This post may contain affiliate links, which means that I may receive a commission if you make a purchase using these links, with NO additional cost to you.
You are on this amazing journey to better health and want to dive deeper into finding a provider that matches you. Now, Doctor, Naturopath, Chiropractor, Homeopath...WHAT?! What is the difference and how do you choose? Keep reading and we will break each of these down.
By definition, a doctor is “a qualified practitioner of medicine; a physician.” So for human traditional medicine would be a Doctor of Medicine (M.D.). Typically you will find these in hospital or clinic settings. A chiropractor, according to Oxford languages, a chiropractor is “a practitioner of the system of integrative medicine based on the diagnosis and manipulative treatment of misalignments of the joints.” Chiropractors specialize in correcting joint alignments in the body.
Naturopathy is “a system of alternative medicine based on the theory that diseases can be successfully treated or prevented without the use of drugs, by techniques such as control of diet, exercise, and massage.” Homeopathy is “the treatment of disease by minute doses of natural substances that in a healthy person would produce symptoms of disease.” Both of these are similar, but have stark differences in application.
So now you’re thinking “great, they are all different. How do I pick what is the best for me?” Let’s unpack that a bit. Reality is at some point in your life any one of them is going to be the best for you. It all depends on what you are needing assistance with at the time. If your back is out of alignment, a good chiropractor is by far the best option to correct the issue. For a chronic nagging issue, and you want to avoid the traditional medication for whatever reason, you might try a naturopath, who will look at the whole body and not just a specific part. If you shatter your leg skiing you should probably seek out a doctor, specifically a surgeon to repair it. If you are faced with an acute illness and want to avoid medication, look into a homeopathic doctor.
The thing is each has its place and purpose. Each is a tool that can be utilized freely to improve your health. Now you know. Choose what is best for the situation you are in at the moment.
Wanting a community to lean into? Join the FREE Courageous + Purposeful Mommas group! This community is for the Mommas, mommas to be, in the midst of raising, and kids grown, looking for tips on building your family up and providing for them through natural methods. Tips include: gardening, bulk buying, caning,/preserving, livestock, homesteading, and home remedies. Your family is precious, and this group is to help you gain the knowledge and tools to keep your family well and not reliant on outside professionals. Remedies and tips are easy and simple for the busy momma, time is precious after all, including pregnancy, birth, young kids, and illness. Trust your Momma gut again! This community offers the resources + community you need to help get started on your journey and prepare for whatever future you envision.
Click here to get the stories straight to your email:
For more on wellness tips click here:
For more on homesteading on your budget click here:
For more simple DIY updates click here:
This post may contain affiliate links, which means that I may receive a commission if you make a purchase using these links, with NO additional cost to you.
Sometimes you just want something sweet right? I personally love cookie dough. It is my weakness. Peanut butter chocolate chip? I’ll eat the whole bowl if I’m not careful. I have been dairy and gluten free for a year now, and good cookies are difficult to come by. So when a friend shared their favorite flourless peanut butter cookie recipe with me, you bet I tried it!
I waited until after the kids were in bed (they did not need that sugar anyway). Then mixed up a batch and actually baked ,most of them to see how they would hold up. Of course I sampled the dough, because how else are you going to make sure they taste ok? As with most peanut butter cookie recipes, it made a small batch, and that is ok, because my husband and I ate them all before the next morning. The cookies tasted fantastic, and held together!
Later, I started to make small personal sized batches of this, mostly for portion control for myself. Take one scoop of peanut butter, sugar (approximately the same amount as the peanut butter), and a splash of pure vanilla extract and mix it all together. Then add a handful of chocolate chips and mix once more. You can use coconut palm sugar instead of regular sugar for a healthier option. You can also adjust the sugar amount down, so it is not as sweet.
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies- Gluten and dairy free
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup sugar
1 t pure vanilla extract
1 large egg beaten
1 cup allergen free chocolate chips
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Mix ingredients together and spoon onto a cookie sheet. Flatten slightly with a fork.
