by A Farm Girl | Mar 27, 2019 | Farm Life
For anyone who isn’t aware, farming (even on a small scale) is hard work and there is a lot of it! Having large animals to care for is like having kids – there is ALWAYS work to do and you rarely get a break. I am currently struggling with the balancing act of farm work, housework, family time, homeschooling (yeah, we added that too), personal time (for my own sanity), blogging (which is why I haven’t posted in a while), and time with other adults (so I don’t turn into a scary hermit lady).
Farm work takes me anywhere from 15 to 30 or more hours per week, depending on the weather, what needs to be done, etc. Housework is the never ending cycling of washing and putting away things that have been made dirty and disordered by the people that I love. It takes about 12 to 15 hours each week (not including cooking or grocery shopping). Cooking is about 2 hours each day. Homeschooling takes about 15 to 18 hours each week (since the kids are still in preschool). Next year, it will eat up more time. I try to take about 30 min of personal time first thing in the morning for my Bible study and prayer time. On slow days, I might get an hour to veg with some TV or a book in the afternoons. As far as blogging, I am trying to steal away for 30 min right after the kids go to bed each night.
Finally, comes time with other grown-ups. This (along with personal time) is probably the hardest thing to fit it. Believe me, part of me would love to hide out in the barn and do farm work most of the time and become a scary hermit lady, but I know that is not how God designed us. He has called us to be salt and light to the earth and, to do so, we have to be around other people. Right now, my family is my main mission field, but He still calls me out of my bubble and around other people. I also know that, with our choice to start homeschooling the kids, I need to be an example to them on getting out and being around other humans. I have started going to a Mom’s Connect Group a couple times a month. It gives the kids a chance to play with other kiddos and me some much needed time with other moms of young kids. I still try to get to BSF but it has been hard lately to get out on time (and not smell like a horse – or worse) after doing the farm work. My family and I also go to a neighborhood Bible study 2-3 nights a month. There is also church and Sunday school on Sunday mornings but the latter has also been hard to get to lately with the morning farm chores.
Part of me would love to hide out in the barn and do farm work most of the time and become a scary hermit lady, but I know that is not how God designed us.
He has called us to be salt and light to the earth and, to do so, we have to be around other people.
So how do I do it all? I don’t. I have started trying very hard to focus on whatever I am working on at that moment and give that my energy and attention. I realized a little while ago that life was racing by, and I was missing everything. I had been so busy trying to do everything all at once while planning to do another list of things tomorrow and the next day and the next and … (you get the picture) that I was missing out on the joy of living right now. In the past, I described my balancing act as trying to juggle a bunch of raw eggs. I have discovered the problem with doing that occurs when you suddenly have too many. You might struggle to keep them all in the air for a bit, but, sooner or later, they will all come crashing down and leave you sitting in a sticky puddle of egg goo. I am learning to stop juggling and start cherishing the job at hand (yes, even dishes, laundry, and mucking stalls).
There are still times when I have to try to juggle multiple responsibilities at a single time but, when I can, I try to put down all but one and focus on that. If I am working with the kids, I try to give them all of my attention. If I am resting, I try to rest well. If DH and I are playing a board or card game, he has my focus. When I am working around the farm, I try to be in the moment and enjoy just being a farmer. Do you know what happens when I do this? I am finding more time, more energy, greater productivity, and, best of all, greater joy in what I am doing!
by A Farm Girl | Feb 12, 2019 | Family
Today is my 26th cancer-free anniversary! I am a survivor!!!
Yep! 26 years ago, God took my leukemia filled body from being 95% cancerous to remission within just 8 days of diagnosis! He is so good!!!
Yesterday, I started thinking about how I have spent so much time being worried and stressed. I don’t believe God saved me 26 years ago to spend my days being weighed down by stress. I have been having a “next 30 years” (like the song by Tim McGraw) couple of days thinking about how I don’t want to spend my next 26 years under the load of worry and stress that I have had for most of the past 26 years.
I don’t want to feel hurried anymore. I want to slow down and simplify my life so that I can enjoy all of the ways God has blessed me without feeling like I am already running late for the next thing on my never ending list of things to do. I don’t mind being busy, but I am tired of feeling rushed and not getting to be mindful and enjoy whatever activity that I currently doing. I want to show my kids that life is a blessing not a never ending, stress filled, worry inducing to-do list.
Okay, so easier said than done – I get that. I am still going to try to find greater joy in this life that God has given me. I am going to try to show more grace to those around me and especially to myself. I am going to try to listen and look for the positive and let the negative run off my back. I am going to choose to embrace the crazy and the chaos when the choice is laughter or stress. I am going to try to reduce and simplify my schedule so that I have time to play and rest – so I am not always scurrying from one thing to the next without even being able to enjoy them.
I am a survivor! I want to start living like it!!
by A Farm Girl | Feb 8, 2019 | Family, Homeschool, Musings
Have you ever noticed how, when kids get tired, they go in a downward spiral from bad to worse. This can be especially true if they refuse to nap or have had a very long busy day (like lots of errands, appointments, activities). It’s not just true of preschoolers, either. School age kids and teenagers suffer from this problem too. Even grownups suffer when we don’t get to rest.
