Pardon Our Reality: A Tribute to Our Customers

“Pigs out again!” “Excuse me for a moment while I get the chickens out of the flowers.” “Yes, you may have some ice-cream.” “Please overlook the mess.” “Son, please go in and change out of your pajamas.” “Goodness, son, you’re covered in mud!” “Sorry it took me a minute to get out here. I was helping our son with a math lesson.” “Oh, good gracious!” 

These are just a few of many statements you may hear while visiting our little farm stand. Life here is hectic and ever-changing and many of you get a front-row seat to our real-life reality show. Trust me, somedays I wish we could give you all a farm visit that looks like something out a magazine, and maybe one day, we will. But for now, it’s just us- just me, the farmer, our farmer boy, and our perfectly imperfect life being lived out before your very eyes.

There’s a deep sense of vulnerability that comes with letting others into your life and onto your land, that honestly, is really difficult somedays. Let’s face it, working and making a living in your front driveway is wildly unconventional. Yet, each and every one of you have been nothing but good to us- choosing to overlook the messes of our everyday life, to see into the heart of who we truly are and what our little farm business is all about; working together as a family unit to make an honest days wage, serving our community, loving others, and having faith in the One who holds it all together.

Your love and kindness towards our family is what keeps me going on the days when I’m breathlessly balancing motherhood, marriage, homeschooling, running a business, and desperately trying to maintain housekeeping duties and put dinner on the table. Honestly, you all, last week we had Chick-Fil-A for dinner two nights in a row. The same girl waited on me both nights and asked, “Weren’t you just here last night?” With a reddened face I tried to laugh it off and explain to her that we’re just in a hectic season and that it certainly wouldn’t be the last time she saw me that week. However, the real kicker was that when we sat down to eat, our kitchen table was covered with everything from legos, to coffee cups, to randomly placed flowers, books and journals- there was not a single open spot. The farmer and I just looked at each other, chuckled, and made our way into the living room for a little hardwood  picnicking. 

If there’s one thing we’ve learned over the last year of living this constant whirlwind of farm life, it’s this: to live an utterly unorthodox life requires holding to unwavering love and laughter at all costs. And, in a nutshell, that is the inspiration that keeps us moving forward. Yes, our days are constantly full and overflowing. Yes, things literally change minute by minute on some days. And, yes, by the end of the day we are completely spent. Yet it’s the deep love of our good and gracious Heavenly Father, the laughter we share (sometimes even through tears), and the fact that, eventually, we all make it to the couch to end our day in each other’s presence over a hot cup of coffee (yes, the farmer and I truly do begin and end our day with this tradition), and old episodes of Dennis the Menace or Little Rascals. 

One of my favorite authors, Sally Clarkson, often recites a verse from Proverbs: Where no oxen are, the crib is clean. (Proverbs 14:4)  Well, here on the farm, we have many “oxen,”– not literally, of course. Instead, our oxen exist in the form of multiple swine, countless chickens, a greenhouse bursting at the seams, an old flour mill that is patiently waiting for our “busy” season to end so that we may resume restoration, a garden that is constantly calling for cultivation, and a farmer boy who steps out the door and almost immediately gets into dirt. And, so it is that our “crib” is never clean. 

But I wouldn’t have it any other way.

For the swine running around is a representation of generation after generation of farming on this land. The chickens bring forth good in the eggs they provide to our family and to others. The overflowing greenhouse simply means that we are beyond blessed to be able to share with others the pure joy and feeling of comfort that comes with adding beauty to our world. The old mill is a monument and testimony to all that our land has seen, and will see, in the years to come. The garden is a bounty of nourishment provided by the One true Master Gardener. And our farmer boy- oh, our farmer boy. He is the greatest gift the farmer and I could have ever asked for and to live and raise him upon this sacred piece of land is the privilege of a lifetime. 

And, so, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts, that instead of being quick to judge all of our many imperfections, you laugh along with us, and…

Pardon our reality.