Bake for 10 minutes, until the edges are golden
Personal Size Peanut Butter Dough
Equal parts peanut butter and sugar (or drizzle honey instead)
Splash of vanilla extract
Handful of allergen free chocolate chips.
Mix together and enjoy!
Wanting a community to lean into? Join the FREE Courageous + Purposeful Mommas group! This community is for the Mommas, mommas to be, in the midst of raising, and kids grown, looking for tips on building your family up and providing for them through natural methods. Tips include: gardening, bulk buying, caning,/preserving, livestock, homesteading, and home remedies. Your family is precious, and this group is to help you gain the knowledge and tools to keep your family well and not reliant on outside professionals. Remedies and tips are easy and simple for the busy momma, time is precious after all, including pregnancy, birth, young kids, and illness. Trust your Momma gut again! This community offers the resources + community you need to help get started on your journey and prepare for whatever future you envision.
Click here to get the stories straight to your email:
For more on wellness tips click here:
For more on homesteading on your budget click here:
For more simple DIY updates click here:
This post may contain affiliate links, which means that I may receive a commission if you make a purchase using these links, with NO additional cost to you.
You might be thinking, “I’m not around chemicals, so of course I’m toxin free.” Are you sure? “Of course! I’ve switched to all-natural products.” Have you read the labels on your household cleaners? What about your soaps? Shampoo? Lotions? If not you may want to keep reading, then go check your bathroom, even if you have the greener, all-natural products.
In Europe, more than 1,300 chemicals are banned from use in lotions, soaps, toothpaste, cosmetics, and other personal care products. Contrast that to in the United States where just 11 are banned. The average US woman uses 12 personal care products and/or cosmetics a day, containing 168 different chemicals, according to the Environmental Working Group (EWG). Chemicals are all around us, they are hiding in our lotions, soaps, face washes, make-up, laundry detergent, dryer sheets and softeners, air fresheners, candles, cleaners, and more.
A bit scary huh? So what are some of the most common chemicals hiding all around us?
Soaps: sodium laureth sulfate - chemical used to remove car grease off floors. It can be damaging to the skin and disruptive to immune and hormonal health .
Shampoos: phthalates - banned in children's toys, but still used in cleansing products. It is a known endocrine disruptor and very hard for the body to break down.
Candles and Air fresheners: Formaldehyde - #1 cancer causing chemical. This is what they use to embalm at the morgue....
Household cleaners: 2-butoxyethanol - known to cause sore throat, narcosis, severe liver and kidney damage.
Laundry detergents and dryer sheets: alpha-terpineol, benzyl alcohol, and camphor - all cause central nervous system disorders, loss of muscular coordination, central nervous system depression, headaches, nausea, and vomiting.
Fragrance: a broad category that hides hundreds of chemicals. Fun fact. Companies are not required to reveal the actual chemicals in each "fragrance", keeping the public in the dark about what the true toxicity of the products are.
Talc, bismuth, parabens, lead, mercury, and mineral oil: all found in store bought skin care and makeup products. They can disrupt the endocrine system, are highly carcinogenic, and have even been found in tumors.
Beware that products boasting "all-natural" labels can still contain harmful chemicals, so be sure to check the full list of ingredients. Better yet, simplify your routine and make your own products. A slew of lotions, potions, and hair treatments can be eliminated with a jar of coconut oil, for example.
It's important to remember that your skin is your largest and most permeable organ. Just about anything you put on your skin will end up in your bloodstream and be distributed throughout your body. Once these chemicals find their way into your body, they tend to accumulate over time because you lack the necessary enzymes to break them down.