Have you ever noticed that, when you don’t take a break, EVERYTHING seems harder? Our work load seems bigger and more overwhelming when we are tired. We get less done because we are stressed. The less we get done, the more stressed we get. It keeps snowballing until we have this avalanche of being completely overwhelmed and overloaded. Chores pile up. We yell at our family, are melancholy with our friends, and get so worn out that all we want to do is cry.
Why do we do this to ourselves?
Why? Because we are trying to be superwomen. We try to do everything and be everything for everyone all the time. We don’t stop. We don’t rest
But rest isn’t just important because we need a physical recharge. God actually commands that we rest. The 3rd commandment says, “Remember the Sabbath Day and keep it holy.” Now God thinks that this is so important that He put it right after the 2 commandments stating that He is to be our only God and nothing should come before Him.
Hebrews 4 talks about how the Israelites were disobedient in the wilderness and God said that they would never enter His rest. The Israelites could have had 40 more years of enjoying the Promised Land but instead they wandered around in the desert for 40 years. 40 years! All those who had been disobedient died. Their children received the promised inheritance.
We have got to stop resisting and give in to the need for rest. We all need to give ourselves a Sabbath. For our sakes. For our kids. For our spouses. We don’t want to fall under a curse like the Israelites and wander around in a wilderness of stress, grumpiness, and being completely overwhelmed and stress paralyzed for 40 years. We need to teach our kids the importance of rest. With today’s world of go, go, go and packed schedules, it’s so easy to get caught in the flow of doing all the time.
I challenge us all to stop and take a day, or a couple hours, every week to focus on our Creator and cherish our families. I also challenge us all to take at least 30 minutes every day to stop and rest and recharge. Drink a cup of tea or coffee (while it’s still hot!) and eat a snack (I don’t know about you, but I forget to eat most days then get really hangry around 4 PM.) Listen to a praise CD and worship the Creator and thank Him for knowing that we need rest. I know it can be hard, with kids, schedules, work, life, etc. You may have to be creative and find a way to work it in. If you are stuck, pray. Ask God to show you how to find a time of rest in your day and in your week. He will show you where. He blesses those who walk in His ways. He may ask you give up something, but it will be worth it. Things always are when we are walking in obedience.
by A Farm Girl | Nov 15, 2018 | Farm Life
We have had something living under the chicken house and getting in and stealing eggs. 🙁 We set up a live trap with a can of cat food in it. Two days later, we caught a skunk. DH dealt with the skunk humanely with dry ice. (Do your research on it before you buy any. It is VERY dangerous stuff, and there are some horrible stories about people mishandling it.)
I put a big rock over the hole and the next day something had dug around it. Live trap went back with more cat food. Two days later, we let the dog out in the morning. The dog came in smelling AWFUL!!! DH bent down to smell him and immediately started dry heaving. Poor Socrates was sent outside until we had time to bathe him. We looked out the window and there was another skunk in the trap. (Now we always check the trap before letting Socs out.)
Well, after breakfast was over, I figured that I needed to deal with the stinky dog. I remembered that a friend of ours had mentioned that skunk spray is an oil. That got me thinking about the dawn soap commercials that show the poor little duck that had been caught in an oil spill.
I pulled on some old clothes; gabbed the bottle of blue dawn, some rags, and a bowl of warm water; and headed out to see if I could deskunk the dog. Fortunately, it was warmish outside so my teeth weren’t chattering while I scrubbed him. Socs was not particularly happy with me. I ran out of water and was forced to lead a very wet, very miserable, very soapy dog to the shower to clean him off. Thankfully, we have a walk-in shower. I rinsed him off and taadah blue dawn did the trick! No more stinky dog!!!!
So, if you ever have a critter (or person) who needs to be deskunked, try the liquid blue dawn soap. It works!
Also, we seem to have caught all the skunks!
by A Farm Girl | Sep 25, 2018 | Musings
So I have come to the conclusion that consistent sleep is my biggest hindrance in getting a routine established and being a sane individual. I know. I know. This is a HUGE surprise to everyone everywhere. 🙂
Last night, I actually got enough sleep, and it was fairly decent sleep too! I have been a happy, pleasant, effective, efficient, productive human being today! I got so much done. I got my entire pantry set up and organized. More on that is coming soon.
I had dinner ready by 5:45! I was able to take a breath and deal with crazy, random kid input and temper tantrums and not explode! I was able to filter playful snarky comments from DH and laugh instead of taking it personally.
The dishes are all clean – well almost. 😉
I have been able to laugh at myself.
Sleep is good. We should all get enough sleep.
To all you busy, exhausted mamas out there. Take care of yourselves. Eat regularly. Laugh. Sleep more. Exercise a least a little everyday (even if it is just having a 3-5 min dance party with you kids). Laugh again.
That’s it for today. 97 days to go, and I feel like I’m making progress.
Recent Comments