New documentary about tiny house village for homeless people had its world premiere in March at @SouthbySouthwest in Austin @austinfilmsociety. It’s a beautiful community of love they have created! We got to meet the Filmmaker, Layton Blaylock, huge shout out to him for devoting two years of his life to this project! Read more here.
It was the first documentary I’ve ever seen that changed me forever!!
The documentary Community First! will be open to the public soon! Layton wants to work with us on our TV series project! We are so blessed!
“Should I post or not?” This last week has been brutal. I have been so discouraged lately.
Some people can be so hurtful. We received yet another ugly letter from the same friend we welcomed into our family last year. We loved, we trusted, and we were betrayed. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the only betrayal in 2018. I am tempted to grab my suitcase, neatly pack my BIG dreams inside, and head to the tropics with my husband and son. We could live happily ever after in a tiny house we build and just forget about trying to change the world! I know I need to forgive and learn to love even my enemies. I thought I was making progress and then another letter appears… What would you do?
My saving grace came in February, 2006, at a business conference, where the speaker was totally reading my mail. She had been in my shoes and found a better way. My whole life was turned upside down as the revelation of the life I really wanted flashed in front of me. I humbled myself, forgave all those who had hurt me in the past; I forgave myself and finally, I forgave God. It was the beginning of a whole new life of freedom, peace and joy, emotionally and spiritually, and I wanted everyone to experience it. Shortly after that, our company flew Todd and I to San Antonio, TX, for a leadership retreat and training with the top income earners. They had hired a caricaturist to draw our dream at the end of the three days. Somehow I knew this was my chance to ask BIG! I had achieved all the dreams on my vision board and quit dreaming. This was my chance to breathe life into my future. What did I want to do for the rest of my life if I could do anything and KNEW I could not fail?
Thirteen years ago, I was a burned out entrepreneur, a stressed out mommy, and struggling with my health. Although I achieved a high level of success in my company and attained a yearly income less than 5% of Americans ever earn, I felt empty and dissatisfied. I represented a wellness company and yet my body was showing the results of neglect and imbalance as I rarely took time for healthy meals, proper exercise, rest, and play. Climbing to the top and looking around at my marriage, my 3 children, and my other family relationships left me feeling regret! Those relationships were not thriving and I felt guilty.
“I want to create a healing center and wellness retreat where people can experience the kind of love You’ve shown me and I want miraculous healings and transformations to occur so people all across the globe will hear of Your power and goodness.”
Our JOURNEY…
What I now call “Selah Oasis” was birthed out of that. Fast forward to 2016, when we sold the “big dream home” our family had spent the last 3 years tearing apart and remodeling together. People couldn’t understand why we would make that sacrifice that to move in to a tiny home. I wanted something MORE THAN THAT BIG DREAM HOUSE; I WANTED MY BIG DREAMS TO COME TRUE! Having absolutely NO MORTGAGE was our reward and the freedom we gained was worth it!
“Selah Oasis” will have tiny houses for tourists to come in and experience our wellness retreats.
Our VISION…
Our vision is to create a flourishing, joy-filled wellness community that attracts the attention of the world to duplicate this model. We define a wellness community as “a group of individuals working toward a common goal of nurturing our bodies and our relationships to bring joy, a sense of belonging, and purpose through meaningful contribution”. We believe an authentic community of wellness offers almost everything our heart has been asking for all along. At the core of our being is a longing to belong and contribute our unique value to the greater good. Without “holistic wholeness” in body, soul and spirit, we cannot accomplish this. The goal is to make wellness and a simplistic luxury lifestyle affordable. Our core values are: freedom, wellness, simplicity, and sustainability.
WHY US…
We’re willing to do the hard work, work long hours, live in the village, and serve every day. Our faith, passion, and “get’er done” track record make us qualified to tackle this project and see it to completion. We are a Texas family owned business in the hill country. We have just got to pursue this, step out on a limb, give it our best shot and trust God to fill in where we lack. And so the journey begins…
October is a significant month for the Snyder family. October, 1995, Todd declared his love for me. October, 2008, we had the vision for what we now know as Tiny Town Texas. October, 2011, we moved our family to Texas. October, 2015, was our miraculous marriage makeover and second honeymoon (exciting story I’ll share with you one day). October, 2016, was The Big Reveal for the birth of Hill Country Tiny Houses. (see https://sharisnyder.com/) October 8, 2017, was the maiden voyage of the Vintage Retreat to Arlington, Texas, for the National Tiny House Jamboree October 20, 2018, REVEAL of the TV series coming soon called Tiny Town Texas
What surprises will October, 2019 hold for our family?
https://youtu.be/bhXJnC5c70M
Follow our journey on FB and IG for live videos and clues to guess what it is. We will send a free t-shirt to anyone who can guess our secret before it’s revealed.