When these toxic products are used on a daily basis, the toxins build up within our bodies (bioaccumulation). The more we are exposed to the toxins, the harder it is for our bodies to break them down and get rid of them. This build up causes both minor and major health issues over time. This is why I'm so fond of saying "don't put anything on your body that you wouldn't eat if you had to." What you'll notice if you browse through the ingredients in any of my personal line of natural skin care products is just that – ingredients you'll know and recognize, like organic coconut oil, orange oil, or rosemary extract.
So now what? Choose better. I have become a label reader on everything I buy. You can become a DIY queen and use all ingredients you know the source of. I do make some of my own products, like my lotion, but I am a busy farm wife and momma of littles. I do not have the time to experiment and make everything. So I found an easy button, a company that is dedicated to improving wellness and chemical free living, around the world.
Wanting a community to lean into? Join the FREE Courageous + Purposeful Mommas group! This community is for the Mommas, mommas to be, in the midst of raising, and kids grown, looking for tips on building your family up and providing for them through natural methods. Tips include: gardening, bulk buying, caning,/preserving, livestock, homesteading, and home remedies. Your family is precious, and this group is to help you gain the knowledge and tools to keep your family well and not reliant on outside professionals. Remedies and tips are easy and simple for the busy momma, time is precious after all, including pregnancy, birth, young kids, and illness. Trust your Momma gut again! This community offers the resources + community you need to help get started on your journey and prepare for whatever future you envision.
Click here to get the stories straight to your email:
For more on wellness tips click here:
For more on homesteading on your budget click here:
For more simple DIY updates click here:
This post may contain affiliate links, which means that I may receive a commission if you make a purchase using these links, with NO additional cost to you.
With winter rolling in early this year, I found myself wanting some hot chocolate after a blustery morning feeding all the animals. The kids 3 and 1 were all in favor of this idea to warm up. The problem? My 1 year old and I cannot have dairy and the only mix in the house had dairy.
I could have made a batch on the stove like my mom used to do, but we did not need that much hot chocolate. So I started digging through my recipes to see if I could find one that I could alter. I found 2 buried in the recipe box. One for actual hot chocolate mix, the other to make stove top hot chocolate. The hot chocolate mix had way too much dairy to try and substitute out. The stove top hot chocolate however was simple and did not contain dairy until you made it.
So I got busy and mixed it up, 6 parts sugar to 1 part cocoa powder. I added cinnamon and nutmeg, because I love them in hot chocolate. You could use coconut palm sugar if you wanted to make it healthier, but I did not have any on hand. I found one of my old swing top glass jars and started filling sugar, then cocoa, then the cinnamon and nutmeg. I filled the container until it was ¾ full and then closed the lid and shook it, to mix everything together.
I then heated a bit of almond milk and vanilla in a pan on the stove while the water kettle heated. Hindsight I could have heated everything together. The key is to have equal parts milk (or alternative) and water. Heat the milk until hot, but not boiling, stirring often, so the bottom does not burn or scald. I took 2 mugs and placed 1 T in each mug, then filled the mugs with the warm milk and water. Mix them well and done!
The 3 year old loved it right away. The 1.5 year old kept licking it like a dog, until he figured out how to drink it. He also loved it and barely let me drink any.
Hot Chocolate Mix - Dairy Free
6 Scoops sugar (can use coconut sugar or alternative if you desire)
1 Scoop Cocoa powder
Dash of cinnamon
Dash of Nutmeg
Fill an airtight container in layers, in the order given. When the container is ¾ full, tighten the lid and shake to mix.
To make the hot chocolate:
½ c water, ½ c milk alternative, 1 t vanilla
Heat milk alternative, vanilla, and water. Do NOT boil
Add 1 T of Coco mix.
Stir well and ENJOY!
