in town, there is more to the situation. We want our children to grow up unencumbered, free to play, pretend, etc. and living in town just does not facilitate such development. I mean, they can't really dig a trench in the back yard to play army in can they? Or build a medeival castle from plywood then burn it for a bonfire and roast hotdogs when it gets old. And we have to buy milk for our youngest son instead of milking our own goat to get it. We've stretched the town ordinances to allow us to have chickens but we are on a first-name basis with the Animal Patrol Officer! It's not worth it. Not for us. We could list 1,000 other reasons for wanting to move to the country but I think you get the drift. :o)