Believe it or not, I had some difficulty this week finding someone to highlight in my Sunday piece. As most of you are aware my Sunday blogs are specifically about someone who is deserving of our praise and/or admiration. However, I came across a married couple, Ben and Meg Hollar, that fit the bill for a Sunday.
From Epoch Bright:
It was a cool February morning in 2017, and Ben Hollar sat alone in the kitchen of his southern California home, thinking. As a machinist by trade, rising early and working 80-hour weeks were commonplace. He’d been at it for the better part of a decade, ever since he’d married his wife, Meg, in 2006. But the work had taken its toll.He had been an absent figure in the lives of his four young sons.
“I didn’t have much of a relationship with them,” Ben said. “I missed so much of their early years that I really felt like a stepfather to them rather than their own dad.”
Worse still, his marriage was on the rocks. As his workload increased steadily over the years, he and Meg had drifted apart. To deal with his stress and a growing feeling of loneliness, Ben began to drink.
Change needed to happen, and fast.
So when Meg joined him for coffee on that February morning, Ben, in a last ditch effort to save his marriage, proposed something radical. He said: “This is kind of crazy, but how would you feel about selling everything we have, hopping in a trailer, seeing the country like we’ve always talked about, figuring out where we want to go, buying land, and we don’t come back?”
They decided to buy a trailer and travel across the country, and then start fresh somewhere new.
After 10 months on the road and visiting 45 states, the Hollars finally found a home. They settled in western North Carolina, A small mobile home on a small parcel of land was all they needed, giving their marriage a second chance.
The move to North Carolina has come with its own blessings. Since 2019, the Hollars have renovated the old mobile home, added numerous livestock and gardens, and expanded their family. They welcomed their first daughter in 2020 and are expecting another baby in May.
Because of their commitment to each other after a long journey, there was a happy ending for Meg and Ben Hollar.
Kudos to both of them!
4/28/24