More than a homestead.
I love homesteads.
I love homesteaders.
I started this journey because of my love of both of those.
But then I felt a desire for more.
I started calling it a farmstead. I started thinking on a slightly larger scale. Still holding on to the homestead mentality in fear of what larger meant.
But I still felt a desire for more. And a push to let go and move forward.
So I started calling it a farm. And even called myself a farmer. Researching and learning what more really meant. Not sure if I had what it took for more. And absolutely terrified of failing and nearly frozen in fear at the thought of failing epically and so publicly.
I don’t like being openly vulnerable. At all. Not even a little.
But I kept inching forward. Getting knocked back some days. Starting again the next. Slowly making progress. Slowly starting to feel more confident. Slowly starting to understand more and more that there was a bigger plan in play and I was absolutely not in charge of it.
You see when Yahweh places a calling on you there’s no going around it. Not if you are a child of God. Not if you are truly his.
And he isn’t going to let you waste the talents he’s given you.
So here I am. Building an entire 20 acre market farm. Taking classes on laws and regulations. Learning about marketing and the importance of building out a business plan. Creating SSOP’s and SOP’s. Taking hands on workshops from farmers that have already created what I’m trying to create. Gleaning from everywhere I possibly can.
And spending hours everyday with my hands in the dirt, sweat on my brow and in full on conversation with my Father about what I’m doing, where I’m fearful and learning obedience.
And when I begin to fall into a trap of thinking I got this, he always sends a reminder that I’m just the hands and feet. This is his show. This is for his glory. And I am to follow his lead not blaze a trail of my own.
Sometimes it’s friends and conversations (more like calling me out when I need it most. Iron sharpens iron folks. Make sure you are surrounded by iron!) Sometimes it’s goats destroying a third of my garden or chickens making their way into my pepper beds. Sometimes it’s my health and literally taking away my ability to walk. He always finds a way.
So yes this is more than a homestead and I am more than a homesteader. This farm is a market farm. It is growing into multiple acres of gardens and growing spaces, full scale heated propagation house and even a few high tunnels for insurance crops. It is planning and prepping and successions. It is doing the hard work now so that I can produce the product later. It is building in systems that will allow me to build the outreach to a full scale food outreach. It is creating a legacy and turning it from a first generation farm to a multi-generation farm. With a history and a story and the entire thing being built on Gods grace and love and guidance.
There will never be a day where I don’t look around and thank Him for giving me this life and these talents. And the heart to appreciate both.
I am a farmer. This is a market farm. And it all started because I thought I was just going to homestead.
"May the soil be fertile, the harvest be bountiful and the farmer never grow weary."
Amanda
Eph 3:20-21
May He always do abundantly more than my hands are capable of!
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