It’s Been a Year… 2022 Recap
2022 has been one of the biggest growth years yet for our family. Growth doesn’t come without its share of heartaches & challenges.
It’s so hard to encompass the roller coaster of emotions life has been for our family via the internet. I try my hardest to not make it appear as if we have it all together, but to still capture how dang GOOD God is through it all.
God working all things together for the good of those who love Him does not mean that those who love Him have it easy… I can confirm, we in fact do not. We just have Him and when you know - you know… that’s all you need.
Our spring on the farm was emotionally one of the most difficult seasons for us. We lost a lot of animals from kittens to chicks and our Livestock Guardian Dog, Ella. We lost her so quickly out of the blue. We weren’t prepared for that heartache - not like it would have made it easier if we were. She was a year and a half old and just coming into her prime in her work on our farm. I have a highlight on Instagram all about her and how she passed. It’s heartbreaking. Her loss still breaks me to the core.
Samson, the puppy I felt a random nudge to get weeks before Ella died unexpectedly, was run over by a Polaris while we were attempting to save a baby deer that got hit by a car. (Yes, our life was as bizarre as that line reads…)
Lolly, one of our milk cows, had the hardest birth I’ve ever experienced - her calf was stuck. I was recording live on Instagram with hundreds of friends watching as I had to figure out how the heck to reposition a limb in her birth canal and help her safely deliver with time not being on my side. Friends and internet strangers from all over covered us in prayer as we worked together to get that baby out 😅 she had a baby boy that we later named Jack. He had his own set of challenges to overcome. He has an entire guide on my Instagram if you want to learn more!
It’s been a YEAR.
For the first time in a long time, our family struggled financially. We worked our butts off to catch up with bills as more and more unfortunate events piled up. We got creative and came up with new ideas. Funny how being low pushes you to be more.
Jason and I struggled in our marriage. The devil is hard at work trying to find a crack in a good thing to break it even further. Little does he know those cracks are held together and healed by God when we put him first - so we are growing together even stronger.
Life isn’t the perfectly organized IG grid you see - it’s everything in between that you don’t take a second to snap a photo of.
We assume so much, but know so little when it comes to social media.
Our year was filled with some high highs too! After our really difficult spring on the farm we went HARD with the summer fun. We had our annual family vacation at one of our favorite spots, adventures to places where we could swim with dolphins and gorgeous fish underwater and spent some well deserved quality time together.
And then we built a freaking house with our bare hands 😱😱 something I never thought I’d check off of a bucket list - but Jason knew we would 😉
Lots of new life was welcomed to the farm 🐶🐥& we watched our babies grow.
2022 was the year for building a longer table instead of taller fences in our home, and we were able to serve more friends and family members than in years past. It was one of my most cherished gifts.
And then there’s social media - I had a goal of ending 2022 with 10k friends hanging out with us and it seemed so far off when we started the year with 1k - but God. If you’re trying to grow an account, pray hard over it. When you’re ready for what comes with the growth, you’ll skyrocket. We wrapped up 2022 with just shy of 20k friends who choose to do life with us - and we can’t wait to see where 2023 takes us in life and with our new friendships.
The best is yet to come.