Hey y’all!
Welcome back to the blog! Today I wanted to write about something, not necessarily farm related, but something that is so important to our lives. It’s no secret that farming can be just as stressful as it can be enjoyable. In the past, we have written about managing stress and disappointment on the farm while relying on our faith in God, knowing that he will pull us through. While this is most important, the next essential thing is fellowship.
We are so lucky to have the most incredible friends in the world living just minutes away from our farm. We knew early on in the process of starting our farm that we cannot make our farm our sole priority in life. Our priority has to be in living life well in fellowship with God and our friends. We have a "farm family" here and we make it a priority to gather together every week. I honestly don't know what we would do without our group here. While we are all in different seasons in life, we have learned there are times when we are meant to encourage, and others when we need to be encouraged. Sometimes we pick others up, and sometimes we have to allow ourselves to be picked up.
In farming and in life, we struggle with wanting to portray that we have everything together. And as strange as it sounds, we get self-conscious about such things like posting photos of our farm with weeds showing in the pasture or cow patties in the barn, even though every farmer has weeds and cow patties. The same could be said about life. We all have weeds we need to uproot. We all have cow patties in our lives. We all have areas that we need to improve, but we also all have areas that we need to give ourselves grace. That's where true friends come in; to grow together and provide an opportunity to be open and vulnerable to express your struggles, celebrate the victories in life, and provide and accept sound advice and criticism. It's in those moments that it is key to have those true friends, to not only encourage but also keep you in check. It's the iron sharpening iron relationship that is essential for growth.
As much as we love our farm, we know it is far from perfect. Our lives are far from perfect as well. I think each of us could easily point out our own weeds, and sometimes other people's weeds. But we are so thankful that we have a circle of friends and family that know us, support us, and keep us accountable, friends that aren't afraid to point out our weeds in love so that we can grow good pasture that grows not only for our own benefit, but for the benefit of others.
I would encourage everyone that supports our blog to find and invest in your own "farm family." We have learned the hard way that without that iron sharpening iron relationship, we can become dull, isolated, and useless. But with fellowship and friendship, we can become useful tools in the makers hands.
I hope that we can be an encouragement to y'all. Let us know how we can pray for you!
