Sometime after welcoming our fifth kiddo into our family, my soul hit a wall — the busyness of being a wife and parenting 5 kids ages 7 and under together, homeschooling them, managing a home and being active with family and in our neighborhood and community, while not being the best at taking care of myself — it was a ticking time bomb for a meltdown – physically, emotionally and spiritually. This launched me into a long season (years- and still in it!) of seeking to re-integrate my life and pursue Jesus and His way of life. The way I was “carrying” my life wasn’t working – the busyness and stress (from issues I needed to resolve) of the things in my life needed to change. A lot.
Enter resources that were brought into my life – Bridgetown Church sermons, books such as To Hell with the Hustle by Jefferson Bethke, Present Over Perfect by Shauna Niequist, Life Without Lack by Dallas Willard, and The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer.
These, by God’s faithfulness and provision, helped give me framework for reordering my life. Our life as a family of 7 in busy SoCal. I soaked in these books. Journaled a lot. Prayed a lot. Read and meditated on Bible passages that were aimed at abiding in Jesus, slowing down, etc.
Why is the word farm included in the blog title, you may ask? We live in Southern California, and feel very, very blessed to have some land, 1/2 acre to be exact. Both my husband and I have developed an interest and passion for backyard gardening, growing vegetables and an orchard, berries, raising chickens, and cooking slow food. The smell of homemade bread is a common happening in our home. We do not live on an official farm, but we’re embracing a farm-style life in many ways. And we find it so exhilarating and slowing, and our kids enjoy learning alongside us.
So, that’s what this space is for, learning with each other in how to slow our lives down to be present with God, with those we love, present in our neighborhood. We do not have it all figured out by any means, but we’re starting to catch on to something special, and would love for y’all to come alongside for the journey. To God be the glory.