My 2024 started off with 3 of the biggest life events all packed into just one month.

First, my wife and I welcomed baby number seven into our family, a beautiful little boy. One week later, we moved into our dream home with more than enough space for our growing family and a few acres of open space in the back, affectionately called the SchiefelRanch. Soon after the move, our three-year-old son Benny received an accidental blow to the head with a golf club that led to an ER visit.

After confirming his concussion, the doctors noticed that he had a fast-growing tumor on his left temporal lobe, requiring emergency brain surgery. The injury led to the miraculous discovery of Benny’s brain cancer and thus began the hardest year of our lives as Benny faced countless tests, received 33 sessions of proton radiation, and fought through hours of nightmares every night because of the 40 sedations his little body endured throughout the year.

2024 was a white-knuckle year, and we held on tight to the things that mattered most – our faith, our family, and the support of our community. The large home that we now occupied seemed silly as most of our children elected to sleep on the floor of our bedroom each night, desperately clinging to Benny and one another as they feared the worst.

I was only one year into the new business and needed to keep working hard, so the house received little attention. The ongoing maintenance of a place like this is difficult on a good day and was almost impossible during the most challenging time of our lives.

We persevered in prayer and did our best to be present for each of the kids, but keeping up with the house, the commute, and the business while fulfilling my first vocation as a husband and a father was proving to be too much.  It was always a large undertaking when the house, pool, yard, or fence needed attention. To make matters more difficult, our oldest kids were entering the time when activities and sports required more evening trips to and from school, a round trip that could take 40-60 minutes depending on traffic.

My dream has always been to be the best husband and father possible, and I was finally realizing that the dream home was making it harder to live that dream.  2025 felt like a year of reset for our family, aided by the positive news indicating “no evidence of disease” on each of Benny’s scans.

During Lent earlier this year, my wife and I committed to a 54-day Novena of prayer for direction, clarity, and peace. Holy Thursday came with another round of stressful tests for Benny, and another celebration of good results. At that point, we were over halfway through our prayer journey, and things were becoming crystal clear. I was leaning heavily towards selling the dream house and getting back to living the dream.

As the sun was setting on Easter Sunday, my oldest daughter (aka my mini-me) sat down by me and said, “I don’t want to upset you, but I think we should sell the house. What if we lived in a place that was easier to keep up with and we could enjoy our time together as a family more? We all know that this house saved Benny’s life, and we made great memories here, but maybe it’s time to move on.”

It was as if an Angel was speaking to me, and my prayers were answered. When my daughter left the room, I turned to my wife and said, “We are selling this house and moving.”  She smiled and hugged me, having reached the same conclusion during her prayer time, and our next steps were set in motion. The house sold in an off-market deal for the price we wanted, and we purchased another off-market home that better fits our family dynamics. The new home is only 2 minutes from the kids’ school and almost 4 minutes from my office.  Prayers answered again.

As we complete the transition from the dream house back to the dream life, we are having work done to the new house and living temporarily in an Airbnb. It is very small and crowded for our family of nine, and we are grateful for that. Just last night, the entire crew was playing together and being goofy when my wife turned to me and said, “I love being in this small rental house; it allows us to do life together more.”

I traded in the big house, pool, pasture, and commute so I could regain the time, energy, and headspace for the things that matter most in my life. As it became clear that we would sell the house and move away, I realized we would have fewer expenses and less time away from my family, but that my ego would also take a hit along the way.   A blow to the ego also creates an increase in humility, a virtue that I’m grateful to feed and nurture.

I am so grateful to have lived at the SchiefelRanch. We experienced so many moments of trial and triumph as a family there and spent our evenings watching the miniature donkeys chase each other in the back pasture. We made amazing new friends, hosted great events, and continued to put our faith first in all aspects of life. We also know that we would never have let the kids tee off with golf clubs in the backyard had it not been for the SchiefelRanch, and that moment ultimately led to the miraculous accident that saved Benny’s life.

For all who made the SchiefelRanch special, thank you for an amazing two and a half years. And thanks be to God for the clarity that comes through prayerful discernment.