From the desk of Grace Lange,
I am sure you have read articles or seen social media posts time and time again that tell you how amazing farming is or how hard it is…
But I am here to tell you the truth about what it has taught me about life.
The good and the bad.
My Farming Story
I grew up in a small town in the country, and both of my parents grew up on farms. One was a hobby farm and the other was a large-scale dairy farm.
Several times a month we would go out to the farm and ride the horses or moo at the cows.
But that was the extent of my farming experience.
That was until I started dating my boyfriend, Sam, who is the recent owner of his third generation family dairy farm.
When we first started dating I would do things like ride along with him in the tractor, talk with him while he milked cows, and feed the baby calves when needed.
Our alone time soon became our time in the barn, making me crave my time on the farm.
Now a few years later, you can find me milking cows 4-5 days a week, driving tractor to pick up hay bales in the summer, and driving skid loader for special jobs around the farm…
Wild.. I know!
That being said, I have learned a lot from being on the farm, working with animals, and spending time with Sam.
So I want to share with you the top 6 things I have learned and how they have helped me in my day to day work outside of the farm.
- Mountain Dew is a necessity. I never used to drink pop, because I know of the very negative health benefits. When I started dating Sam and working longer hours than ever before, soda became part of my weekly diet. Now I am not promoting drinking pop… but boy oh boy does a Diet Coke taste good after a long afternoon of work!
- Cows come first. These cows get treated like queens around this place! No matter what, we milk and care for them each morning at 6am and each evening at 5:30pm. Cows always come before having fun, housework, vacations, and any plans we make… and that’s just how it is!
3. If there’s food, you eat it. There is no time or place for being picky when you live on a farm. We work hard and eat good. And when I say eat good, I mean we eat hardy meals that fill you to the brim… and if you don’t like it, suck it up!
4. “Pulling Tits” is a normal phrase to say. There are quite a few phrases we say around here that are normal to us, but may be offensive to the general public… You just get used to it!
5. Things WILL go wrong at the worst times. Just suck it up and fix it. I cannot even tell you the amount of times I have made plans and had to cancel them because milking cows took longer than normal, the TMR (used to mix feed) breaks down, a cow has a baby or gets mastitis, a tire goes flat on our feeder, or you name it. It is what it is, and life goes on!
6. God is always number one, and never lose your faith even when everything seems to go wrong. Farming is unpredictable. One week things can be looking up and going great, and the next everything could be going wrong. The only constant in life is God.
“But ask the animals what they think – let them teach you; let the birds tell you what’s going on. Put your ear to the earth – learn the basics. Listen – the fish in the ocean will tell you their stories. Isn’t it clear that they all know and agree that God is sovereign, that he holds all things in his hand?” – Job 12:7-12
God has given us everything in the life for a reason.
It is up to us to seek to understand why he has given us what he has placed in our lives.
I NEVER pictured myself living on a farm or living this lifestyle…
But now that I am here, I am never leaving.
God has placed me here for a reason, and it is up to me to live out my purpose here and for His glory.
How will you live out your purpose for God’s glory in your life?
