We're Just Getting Started...
Date: 07/14/2024
Author: Sarah

All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” ~ J. R. R. Tolkien

Have you ever wondered what the difference of a day can make? In all actuality it depends on the exact day that we’re talking about, but on some days even the mundane can conceal what can only be called extraordinary when time is reserved to look back, to realize how a handful of seconds can impact life so profoundly.

The better part of two decades have been spent learning how to homestead. We’ve raised children and gardens and chickens; we’ve made soap and cheese and beer. We’ve gathered our own milk and honey; we’ve spun wool to weave fabric so that it could be cut and sewn into garments that are truly our own. We’ve learned to work with metal and build with wood and fix cars when they broke. We went to school to further our education and learn even more about nutrition and growing food. Ultimately, we exchanged the idea of complete self-sufficiency when we realized what a fallacy that is, and replaced it with the knowledge that building community and relationship is so much more important. There has never been a day where we arrived at the fulfillment of all that we were made to be, but day after day we’ve slowly moved forward, undoubtedly making progress despite occasional setbacks.

So, what about the difference that a day can make? There was a day that I wasn’t married, and then I was; a day that I wasn’t a mother, and then I was. These are huge events – life-changing, actually! But what about the smaller things? There was a day that I didn’t know how to prune fruit trees, and then there was a day that I did. There was a day that I had never milked a goat, and then there was a day that I had. There isn’t anything noteworthy about these activities - I have yet to receive a card in the mail commemorating the day I pruned the peaches – but the moments and knowledge collected are just as much a part of who I am and what I do as are the larger aspects of life.

A day can make a huge difference. It can be the difference in overcoming a fear, in learning a new skill, or in finding a seemingly boring fact about yourself and appreciating that it’s part of the uniqueness of how you were created. There was a day that I learned I actually like being outside and working in the rain. There was also a day that I learned that this fact only pertains to a warm gentle summer rain, and not so much a driving November rain when I’m outside chipping ice so water can drain down the driveway instead of into the basement. Yesterday it could have been said that I hadn’t written a blog post in over a decade; today, that’s no longer true. It’s a boring fact, but true nonetheless. If you’re willing, come along with me on this journey as we explore what’s happening on the homestead; there’ll be some funny moments, probably a few tears every now and then, and we may even learn a little about the world around us along the way. If we’re lucky, we’ll discover something about ourselves as well. I hope you join me.

In the meantime, what’s one of those little moments where you discovered something ordinary about yourself but came to appreciate that it’s part of your story? What does your next day look like?

Until next time…

Sarah

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