My journey isn't just about losing weight, although I'm extremely proud of how far I have come with that aspect. My journey has been about fully living and making wonderful memories, about participating in life, not just watching it, about making these moments count because this time in my life will be over far too quickly. I will be the first to admit that for most of my life I have largely been a couch potato, hence the need for my weight loss. However, over the last year I have become much more active and I have accomplished things I never thought I would even try! I began to turn on this path in the fall of 2011. I attended the Georgia Association of Christian Schools conference as a teacher for Appling Christian Academy. The keynote speaker and leader of several of the classes was Dr. Glen Schultz, associate pastor of Sherwood Baptist Church and headmaster of Sherwood Christian Academy in Albany, GA. He spoke a lot about Kingdom Education. He was stressing how important our job as Christian educators is. However, it spoke to me on a much deeper level. All I could think about, focus on, hear was how important my role as a Christian mother is. I talked to God all the way home from Macon and when I arrived back in Alma I told Phil that I wanted to quit my job, homeschool our boys, buy Grandma & Pa's house and renovate it. God must have been working on Phil's heart too because he simply said ok and on Mother's Day 2012 he surprised me with the news that we were getting our new home! In August of that year we began the long road of renovations and also began homeschooling our boys. We moved in on January 30, 2013 and it wasn't long before we got our first farm animals. We now have chickens, goats, and a donkey. My aunts were in disbelief when they heard I was milking a goat. Then on September 12, 2013 I took a major step and learned how to drive a tractor so that I could help Phil in the fields. To my utter shock I have found that I actually enjoy my quiet time on the tractor and I LOVE working side by side with my hubby to bring in the harvest! When I was 17 and dating Phil in high school I never would have dreamed that this is what our life would look like, but now that we're here, I couldn't imagine it any other way!
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| September 12, 1013 ~ Feeling Accomplished! This morning I had never driven a tractor before. Tonight, not only have I driven a tractor but I have learned how to rake hay! Love working side by side with my hubby baling up our harvest! One field down... (Posted to facebook) |
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| September 14, 2013 ~ Feeling happy! Jesse was looking at my photos from my first day on a tractor and wanted to know why I didn't take any of Daddy. So yesterday, I made sure I took a few of Daddy just for him. And I think he'll especially like this one...he loves to watch the baler "poop" out the hay bales Day two finished with 3 fields plus a little bit of a 4th one done! Bring on day three! (Posted to facebook) |
My first harvest season was a success, and this past May I began my second season, this time on a bigger tractor. Phil has started trusting me more, and even lets me move the tractors from field to field. You see a lot more when driving down the road on a tractor and it's a view that I'm coming to love more with every trip!
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| Love this view! |
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| Love this view too! It's the view of accomplishment! |
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| Bringing lunch/supper to the field for my hard working hubby! |
I am truly blessed with my life as a stay at home, homeschoolin', tractor driving, farmer's wife! Thank you, Lord, for Your blessings!
