→ Everyday Blessings

 Hey Friends, 

 I know it's been far too long since I posted so get ready for a long one :) 

Spring has sprung on our tiny farm. The fruit trees in the orchard have blossomed, the flowers all around are blooming, the frogs in the creek are loudly making their presence known, and the weeds in the garden have already made their unwelcome appearance. 

 As I was thinking on this I realized how very similar an experience I've found my own life to be. Lovely and beautiful things appear all around when choosing to live my life with Jesus, whether it be a kind word, the blessing of helping someone, or simply soaking up the springtime sunshine, waking up each morning with Jesus is filled with innumerable "little" blessings. If only we would notice them more.  No sooner have I found happiness in him and all the loveliness that comes with it that the weeds rally and come in full force trying to take over my heart and ruin my happiness. The weeds are many and some have already taken deep root. They seem so numerous that I will never be able to get them under control. They try to distract me and taint the beauty that lies all around. However, it is my choice as to what will happen next.. Will I let the weeds overtake me and focus so much on them and how many there are, all the while forgetting the wonderful things there are all around? Or will I happily and decidedly remove each and every one, causing the beautiful things to shine in all their glory more than ever before? This choice is mine. This choice is yours. The weeds will continue to try and choke out the beauty that life holds, but it is up to us as to whether they are allowed to take over or whether we diligently seek to remove them whenever they first appear. We must never forget to focus on the good things that life holds for us every day. If this is our goal the weeds will not overtake us, and we will reap a bountiful harvest. I pray each of us will daily choose to see the good and the beautiful and diligently seek to weed out what threatens to overwhelm us. 

There are pleasant things to think about and beauty to be found everywhere,

 and they grow by dwelling on them.

 ~Laura Ingalls Wilder

 So much has happened since I last blogged so I'm going to catch you all up on some key things that have been happening around here. 

One of the things I'm super excited to share is that we are expecting baby goats in just a little over a month!!! Both Harlow and Poplar were bred in early February and are due to kid the end of June and beginning of July. I am so appreciative to the friend who let me use her buck for my girls and has answered so many of  my endless questions. Did I mention I'm beyond excited to meet these little goaties? 😏 I must say, with this very special experience has also come some stress. I have learned so much in this past few months as I attempt to learn all I can about how to best care for my girls both now and during kidding. There is soo much to know, but I feel much more confident now than I felt 3 months ago :) Anyway, I won't dwell on this topic too long because y'all will be hearing much more on it in the impending months 😊

 Early this year Ryan and I decided to put our money together and buy a little greenhouse to start our own garden from seeds. We have not regretted it. He and I have both gotten so much enjoyment and fulfillment out of planning our garden, starting the seeds, and now seeing them as little plants in the garden. It has been a fun journey and another step closer to being more self-sustaining, which is a personal passion of mine. Ryan and I sat down and planned our garden out well. One of our goals this year was to grow enough of our own tomatoes and pickling cucumbers to be able to can our desired quantity of tomatoes and pickles just from our own patch and not have to u-pick or rely on someone elses produce. Once we did the figuring for how much we wanted to can and how much each plant should produce we were able to know pretty closely how many plants we needed. We also followed a similar pattern with all the other seedlings we've started this year. The greenhouse has been such a good investment, we were able to start our seeds very early on and have gotten our garden started far earlier this year than any other year we've gardened. Of course there have been set backs; restarting the tomatoes because of a poor soil choice, restarting some of the pickling cukes because of root disturbance when transplanting, and many other little such learning curves. Overall we have been very happy with the progress we've made and how well the plants have done so far. Here is a few pictures of our little greenhouse as we put it up in two VERY cold January days!!

First we made the frame, leveling it out with sand and bricks.

The goats were being EXTREMELEY helpful as you can see. 😂😂😂

We added a brick floor and slid an old wood table in there to set our trays on. Then we moved our bags of potting soil and fertilizer in and got started on our new adventure of seed starting! 

During the past few months I have definitely kept on my toes, but through it all I've just tried to enjoy all the wonderful aspects of my life. My weeks look very much the same but yet each one brings something different and special. On Mondays I have been babysitting my adorable little cousin who is sure to bring a smile to my face with her adorable baby laughs and snuggles. Every other Thursday I have a job cleaning house which adds another interesting facet to my life while also being very rewarding. And all the days in between you can find me talking to goats, cleaning chicken waterers, homeschooling my little brothers, gathering eggs, weeding the garden, reading goat blogs, or making dinner for my family. Many people may think it ordinary. Maybe that's why I love it, for it's simplicity. For I firmly believe these words of one of my favorite authors. 

"The true way to live is to enjoy every moment as it passes, and surely it is in the everyday things around us that the beauty of life lies."

~Laura Ingalls Wilder 

I pray you may find these words to be true in your own journey, and that you will find the blessing that I have in loving my life for the simple, and yes perhaps ordinary life that it is.

Blessings, 

Sarah 💛