Edit: Due to a website change this post is being reposted; it was originally posted on February 20, 2022
When we moved to our current home in 2019, a backyard big enough for our children to play in, space for a garden, and a place for chickens was at the top of my list. We were blessed with that and I have been dreaming of my little urban homestead ever since. Growing up in Minnesota, my family moved a few times and almost every time was onto some acreage where there was room to run and always some animals. I want to bring a little bit of that here to my home in Colorado.
I haven’t made as much progress as I hoped with my (probably overly ambitious) plans these past couple of years due to health concerns in the family and supply issues but I realized something recently that I am hoping will help me as I wait and work for my dream.
Since the start of the craziness of 2020, I have stopped following quite a few of the homesteading youtube channels I used to enjoy. Instead of encouragement and inspiration, their calls to grow more food in the garden and raise livestock have become less motivating and adds to my fears about the future. I agree with what they are saying but I rarely felt like they gave achievable steps to get there and just repeating “do more now!”
As I have been looking through seed catalogs, planning for this years garden and writing a checklist for what needs to be done to prepare for ducklings this spring, the thought “Where am I placing my trust?” came to mind. As a believer, is my faith in my garden and what I am able to do to provide for my family? Or am I being wise with my time, talents, and resources where I am at right now and trusting God for my future? What a huge relief it was to surrender the burden of the future and know that I can trust in Jehovah-Jireh.
I still struggle with letting go but I now have an achievable plan for my garden this year, less stress of what I feel “needs” to be done, and able to try and focus more on my family. No matter your reasons, if you have a dream of homesteading, I hope you will not allow yourself to be driven by fear and anxiety but by the joy that comes from working towards your dreams and the sense of accomplishment from your hard work. It is my prayer that you may find the peace and hope for the future that can come by trusting in a faithful Savior