Wanting a community to lean into? Join the FREE Courageous + Purposeful Mommas group! This community is for the Mommas, mommas to be, in the midst of raising, and kids grown, looking for tips on building your family up and providing for them through natural methods. Tips include: gardening, bulk buying, caning,/preserving, livestock, homesteading, and home remedies. Your family is precious, and this group is to help you gain the knowledge and tools to keep your family well and not reliant on outside professionals. Remedies and tips are easy and simple for the busy momma, time is precious after all, including pregnancy, birth, young kids, and illness. Trust your Momma gut again! This community offers the resources + community you need to help get started on your journey and prepare for whatever future you envision.
Click here to get the stories straight to your email:
For more on wellness tips click here:
For more on homesteading on your budget click here:
For more simple DIY updates click here:
This post may contain affiliate links, which means that I may receive a commission if you make a purchase using these links, with NO additional cost to you.
Prevent vs React, sounds strange. How about offence vs defense? Sounds more familiar? What does this have to do with your health? Turns out a lot. Our bodies and nature are in constant motion. Laws of nature dictate that energy is required to maintain order. If you let nature happen, without inputting any energy, life or your body will decay.
If you think about it in sports terms, is it easier to be on the offense side, commanding the game, or on the defense side, working to get to the offense? The offense of course! So why do we not do this with our own health? Perhaps because you do not know where to start. Let me help you! Take charge of your health, move your life to thriving, and decrease illness. Build your body up.
Step one in building your body up is to feed your body well. If you give your body what it needs, most of the time it is very good at healing and defending itself. Make sure you are consuming the proper amount of vitamins and minerals (this includes the trace minerals). Many people are actually deficient in many trace minerals, even in wealthy countries. Our processed food is lacking in many of these trace minerals, and the vitamins are also lacking. Our store bought food is also lacking enzymes it naturally has fresh that help our bodies break food down for better digestion. Unless you are eating it straight out of the garden. Enzymes are very fragile and easily destroyed. It Is well worth investing in an enzyme supplement and vitamin/mineral supplement. If you need help finding an effective supplement message me, I’d be glad to help you. I talked more about food earlier in You are What you Eat.
Step two, decrease your sugar! I have talked about this one a lot. I will also be the first to admit I need to decrease my sugar intake. I am good at minimizing my kid’s sugar intake, but my own? HA! After they go to sleep, I take my peanut butter, and some vanilla, a heaping scoop of sugar, and maybe a handful of chocolate chips and enjoy my mini-flourless helping of cookie dough. In all seriousness though, sugar fights the immune system and increases inflammation in the body.
Step three, use nature to aid your body when needed. Herbal teas and blends do wonders for the body when it needs the extra boost. This is especially easy if you like hot teas. Plus a hot tea, with a little honey when you feel ill, is extremely soothing.
Step four, piggy-backs off step three. If you are not a big tea drinker, you can use essential oils. I apply these daily to myself and my kids. CAUTION you must know your source to ensure they are truly pure and have the correct properties and are the correct frequency to give the desired results. Again, contact me if you would like some help here. Essential oils are much like herbs, except much more concentrated. This means you need less to do the same job as the herbs would do. I have an entire group to help you learn how to use essential oils and how to dilute for SAFE use with children.
Want more information? Contact me!
Wanting a community to lean into? Join the FREE Courageous + Purposeful Mommas group! This community is for the Mommas, mommas to be, in the midst of raising, and kids grown, looking for tips on building your family up and providing for them through natural methods. Tips include: gardening, bulk buying, caning,/preserving, livestock, homesteading, and home remedies. Your family is precious, and this group is to help you gain the knowledge and tools to keep your family well and not reliant on outside professionals. Remedies and tips are easy and simple for the busy momma, time is precious after all, including pregnancy, birth, young kids, and illness. Trust your Momma gut again! This community offers the resources + community you need to help get started on your journey and prepare for whatever future you envision.
Click here to get the stories straight to your email:
For more on wellness tips click here:
For more on homesteading on your budget click here:
For more simple DIY updates click here:
This post may contain affiliate links, which means that I may receive a commission if you make a purchase using these links, with NO additional cost to you.
