Hello, again! Here we are for part 4 of this story! If you haven't read the others you can find them here, here, and here.
We left off last time with my husband having just gotten a job in the spring of 2019 as a manager of a farm and retreat center. Our take home was $3,045.70 a month and $800 of that went directly into savings. We lived on $2,245.70/mo and I have to say, $2,000 never felt so rich to me in my life!
Even though we were saving a lot each month, we had a lot we had to catch up on. All of us needed to go to the dentist and get up to date on our teeth. I ended up needing a root canal and other work done and my husband and daughter needed a few minor fillings. My husband had a skin rash that he needed looked at and we spend quite a bit on a dermatologist and medication for that. We also saved up for our missions trip to the Philippines in March 2020 and for needed home repairs. So our savings was allotted for something about as soon as it was set aside. It was a much calmer year than what we had up to that point in WV. We paid off our credit card that we had used to make our car repairs the previous winter. The stress of living on minimum wage as a family of 5 was beginning to fade and I felt like I could breathe a little. Still, there was the looming needs ahead and more things to save for and purchase than we had money, but we were able to at least make progress towards them. I bought the children their school books and we bought a pellet stove to replace the wood stove we had had in the house. It heated it much better with much less mess and work.
By this time, my husband knew that he did not want to stay in West Virginia long term. As thankful as we were for his job, he knew it was not what he wanted to be doing. He missed the West (it had been his dream to go west from a little boy) and he wanted to be back in Agriculture. Yes, he managed a farm and retreat center but a farm in West Virginia and a farm in Montana are very different. The mountains and curvy roads and no sky or sunsets and continuous rain were not our cup of tea. However, I was quite attached to the idea of being settled and I really loved being close to family. I loved our little fixer upper and I loved the thought of finally owning our house completely with no mortgage. We were so close I could almost taste it!
By the fall of 2019, my husband and I were talking seriously about returning to Montana. We didn't know where to though. We had lived in 3 places in Montana - the original place we moved to where we lived a year (I'll call this Little Canada since it was just a couple miles from the Canadian border,) the Reservation, and Bozeman. We knew we did not want to go back to Bozeman, we did not even consider Little Canada, and we weren't sure about the reservation. Little Canada was our favorite place but it was very rural and we were only aware of one grain elevator there which is where my husband had worked before. We were not interested in working there again. As hard as it was for us to leave Little Canada after the year we spent there, we had always assumed it was just a short, sweet season from the Lord and that was that. We had lost touch with most of our friends there over the years. It had never crossed our mind we would live there again. We had lived on the Reservation longer than anywhere else and still had friends there. We hadn't thought we would live there again either though.
My husband had been putting out his resume and talking to old work contacts about getting back into the grain industry but everything seemed shut. As we began praying about it, a door opened up to manage a friend's hotel on the Reservation. Most of you probably remember my announcement and story of that on Instagram. It was a temporary 1 year job, but it would get us back to Montana. We thought we would be settling on the Reservation again but we didn't really know what the future held. All we knew was that we were going back to our beloved Montana, and that was good enough.
We moved in May of 2020 and it was awesome to watch the Lord's hand on us. We hadn't foreseen the pandemic but God did. When it hit, my husband's work closed their doors permanently and let everyone go. We had no idea that we would soon be without a job when we had agreed to manage the hotel in Montana. The timing couldn't have been better and we seamlessly transitioned from one job to the other. I was in awe of the Lord's provision! Our salary there was $2,644.50/mo with housing and utilities included.
It was not very hard to leave West Virginia. It had been a hard and refining season. I was looking forward to better days ahead, and everything seems right in the world on the plains of Montana. It was hard, however, to leave family. I dearly love my mother in law and had gotten close with her during our time there. My husband's sister was one of my closest friends since we were 15. We had babies together and I so enjoyed her support and friendship and getting to do things together. However, it was time to go. We were excited to be back in Montana. Having lived in multiple places, we knew now that there just was no place like Montana to us. It was home. Nowhere else even felt remotely close to what it felt like.
We had no idea what was in store or what the future held. We knew the job was temporary but that was all we knew. We trusted the Lord to guide and direct and take care of us, and He did not let us down! As most of you know, we had intended to buy a home there and in the most unforeseen order of events, we ended up getting a job we didn't look for, everything fell apart with our house purchase and in the blink of an eye, we were moving again and back to Little Canada of all places! We for sure did NOT see that one coming! If this story is new to you, I wrote about it here. For those that might be confused, my husband got a job in a town about 20 minutes from where we had originally lived at a grain elevator that I didn't even know was there. We are in the same county as we were when we moved here in 2012 and we go to the same town to shop that we lived in before. We, however, do not live in that exact town.
Coming back here was surreal. I have no idea why we are here again, but I am most happy about this unexpected turn of events. This was the first place that captured my heart. The first place I felt at home. I surrendered all this to God a long time ago, and it has been a complete surprise to me that it seems He has handed it all back again after all these years. I didn't know if I would feel the same about the area as I did all those years ago. I didn't know if I would connect with friends again the same way. Sometimes friendships change and grow apart and I didn't want to assume that we would just pick up where we left off. However, it's been like we never left at all. We have reconnected with our old friends here and they are just as dear as they were so many years ago. We started attending the same church we went to before. I go to the same little grocery store and take my children to the same places that I did before when I was a young 20 year old Mama with my first baby.
My husband is back in the grain industry, which he loves. We don't know much about the company yet but so far they have been very good to work for and have gone above and beyond in their treatment of us. We didn't even realize this grain elevator was here before we were offered this job or that it was even closer to our friends here than before. I am so glad that the Lord sees and knows all things, and works all things out for the good of those who love Him.
My husband was offered a higher salary with this job than we've ever made before. He is unsure whether he is comfortable disclosing the exact amount so I won't be posting that until/unless he is ok with it. Our health insurance is 100% covered, as well. I know, that's almost unheard of and we were floored! What a blessing! I feel like I'm still finding my equilibrium in this place and with life. I have been in a state of unsettledness for so long. I am beginning to see a future again beyond just day to day living and I can't even' describe what that feels like. We feel a bit bruised and battered, we've learned a lot of lessons, and we've grown deeper in our walk and trust of the Lord. We feel like we are starting over again in life in some ways, only this time with a lot more knowledge and experience and a lot more perspective.
We do have some debt again. Our car engine blew up in December 2020. We needed a vehicle as that was our only car. Because of delays due to the pandemic, the mechanic said it would be 3-4 months before all the parts came in. We purchased an older used car to drive in the meantime. It began having issues and we knew it was not going to last much longer either. Before we took our long trip to the Grand Canyon, we went and bought a pickup. It's the first time we have not bought a vehicle in cash since paying off our debt originally. However, given our needs and situation, my husband felt that it was what we should do. We are paying extra on it every month and we hope to have it paid off as soon as possible.
So now you are caught up to where we are currently and I hope that it makes our story and my writing make more sense going forward. This was quite therapeutic to write and get my jarbled thoughts down in order. It was fun to revisit the timeline of things and to see again all the twists and turns our life has taken. Some I still don't understand. Some make more sense now than they did at the time. This of course, is an overview and a condensed version. There are many things that are not mentioned for privacy or respect for relationships. There are lots more details and behind the scenes reasons, as with anyone's life and decisions. My hope though, is that this would give you a better picture of our finances and moves and might make things make more sense going forward now that you know where we are from and where we have been. Thank you for reading our story. It means the world to me to have you here.
The End.