When life gives you lemons, make lemonade, they say. Well, we all know that’s better said than done, but the truth is that when we put our minds to something and work really hard to achieve it, nothing is impossible. Cara Brookins found herself in an abusive marriage. As a mother of five, she knew she had to save her children.
children from the toxic environment in which they were forced to live. So she left her husband, took her children with her, and built herself a new house from scratch. How did she do it? By drawing up her own building plans and watching YouTube videos that taught her how to lay foundations, build a wall, run a gas line, and install plumbing, among other construction techniques. Sounds incredible, doesn’t it? When she thinks about it now,
She realizes it seems impossible right up to the end. When she started building her family’s new home in 2007, Cara, who worked as a programmer-analyst, couldn’t afford a house comfortable enough for all her children. That’s when she got the idea to build it from scratch. “It was like, if someone else was in our situation, they would do that,” Cara said. “Nobody else saw it that way.”
And in retrospect, I realize it seems insane.” She bought an acre of land for $20,000 and secured a construction loan of about $150,000. Her children, the oldest of whom was 17 and the youngest only 2, were involved in building their 3,500-square-foot home. Her son Drew helped her create the plans, while 11-year-old Jada used buckets to carry water from the neighbor’s pond.
because there was no running water on site. She then mixed it with 80-pound bags of concrete and formed the foundation mortar. Every day after school, the children went to the site and helped with the process. For the more demanding tasks, this determined mother hired a part-time firefighter with construction experience for $25 an hour. “In terms of knowledge,
“He was one step ahead of us,” she recalled. It was on March 31, 2009, that the family finally moved into Inkwell Manor, named in honor of Cara’s dream of becoming a writer. “We were mortified that building our own shelter was our best alternative,” Cara said. “It wasn’t something we were really proud of, but it turned out to be the most beneficial thing I could have done for myself.” “If I, a 110-pound computer programmer, can build an entire house,” she said, “you can do anything you want.” She then added, “Decide on one goal and stick to it. Find that big thing you want to do,
Take small steps toward it and bring others who need healing along the way. There is so much power in that. Isn’t this one of the most incredible stories you’ve heard in a long time? If you are as impressed as we are by this family’s determination, SHARE their amazing story with your family and friends on Facebook!