Want to see what Darron and I have been working on all summer? We’ve mentioned the cabin in North Carolina so often in the blog, I thought it was about time to share some updated photos and a little of the journey.

Quick recap. We first fell in love with Ashe County in northwestern NC about 7 years ago when we drove out to meet up with Alyssa, Matt and Jarod on their Unified Revival Tour. Some friends invited us to stay in their cute little vintage farmhouse on the New River, where we kayaked and cooked out and lingered around the firepit on those starry summer nights. Driving through the countryside, we were so charmed by the rolling green hills dotted frequently with Christmas tree farms, white-steepled churches and old tobacco barns that we just kept coming back. 

So in 2020 we decided to start looking for a little place we could fix up and rent out on Airbnb when we weren’t using it. I’ve always dreamed of a place in the country where grandkids could run free across grassy hills, fish in a river, chase fireflies on summer nights and fall asleep under a pile of quilts in a cozy bunkroom. However, our search for a house big enough for kids and grandkids led us instead to this tiny 400sf log cabin on 10 acres. Not exactly what we set out to find but it drew us in and spoke to us and we both knew this was the place. 

Here we are. Five road trips, several trailer loads and plenty of blood, sweat and tears later, we’ve gotten this place to a point where we’re excited to share it. (Check out the Airbnb here.)

We still have big dreams for the rest of the property. That house with the bunk room? There’s a perfect spot to build it on the hilltop. There’s room for more tiny houses in a secluded wooded area below. Lord willing, this place will be in the family for generations and we’ll get to do all kinds of creative things with it.

Let this be a thin place throughout the generations where heaven touches earth.

I’ve reflected a lot on this during our time here. How we’re endowed by our Creator with raw materials and we get to take those raw materials and rearrange, reshape and repurpose. And it’s so much fun to do that! Think about it. A musician takes a scale of 8 musical notes and forms it into chords, harmonies and songs that evoke memories and emotion. An artist begins with a basic color palette and shapes it on a canvas into something meaningful. Writers do the same with words. 

It’s been fascinating here to start with a piece of raw property and to watch the land being resculpted by backhoes and bulldozers, the tall weeds and brush transforming into grassy hills and freshly mulched flower beds. To begin with a load of lumber (which is just a reshaping of God-given raw materials) and to watch the guys reconstruct it into a deck, a laundry room and a beautiful arbor. 

I’ve been repeatedly offering up this prayer before the Father. Let this be a thin place throughout the generations where heaven touches earth, where the lines between become blurry and the space between wears thin. Let it be a place where we get still enough and quiet enough to hear your gentle whisper, to feel your embrace and to be refreshed and made new in the holy presence of the Almighty.

What an incredible journey this life can be.