Beginning Homesteading – Part 2 – Balancing Act

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.

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!