What farm life means to me.

It means waking up in the morning with a list of to do's a mile long.  To go into the kitchen to get breakfast ready and looking out my kitchen window to see acres of space and horses in my back yard.  It means chores are plentiful.  It means gathering my kids to head outside to do those chores.  Sometimes it means being dressed in my nice cloths ready to leave and having to  milk an obstinent goat and getting milk on my pants.  It is letting go of the"image" that I should uphold and not being afraid to walk in somewhere with milk on my clothes.

Sometimes it is picking up a chainsaw and getting down to it because it just needs to get done.  It is carrying wood to the wood pile until my arms hurt.  It is knowing how to make due with what you have.  It is understanding that this life isn't all about having everything you want but about appreciating what you have and who you get to share it with.

It means that summertime brings fingernails stained brown because you spend so much time with your hands in the dirt.  It means that your kids at the age of 5 know more about planting a garden than most adults.  It means going to bed with a to do list that seemed to grow instead of shrink.  It means bruises, aches and pain.  It means iced tea in the hammock with my husband.  And kids digging for worms.  It means farmers tans that are evidence of  alot of hard work.

It means long chats with friends sitting in the barn solving all the problems of the world.  It means horseback riding through the woods and the kids laughter echoing in the trees.  It means not complaining when the rain comes because you know first hand what happens if it doesn't.   It means animal poo and lots of it.  It means satisfaction that cannot be measured knowing you provided your family with the best, healthiest and most inexpensive food this world has to offer.

It means fixing fences until 10 pm and chasing turkeys at 8am.  It means worrying about your animals and sometimes watching them die.  It means experiencing first hand the miracle of new life entering into the world to replace the ones we lost.  It means my kids knowing where their food comes from and it is not just a package we buy at the grocery store.  They understand a life was taken so  they could eat.  It means appreciation for that life.

It means being resourcful and creative.  It means I must always be ready to learn!  It means lifting 40 lb bags of feed and 50 lb bales of hay everyday.  It means family time often means doing work around the farm as a family.  It is working outside and knowing you are exactly where God wants you to be.

This life I live is sometimes hard, well alot of times it's hard.  It is exhausting.  It is frustrating.  It is overwhelming.  It is amazing,  It is rewarding,  It is peaceful.  There just doesn't seem any better way to spend this life.