One of the jobs of being a parent is to train and prepare your children for their future. There are hundreds of books out there on bring up children and each has a little different take on what is best. The truth is ever y kid is different, even siblings. You must do what works best for each child.
I personally want my children to grow up to be willingly helpful. To see a need and meet it. One of the ways I encourage them to help is by letting them. Yes the job will take at least 2x as long, but in the end they will be able to do it themselves someday, without prompting.
Please hear me here. I am not perfect and have my fair share of just let me do it, and we don’t have time. But when I stop my hustle I remember they are wanting to help, and deep down I want them to help now and in the future. When I slow down and enjoy their help, they want to help more. I want my kids to see our life on the farm as one they were included in, one they dream of coming back to. Besides, as I grow older, I’m going to want someone else to care for my critters when it’s cold (hehe).
In all honesty though I had a very good reminder of this a few weeks back. We had been on the go most of the day and were finally home and both kids wanted to help with supper. All I wanted was peace and the kitchen to myself. The oldest was determined she was going to help (God bless her determination). She went to the dining room and a brought a chair back, since I was not getting the step stool out for her. She and her brother proceeded to stand at the kitchen sink. It took me a while to figure out what was going on. I thought they were just playing in the sink with the water. I finally realized what was going on when I saw the dish soap moving. They were washing the dishes. Over and over. There wasn’t much in the sink to wash, but she was so proud. She even soaked the coffee cups to get the stains out! You should have seen her beam when I thanked her with a hug and praised her.
This particular event reminded me of three things. Number one, they are always watching. I had never actually taught her to wash dishes. She had stood next to me and rinsed before, but I had always washed.
The second, was how happy kids are to help and serve. It had been a busy few weeeks and I honestly had just been dragging the kids along most of the time, just trying to get through the day. My kids needed me to slow down and engage them.
Third, my kids are capable of way more than I often think they are. My oldest does this to me a lot. She decides she’s going to help and she exceeds my expectations. Occasionally I’ll give her a task that I know will be difficult for her, not to be mean, but to help her grow. She has learned to ask for help when she needs it, and we work together to finish the task. It’s moments like this that I remember how much she rises to my expectations. If I set the bar low she doesn’t stretch or grow.
The youngest is quickly following his sister, determined to keep up and do whatever she is doing. He insists he can help dip up feed, nd hold the bottles. He tries to catch chickens lik his sister and leads the horses (with mom or sis holding the other end).
Kids rise to the standard you, as the adult, set. Set the bar reasonable and teach them the thrill of reaching the bar and exceeding it. The joy of accomplishing something they thought they couldn’t. And when they come short, help them get up and go again. That it is ok to find ways that a task didn’t work well. This helps them build resilience and grit. Both of these will help them immensely in the future.
Go raise up strong resilient adults. After all the kids of today are tomorrow’s adults.
Wanting a community to lean into? Join the FREE Courageous + Purposeful Mommas group! This community is for the Mommas, mommas to be, in the midst of raising, and kids grown, looking for tips on building your family up and providing for them through natural methods. Tips include: gardening, bulk buying, caning,/preserving, livestock, homesteading, and home remedies. Your family is precious, and this group is to help you gain the knowledge and tools to keep your family well and not reliant on outside professionals. Remedies and tips are easy and simple for the busy momma, time is precious after all, including pregnancy, birth, young kids, and illness. Trust your Momma gut again! This community offers the resources + community you need to help get started on your journey and prepare for whatever future you envision.
Click here to get the stories straight to your email:
For more on wellness tips click here:
For more on homesteading on your budget click here:
For more simple DIY updates click here:
This post may contain affiliate links, which means that I may receive a commission if you make a purchase using these links, with NO additional cost to you.
First off gut health? What in the world is that? Simply put gut health is the overall balance of your digestive system.
