For the good part of the last century or two, there has been a migration into the big cities and suburbs. However, in the past decade or so, there has been a small but growing movement of people that opted for the opposite. Moving out to the country for a simpler, slower paced existence, starting to live off the land again and finding a piece of God’s beautiful creation to call their own. I would like to share our journey with you as we have “Gone Country”.
My name is Russ Berndt and I have developed a yearning to get my hands dirty providing for my family by learning to live off the land like our forefathers did before us. Growing up in a rural suburb 90 minutes South of Chicago surrounded by corn fields, one would think I’d have had much exposure to country and farm life. This is not the case. I am sure I had friends that lived and worked on farms, but to this day, I am unaware of any in particular. The closest I came to the country was Friday and Saturday nights with my friends parked on some unmarked country gravel road with the radio playing. During my college years and finally during my career, I was introduced to the idea of country living and farm life by various friends and families of my students.
Moving to central Illinois for college at Illinois State University moved me even farther into corn and bean country. Nothing but that for miles and miles. The wind here in Central Illinois is relentless. I remember walking to class at a 45 degree angle into the wind during the Fall of my freshman year.
What makes this adventure in country living I am about to describe even more intriguing is the fact that my career is also a part of my life that evolved out of absolutely no experience in a particular area. You see, I am a gymnastics coach. I am the owner and head coach of one of the largest gymnastics facilities in Central Illinois. Before college, I hadn’t taken a day of gymnastics in my life, with the exception of the tumbling class my mom made me take when I was 5. That lasted exactly one class… I am 6’5” 300 lbs of a man. The last place one would expect to see me is surrounded by all of the munchkins in my gym. Through many twists and turns, all of which are in God’s plan for me I suppose (I’m guessing some of it was more like a kick in the pants to get me back on the right path), I ended up here.
In 2008, I married Brenda, a beautiful, courageous, self-made woman with 5 wonderful children. We also have one child together making it a grand total of 6 kids. Holidays are a blast when we can get everyone together under one roof. My wife’s childhood is the exact opposite of mine. She grew up in the country walking beans and de-tasseling corn, working in as a teen, and eventually starting up and running a successful apple orchard.
In the last 10 years, she had moved on from that life, moving to Bloomington-Normal, IL to eventually open another successful business in town as an Esthetician which involves skin care, facials, wraps, waxing and permanent make-up. We originally lived in a nice neighborhood just outside of town. For 3-4 years though, we toyed with the idea of moving to the country. Finding some land and allowing our youngest to experience what the others had growing up with the apple orchard, corn mazes, pumpkin patches and animals. In the winter of 2012-2013, our pastor told us of a place near him that was for sale. It wasn’t advertised anywhere except for that small, red, hand written, for sale sign in the front yard. 20 acres with tillable ground, timber and a pond. We fell in love with it, took a leap of faith and purchased the property. We were blessed that our house sold quickly and we moved in on February 28th, 2013.
With so much information on country living available across the web, it is my desire to bring the best of it together on one site. Through daily posts and regular additions to the site, I hope to create a resource for anyone looking for great ideas, useful tools, and innovative ways of getting “back to the land” (even ways to bring country living to those that are not able to leave the city or suburban life).
