Farm Life Lessons...
Farm life teaches much more than just the day to day chores of making a farm run...and for that reason I'm thankful we get to raise our 4 strong minded, independent boys on the farm. Who am I kidding I'm thankful to live on the farm and that I quit my job to be out here...even though some days I think to myself what have I done? It's been 5 years since I quit my career and this ride has been better than I could have ever thought!
I have done things I never thought I could do physically and mentally. I have learned and learned and learned some more! I'm still learning...isn't that what life is all about...to continue learning and pushing yourself to do different things outside of what's comfortable? I now get to watch my boys learn just as I am and it's all because we live this fading lifestyle of farming. I say it's fading because I never used to understand why my hubby couldn't do the things I wanted him to do because farm life always came first and most of the people I was around didn't understand either. Thankfully my parents were super supportive of hubby and what he was doing...and they would always kindly remind me of that when I seemed to be complaining of how much my hubby was working! I can't thank them enough for all their love and encouragement...I have/had the best parents around! Back to my point...this lifestyle may be fading but I love it and I'm thankful for it! It has pushed me in ways I never thought possible and it continues to do so almost daily! I'll need to reread this when I'm out in the snow feeding cattle!!!
I'm still in awe of what it takes to run a farm...more than most would ever even realize! Seriously! It's knowing how to do the work, when to buy, when to sell, watching the markets, knowing how to stretch money, knowing how to fix equipment or learning usually when it's time sensitive, it's balancing time and resources, it's keeping great records/books, it's staying up late, getting up early or not ever going to bed to get the crop planted or harvested or taking care of livestock...these are just a few of the high points...seriously there's so much to make a farm run! I'm constantly learning and I will never fully understand how it all works but I'm gonna enjoy the learning process and keep moving forward. With that said, I love watching the boys learn farm life and live this fading life...they are learning things some will never learn in a whole lifetime!
Farm life is unbelievably hard but so amazing all at the same time! I look back and think how grateful I am that my parents not only supported but encouraged me to step outside the box and quit my job to be on the farm with my boys. I would've missed so much and since life is only one go around I don't want to waste any part of it! So I'll keep learning and pushing myself and watch my boys do the same all the while having great leadership from hubby...he's pretty amazing! I watch him manage life, farm, job and think it's only because he grew up on a farm learning, pushing through and never giving in that he has the ability to handle our life and handle it well! And for that I'm thankful his parents taught him all of these things...they definitely raised the man of my dreams! Now we have the job to raise these boys God has blessed us with and I might add, it's a full time job! They may not always like what farm life teaches but they will thank us someday or if we really fail them they can tell their therapist all about it when they're 30! Ha ha ha!
