I came across a poem recently and it made me realize what we as a society call "wasting time" is so messed up. Here is the poem:
WASTING TIME
You can't waste time by resting, by chatting
to a friend, by walking in nature or reading a
book. You can't waste time by connecting
with family or making stories to pass down.
You can't waste time by doing anything at all
that feeds your soul or energizes your weary
bones. That's what time is for in fact,
everything else is just a tick on a list my
friend, a tick on a never-ending list.
Here at the farm we are redefining what it means to "waste time" and we are learning to rest, relax and enjoy....three words that are hard to live into these days. The culture here in the good ole US of A is work yourself to death to make sure you can buy all the things that you don't have time to use because you are working yourself to death. Just turn on any type of media and it will send the message that anything you do is just not enough. It is no wonder that people have a hard time relaxing and enjoying the people and things around them. Even God took time to look at all that he had made, called it good and rested.
Here at the farm, we have made a conscience choice to live into these three words. I (Amy) was very thankful that everyone wanted a low key holiday season, filled with family time and not a lot else and we had an amazing time! We are learning to live by the seasons and we are in the season of winter. A time to rest, relax and enjoy all that we accomplished these last two years. It is a time to rest, rejuvenate and get ready for spring season, with all its gardening, new animals and farm chores that are sure to need done. We, each in our own way, are learning what it means to rest, relax and enjoy what we are building together as a family. I can see how it seems our priorities are changing. We are no longer looking for a lot of "things to do" outside the farm. We all enjoy being here and doing things together rather than going out and spending money and time off the farm. Don't get me wrong, we all love a meal out, shopping, the occasional movie or activity but those are slowly becoming the exception and not the norm.
I think I can speak for everyone when I say we truly enjoy being around each other. I am seeing all my family raising our grands and am enjoying seeing all the different personalities and how they interact with one another. I love it when we are all together and there is kid chaos. I love it when we have a meal together and I get to cook with Will. We make a great team cooking meals together. I love it when Emily calls and says let's go for a four wheeler ride. I love it when Erik calls and says let's go shooting in the woods. I love getting a call from Natalie that she needs a little help and I get to spend time with her and Garrett. I love when I get a call that one of the grands wants to come spend time at Nana's house. When Nick is out of town, I love the texts from the kids with invitations to dinners so I don't have to eat alone. I love all the little helpers in the garden. I love it when there is a project to be done and everyone pitches in in their own ways. I love it when we end up with a spontaneous time of play in the field on a Sunday afternoon and I love it when we are each just hanging out in our own houses building bonds with each person in our own houses. The list is endless of the things I love about this community living we are participating in. And all of it is pure enjoyment, which leads to relaxation and rest.
We recently shared our farm with a few close friends and family. The night before our big day, Emily wrote a poem and shared it with us at dinner. It was in that moment that I knew we had made the right decision. We had made a decision that will affect our family for generations to come. Here is the poem:
The Night Before Farm Day
‘’Twas the night before farm day And in all three houses
There’s cleaning and prepping to welcome the masses.
The fields have been mowed And the chickens have been fed The grownups have put the littles to bed.
As all the things for tomorrow are checked off the list And we’re gathered here, making sure there’s nothing we missed It feels like a good time to look back and forward to see how far we’ve come and what the future has in store
For over two years we all wanted life to move fast But now we just want it to stop - slow down, make it last.
We’re finally here living in the houses we built sharing dinners, sunsets, and bourbon to the hilt. We’re so lucky, so grateful, we just don’t want to miss a single minute of being together, of living this life full of bliss.
When I sit on my front porch and watch the kids play I Picture the memories still to be made
Teaching my son how to drive on the dirt road Laughing around a fire while fun stories are told
Waving bye to my daughter as she leaves on a date While we smile and worry she wont be home too late.
Hosting friends and having parties for all of life’s big events And having you all to surround us when things just don’t make sense.
The list is honestly endless of the reasons we’re thankful But we want you to know that we’re so very grateful
Because of you mom and dad we’re sitting here tonight Preparing to welcome friends to this place with delight
We’re so thankful for you and your love that knows no bounds. For us and our families were growing who will live here safe and sound.
This gift that you gave us isn’t just a piece of land It’s the gift of a life that’s beautiful and grand.
So mom and dad If there’s one thing you learn from this poetry session
It’s that our life on the farm is a true picture of heaven.
There you have it...a true picture of heaven. We are giving them a picture of what it looks like to live in a healthy community, where fear has no place, all are welcome, everyone belongs, where rest, relaxation and enjoyment are the priorities and relationships are important above all else. We are all about "wasting time" here at the farm! And we are always up for a visit from anyone who wants to "waste time" with us.
Just a quick update...we are all settled into our houses and enjoying a very low-key holiday season. We are so very excited to finally get to share that we are expecting a new addition to the family in May, 2024. Erik and Natalie are expecting a baby girl! We are enjoying experimenting with new food preservations methods in anticipation of a stellar garden year in 2024. We will be adding some new animals in the spring so we will be building barns and fences over the winter months in preparation. We have been working on the pond to try and figure out why it's been losing water and hopefully will have some answers by the summer. We did have to drain most of it and lost most of our fish to our resident blue heron but it was a sacrifice we needed to make and he didn't mind it! We have new four wheeler trails on the back 30 acres so we will be exploring that land more in the spring and figuring out how best to use it. Winter is the time for maintenance on all the farm equipment so the boys will be working on that so that we will have machines ready to go in the spring. We will be building a new chicken coop to house about 50 chickens that will be easier to keep clean and much more chicken friendly than the ones we have now. We also hope to have meat chickens in the spring to possibly sell. The winter months will be spent doing a lot of reading on regenerative farming techniques, gardening, and animal caretaking. There is a big learning curve for some of us because we have never done things like we are doing now. It's a lot of fun to learn all the new things together. Please enjoy some of the sights from the farm in the last few months. Have a wonderful holiday season and see you all in the new year!
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