Is your digestive system breaking down and absorbing food as it should be? How do you know if it is not? Common signs of an unbalanced digestive system include: gas, bloating, constipation, diarrhea, skin irritations, some autoimmune conditions, food intolerances, allergies, sleep disturbances or constant fatigue, and unintentional weight changes.
Why is it important to care for the gut? Besides to avoid the above reasons, 70% of your immune system is in your gut. That means your gut is the front line for invaders that make it into the body. Hippocrates stated “All disease begins in the gut,” and many have seemed to have forgotten how important gut health is to the overall body.
Did you know one of the keys to taking care of your gut is to take care of the good bacteria that live there? There are anywhere from 300-500 different species of bacteria living in your gut. Germ-a-phobes do NOT worry! These bacteria are good and are important for helping your body break down your food. Interesting note on bacteria. One of the most important parts of ruminant nutrition I was taught in graduate school was to first feed the bacteria, then the animal. The bacteria literally feed the animals. Humans, while we have different stomachs and digestive tracts, still need to take care of the bacteria in our guts as well.
What can you do to care for your gut? Limit processed foods and sugars, especially refined sugars like corn syrup. These increase the inflammation in the body, and upset the bacteria balance, feeding yeast and increasing sugar cravings.
Second, lower your stress levels. I know, easier said than done. However, taking the time once a week to slow down and relax will help your body out immensely. Meditate, do yoga, go golfing, take a trail ride, whatever helps you unwind and relax.
Third and fourth, I talked about earlier, so I’ll let you go back and read them in detail. Get the right amount of quality of sleep and stay hydrated. These two things have a huge impact on more than just gut health. They improve the entire body function.
Fifth, feed the good bacteria. Start taking a prebiotic, feeds the bacteria, or probiotic, replenishes the bacteria. You can also consume fermented foods like sauerkraut, kimchi, or kombucha (drink actually) to your diet.
Sixth, cleanse the gut. At least once a year do a cleanse. This helps to reset your gut. I do a colon cleanse in the fall at least once a year. This helps clear the junk that has been accumulating. The first time I did a cleanse I was skeptical. I was regular, I didn’t have food issues, but I did know I was off and my colon hurt (turns out this was actually scar adhesion pain). I was also 1 year postpartum, still not feeling right, and was done settling for “normal” whatever that is. I was on a quest for optimum and the colon was the first place to start.
Post cleanse, I realized just how much my gut was holding. Those extra few pounds I could not lose after the baby was gone. The pudge of bloating I had no idea I had was gone too. The most surprising came that spring and summer, when my apple trees blooming no longer caused me to sniffle and sneeze and the sunflowers no longer caused my eyes to water and my nose to plug!
Who is up for a cleanse? Let me know and I’ll help you get started! My fall cleanse time is coming up soon.
Wanting a community to lean into? Join the FREE Courageous + Purposeful Mommas group! This community is for the Mommas, mommas to be, in the midst of raising, and kids grown, looking for tips on building your family up and providing for them through natural methods. Tips include: gardening, bulk buying, caning,/preserving, livestock, homesteading, and home remedies. Your family is precious, and this group is to help you gain the knowledge and tools to keep your family well and not reliant on outside professionals. Remedies and tips are easy and simple for the busy momma, time is precious after all, including pregnancy, birth, young kids, and illness. Trust your Momma gut again! This community offers the resources + community you need to help get started on your journey and prepare for whatever future you envision.
Click here to get the stories straight to your email:
For more on wellness tips click here:
For more on homesteading on your budget click here:
For more simple DIY updates click here:
This post may contain affiliate links, which means that I may receive a commission if you make a purchase using these links, with NO additional cost to you.
I grew up loving animals, kittens, then dogs, then sheep, then horse. But really all animals! Once when I was in elementary, my family was eating at a restaurant with beautifully stuffed wild animals. I ordered spaghetti, it was familiar and I liked it. But the longer I sat there, the more the animals got to me. We moved outside to eat our food, because I couldn’t eat my spaghetti, because the sauce looked like blood to me. Silly, I know, but made complete sense in my elementary age mind. Don’t get me wrong, I have always loved meat. But if there is hid and or head on the meat, forget it. I’m out.