by Christianna Snyder, guest blogger (my daughter)
Yesterday was an extremely difficult day for both me, my family and many others. 10 days shy of being 74, my wonderful grandfather passed away. My grandfather was an incredible man who touched so many people in his life, especially his wife, 9 children and 26 grandchildren. He never turned away an opportunity to share the love of Christ with the people that he met. He was such a loving and caring man, he had an extensive list of people that he prayed for daily without fail despite his pain. Even through the years of excruciating pain and several near-death experiences, he remained strong in his love for God and he was a beacon of love and truth for those around him. As a young girl, I would fiddle with my fingers during his morning devotions, aching to be running outside with my cousins. This was my reaction up until recently, in fact, as I wasn’t as focused on what truly mattered as I should have been. Now, however, I can look back fondly on those wonderful times when our whole family was gathered around his lazy-boy chair as he read from his worn and tattered bible or talked to us about salvation, taking the time to ask each and every one of the people gathered around him about their salvation. Now, I can appreciate all of the time and thought he put into ensuring that he never let his family forget that Christ died for us and he loved us. There are literally hundreds of questions I wish that I could ask and hundreds of things I wish I knew about him but I thank God that his pain is gone and he is now where he most wanted to be, in heaven. Right now I can’t imagine a time when his memory cause my eyes to burn with tears but with those tears comes the knowledge that he is finally free and that one day, I will be able to see his beautiful smile and feel his strong arms envelope me once again. One day, I will be able to look him in the eyes and thank him for showing me the love of Christ every time I saw him. One day, I will be able to show him that his sacrifices were not in vain and that the years he spent teaching me were worth it. Even as I lay to rest the dream that he would be one of many in the crowd of faces smiling on my wedding day, or the dream of handing him my newborn child, I smile because I know that he will never be forgotten. He will live on forever in the hearts and minds of all those he touched.
Our family’s been designing, building, and remodeling houses since 2003. Todd and I have decided to join the Tiny House movement ourselves so we can be a product of our product. Since both our girls have flown the nest and we have just Andrew, it’s a perfect time for a new adventure! I have this romantic idea of a little house on the prairie lifestyle with me and my man raising (they grow so fast!) Time is the most precious gift we can give them. golf outings, travel together, spend more time with our daughters and family! We are excited to help others create options for themselves as well!
Our next big undertaking is creating an entire Tiny House Wellness Village in the hill country. It will be a strong community focused on total wellness for spirit, soul and body. A successful model like this can be duplicated world wide! That’s the legacy we strive for.
We recently sold the 2200 sf home our family remodeled together the last 3 years. We transformed her from the ugly duckling to the darling of the neighborhood. In the fall of 2016, we became mesmerized by the romantic tiny house movement and the idea of simplicity, freedom, and adventure! My friends would have voted me least likely to convert, however, when our two girls went off to college, I looked at my husband and said, “WHY NOT NOW?”
In an effort to try and win at the game of montage debt, we bought a fixer-upper, and did all the work ourselves, teaching our children to work alongside us every weekend and summer. But still, we had a mortgage that felt like a ball and chain around our necks dictating our future choices and keeping us from the lifestyle of freedom we knew we were meant to enjoy! When this life is over, how and who we invested our time in is really all that matters.
We spent the following summer with our 11-year-old son building our own 384 sf tiny home on wheels. Because of homeschool and a home-based business, we can live anywhere our tiny house takes us. Tiny House Living opens the door to DREAM BIGGER because time and money no longer dictate our lifestyle! We are mortgage free and lovin’ it!
Surely, it will be an epic journey of romantic adventures and whimsical minimalism.
WHAT MOTIVATES US?
MISSION
Helping people experience the joys of simple living and financial independence by building dream tiny homes.
VISION
Transform the landscape of the housing industry through tiny house villages duplicated world-wide so people can enjoy financial independence, joy-filled relationships, and peace of mind.
MOTTO
The joys of simple living
TAGLINE
Dreaming BIG in a tiny house
CULTURE
Provide security and joy in the chaos of life by embracing family and community while we build tiny houses and tiny villages to make the world a brighter place.
Do you ever feel overwhelmed? Then you can relate to my 4 yr old son today. His playmate came over and their idea of fun was to take every book off the shelf, every cd out of its case, every piece of clothing out of the drawers and pile it in the middle of the room. After his friend left, I discovered this and told him to go clean it. He said, “I can’t; It’s too much!” I made him recite this verse he’s been learning: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”. It came out so wimpy, I said you sound like a mouse. Say it again, this time like a Lion. Well, this time he sounded like a little dog. “Again”, I said, “like a lion”. He did great and I could see the power of our words and the tone that makes us believe, truly believe! We broke up the room in small tasks. He first put all the books back by himself, I came in and praised him and gave him the next task and with a little help from his sister at the end, it was back in shape. Try it yourself, it’s very powerful to say that verse OUT LOUD when you feel overwhelmed! “I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me!”
