What Lies Ahead

We’re in a time of preparation right now. And instead of waiting for things to start, I’m going to give a peek behind the curtain of what lies ahead.

In January 2019, we were preparing for more big change, but I had yet to learn how much. Joe and I had done some hard talking about the kind of lives we wanted to live and the dreams and passions we wanted to accomplish now and in the future. We had to be real with ourselves about the path we were currently on, how we felt about it and what needed to change. We had been so sure and so aligned about where we were in conjunction with where we wanted to be, only to find out we were right about one part but not the other. We were right where we needed to be, but we were not headed where we wanted to be.

Joe and I believe in God’s plan and direction for our lives. We believe He shows us what He has for us, the when and the where, as long as we listen. We’d been doing great at the short game. Purchasing farm equipment, jobs, places to invest our time and money, and going back to school for me. We’d stood by in amazement at how God lined everything up perfectly – more perfectly than a planner like me could ever dream.

But in one conversation, we realized we had missed the long game. A couple of years ago, we started out to start a farming business. We had been missing all the clues from God since then, showing us what the business would be. Each of us separately had been thinking and pivoting to a different place than the one we originally thought we should be on – owning 250+ acres and farming it to mostly conventional commodity crops, perhaps making a few changes to the traditional system here and there along the way.

Now, we have a lot of respect for these kinds of farmers, don’t get me wrong. Generations have built their lives and families on this method. But it is a very difficult industry to be in, with a lot of expense and up and down prices on profit. And it is next to impossible to get into, especially when you don’t have any land and hardly any equipment to speak of. I’m a firm believer God can do anything. But what we realized is, this wasn’t the desire of our hearts anymore.

Farming still was – absolutely, but an unconventional kind of farming. One that gave us a lot of creative licenses to try new things and markets that haven’t been tried in our area. I’ll be sharing more about what all this looks like soon! We’re coming into spring now and the ball is starting to roll. I’ll give you a front-row seat to watch the story unfold.

What we realized through all this searching was we needed to make a change – a big one. Joe had worked in ag jobs for a number of years and this just wasn’t working for us to grow our own business. His busy times at work were the times he most needed to be on our farm working or planning. And so our dream was falling on others to make happen; we didn’t feel good about that.

Right after the start of the new year, Joe made a big job change. He left the full-time job he had been in and took a part-time, seasonal job instead, with the understanding the rest of his time would be focused on getting our farm plan and business off the ground. Big move, and what should have been a scary move. But if there’s one thing we’ve learned about following the path God has for you is when you’re in obedience to it, you have peace. Abundant peace.

And I’m so glad for peace as not long after this big move, we found out I was pregnant. Timing. God’s timing is always on purpose. I know if the one had happened before the other, it would’ve been a lot harder to obey. Make that big of a job change after knowing you’re bringing another life into the world?! But I had time to be solidly on board so when the next big news came, we weren’t moved or shaken. We were already standing firm.

So if you thought the last year of work, school and farming seemed crazy – hold on. What lies ahead will make you shake your head, and hopefully, inspire you about the path God has for you.