Anyway...I am now raising a mini-me. She loves all her animals and forces them to like her as only a 3 year old can. She loves her cats and hauls them around everywhere, if they let her catch them. The dogs are her favorite playmates most days, and has trained Duke to help her dig wherever she desires. Cinch just tattles on them when they leave the boundary. She has her chickens she needs to catch every day to love, even when they don’t want to be caught. According to her she was sad after the last bottle calves left, so her dad got her another one and she is 3 so she has 3 calves. Really they were orphans, from young cows who didn’t have milk for them. She has also stolen my horse and will tell you outright that she did. She also has her very own ewe now thanks to her Grandpa letting her keep the bottle lamb she helped raise.
The beauty of this is she is learning at a very young age the love and respect for animals. She understands the cycle of life, and that you don’t always save them all, no matter how hard you try. She loves deeply and has learned responsibility for taking care of her animals. Last week she found a fuzzy caterpillar that she wanted to bring inside. She found a jar for it, leaves for it to eat, sticks to climb on, and asked me to put water in the jar. She knows all animals need food, water, and shelter.
Pets are great for kids to learn responsibility, my kids are privileged to have many pets and animals to learn responsibility from. It is also a great way to learn the cycle of life. If you have the means, I highly encourage you to get a pet, even a fish. The joy of watching kids with their pets is the best therapy ever.
Wanting a community to lean into? Join the FREE Courageous + Purposeful Mommas group! This community is for the Mommas, mommas to be, in the midst of raising, and kids grown, looking for tips on building your family up and providing for them through natural methods. Tips include: gardening, bulk buying, caning,/preserving, livestock, homesteading, and home remedies. Your family is precious, and this group is to help you gain the knowledge and tools to keep your family well and not reliant on outside professionals. Remedies and tips are easy and simple for the busy momma, time is precious after all, including pregnancy, birth, young kids, and illness. Trust your Momma gut again! This community offers the resources + community you need to help get started on your journey and prepare for whatever future you envision.
Click here to get the stories straight to your email:
For more on wellness tips click here:
For more on homesteading on your budget click here:
For more simple DIY updates click here:
This post may contain affiliate links, which means that I may receive a commission if you make a purchase using these links, with NO additional cost to you.
We’ve all heard the phrase ‘find your tribe’, but what does it actually mean? Is it really that important? It means finding the people who understand you, the people you can be real and raw with, the people who support you and lift you up. Yes it is that important for you to find your tribe. Why? Simple answer support. Let me share a story with you, then I’ll give you some tips on finding your tribe.
There was a church with several young new couples who had started to attend. One of those couples decided they wanted to get to know the other couples better and maybe start a small group study. Five couples began meeting, at first for game night, then bible study. It took about a year of meeting together, but those couples began to be comfortable enough with each other, they could be vulnerable. What that group didn’t realize in the winter of 2015, was how much they would need each other in the following year.
After one tearful night when hearts were laid open over the topic of pregnancy and the frustrations with people asking “WHEN”? Those women bonded. In the course of the next year, each of those couples would have a child, there would be 3 miscarriages, and one very scary NICU stay. After each of those miscarriages, those women leaned into each other, prayed with each other, supported each other, loved each other, and kept pointing them back. They celebrated with each pregnancy and birth. They cared for and prayed hard and visited during that NICU stay.
Those families grew even closer, during that time. Without those women in my life I would have crumbled that year and the year following. The years 2016/2017 proved to be some of the most emotionally difficult years for me to date. Did I grow? Oh yes! But not without the help of those women who have become my tribe. We still lean on each other, pray for each other, fight FOR each other, love each other, and do life together. 2020 has not been an easy year for any of us either.
