For several years of our life we were able to give a lot of time, energy and finances to serving others.  I became a stay at home mom reconnecting to what that meant for our family and Nathan had a regular 9-5 job.  As we began to transition to small-scale farming in 2010 we took some time to write down some holistic life goals for our family:

Time spent working, playing and learning as a family
A slower, more peaceful life
Enough margin in our life to be there for others when they need us
Investment in faith, health, personal growth

We took it a step further and listed all the ways we could make that happen.  Reducing our workload, prioritizing our commitments and a daily commitment to balance.  But to be honest the last two years of our lives haven’t looked that way.  A month after we wrote those words we were in a car accident, our daughter was diagnosed with severe sensitivities and Nathan’s mother was diagnosed with a life threatening disease.  Staying true to our commitment to farm full time was difficult.  We had come out of a time in our lives where we had been able to serve others and we found ourselves needing to be served.  Thankfully we were blessed with compassionate people who surrounded us with love and a lot of hard work!

Today was a monumental day in our journey to finding more peace.  For the first time in two years we were able to see a glimpse of what those words on paper were supposed to mean.  A neighbor needed help and Nathan was able to stop what he was doing and jump in on a project for as long as was needed, when there were errands to run in town we all jumped in the car and went together.  I had enough space in my day to respond to emails with the time and emotional investment my friends deserve.  While we’ve learned that farming full time means we will always need a strong network of community around us it sure feels good to have more time to serve them back!

Michelle