PHOTO BY STEVE REMICH / MPW.62 PHOTO BY STEVE REMICH / MPW.62
  • Choosing the Simple Life
  • By STEVE REMICH
  • The 62nd Missouri Photo Workshop / Macon, Mo.
  • It's not an accident that the Pittmans live a rustic lifestyle surrounded by family and farmland. In 2004, Chet Pittman and his wife Toni took a risk and left their modern concerns and ranch lives behind. Chet sold his stake in the Pittman and Sons large family ranch near Amarillo, Texas and moved with his wife and children Paxton, Eva Jo, Emma and Brody to a small, 100 acre farm in Bevier, Missouri.

    Now Chet and Toni live a more simple farm life on their small piece of land where they raise a few cattle, pigs and chickens and home school their children. The family spends most of their time together and everything Chet and Toni do is centered around their children. "Maybe it's because we waited so late in life, I appreciated 'em so much, I began to see the blessing of what god had given me and I thought, I don't want to sacrifice any of that. I don't want to give up any of that. I want as much as I could physically and mentally possibly grab of them and I think that's ultimately why we're here."

    ***

    Before beginning his morning chores, Chet Pittman takes a moment to admire a spider web lit by the morning sunlight. Christianity is a central part of the Pittmans' lives and just minutes earlier Chet had spoken with his family about how they could see God's work in the physical world by appreciating the natural beauty around them.



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