So how do you find your tribe? First get out there and meet people! Find groups with similar interests and get to know the people in them. Facebook is an excellent place to meet people with similar interests. Just search Facebook for a hobby or interest. I have a group for women working towards internal healing, called Empowered Healing Women. Once you find people you understand and they understand you, continue to meet with them, start doing life with them. Pray for each other, ask how each other is doing. Finally, do not hide. Be vulnerable. Ask the hard questions, and answer them too!
The Facebook Group I mentioned:
Wanting a community to lean into? Join the FREE Courageous + Purposeful Mommas group! This community is for the Mommas, mommas to be, in the midst of raising, and kids grown, looking for tips on building your family up and providing for them through natural methods. Tips include: gardening, bulk buying, caning,/preserving, livestock, homesteading, and home remedies. Your family is precious, and this group is to help you gain the knowledge and tools to keep your family well and not reliant on outside professionals. Remedies and tips are easy and simple for the busy momma, time is precious after all, including pregnancy, birth, young kids, and illness. Trust your Momma gut again! This community offers the resources + community you need to help get started on your journey and prepare for whatever future you envision.
Click here to get the stories straight to your email:
For more on wellness tips click here:
For more on homesteading on your budget click here:
For more simple DIY updates click here:
This post may contain affiliate links, which means that I may receive a commission if you make a purchase using these links, with NO additional cost to you.
Growing up, harvest is one of my favorite times of year. Didn’t matter the kind, I loved it! I would time my week long sewing trip to Colorado, so I would be there at the same time as the wheat harvest. Fall in Nebraska meant corn harvest and Nebraska football games. I loved those rides sitting on the bucket in the old red Massy combine with Grandpa, or later on the new green JohnDeere tractor with Great Grandpa. I don’t remember much of those conversations, but I’m sure my Grandpa does. What I do remember was the fun of just being with them during the harvest.
Now as an adult, I have come to cherish those memories. I cherish every moment I have with my family. As I have grown older, I have started to watch my grandparents age. What seemed impossible in my young mind, Grandma and Grandpa won’t grow old, I’m beginning to see as an adult. Time takes its toll on everything.
My children are blessed to be raised on the farm. They now are making their own memories in the harvest field. From the combine rides, to grain cart rides, to rides in the trucks. I am pretty sure the oldest believes she can drive the trucks and grain cart, and will tell you if you are not doing it correctly. She has an opinion, and will tell you where she is riding, which could change round to round. But the Grandpa’s all love it, completely entertained with her conversation, and drop her off or switch her to wherever she wants to ride next. The youngest is bound and determined to push every button or lever possible and thinks he can steer and open the traps.
Both of them have learned to entertain themselves quite well. They are also learning safety and perfecting the listening skills, like why ear muffs are important. But they aren’t going to remember the lessons they have learned, or probably even the conversations. They are going to remember how they felt. They will remember the playing in the corn pile that was spilled. They will remember how they felt loved and included. How their presence and time were enjoyed. For me I’m using this time to slow down. Enjoy the time with each of my Grandparents and watch my kids with them. You had better believe I am taking pictures.
Wanting a community to lean into? Join the FREE Courageous + Purposeful Mommas group! This community is for the Mommas, mommas to be, in the midst of raising, and kids grown, looking for tips on building your family up and providing for them through natural methods. Tips include: gardening, bulk buying, caning,/preserving, livestock, homesteading, and home remedies. Your family is precious, and this group is to help you gain the knowledge and tools to keep your family well and not reliant on outside professionals. Remedies and tips are easy and simple for the busy momma, time is precious after all, including pregnancy, birth, young kids, and illness. Trust your Momma gut again! This community offers the resources + community you need to help get started on your journey and prepare for whatever future you envision.
Click here to get the stories straight to your email:
For more on wellness tips click here:
For more on homesteading on your budget click here:
For more simple DIY updates click here:
