Blog

Three years of financial losses. Storm damage. Unpaid bills. Equipment sales. Chapter 12 bankruptcy. We willingly inherited this farm, which made walking away feel like admitting we were wrong. Here’s what happened when we finally surrendered instead of fighting.

I used to think I was patient—until I started comparing my Day 1 to everyone else’s Day 1,000. Here’s what feeding cattle taught me about giving yourself grace in the journey.

The text came while I was feeding chickens. “Meeting with the banker tonight. Pray.” We had cows to feed, no room on the line of credit, and no income on the horizon. Living in limbo—needing to invest but having no funds, needing to decide but having no good options. If your stomach just dropped because this sounds familiar, you’re exactly why I wrote this. Equipment went to auction. Cows went to auction. Neighbors started farming our ground. And somehow, we’re still standing. Here’s what I wish someone had told me when the foundation was crumbling.

There’s a specific kind of panic that hits when you’re out of gluten-free flour and the nearest store that carries it is 40 minutes away. I used to make that drive every other week, spending $300-500 each trip. Then I found a bulk buying solution that cut my specialty shopping trips from 12-24 times a year down to just 4—and saved money in the process.

Running numbers in your head at 11 PM while you try to fall asleep? You’re not alone. Here’s how simplifying our farm—and finally getting honest about our broken foundation—saved our sanity. And how it can save yours too.

You know that feeling when you’re lying in bed at 2 AM, running numbers in your head for the third time this week? When you’re wondering if you should’ve walked away years ago? I recorded a voice memo about this in July 2022. I tried to publish it in March 2024, right before we filed bankruptcy. I couldn’t—it was too raw. But if you’re in the middle of your own financial storm right now, you need to hear this. Because the storm eventually ends, even when you can’t see how.