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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.
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There is something about old horses that is just too good. Maybe it is that they have seen most things and are unfazed by the noise and commotion of life. Or maybe that they have earned their living and are now peacefully enjoying retirement. But what makes them such great horses?!?
Old horses have usually had at least one carrier before they are considered too old and retire, but their life doesn’t stop there. They may have been a ranch horse working long days, or a rodeo horse used to all the noise. Maybe a professional show horse used to hauling and the arena. Maybe they were just the family trail horse who has seen more miles than could be counted.
It is an old horse's past experiences and work that make them so good, especially for beginner riders. They know most of what is up and will take care of their rider as the rider learns. This is the trait that makes them invaluable.
We’ve had two early 20s horses with our family for quite some time. The one showed his age very early. Hank, being an old ranch horse, not much physed him. My husband used him for a few years working and moving cattle, but his age caught up, and he could no longer keep up with cows that broke away. He retired to being the kids' horse. They are merely beginning to ride, but he would pack them along on the ride like it was nothing. You had better believe it was hard to say good-bye this summer when the time came.
The other has had a much easier work life. He has always been a family horse and mainly just trail rode. When I bought Mojo almost 10 years ago he already had a laid back personality, but what not the best trained. I worked with him and found that he wasn’t just laid back, but smart enough to play dumb to get out of work! I literally threw everything I could think of at him that might scare him and he quickly came to expect the weird and out of normal. Why did I do that? Because my vision for him was to be a therapy horse and I needed him bomb proof. He was the beloved mount for many special needs riders while I was teaching lessons. Now he’s my children's favorite.
See older horses may be set in their ways, but when they have good ground manners and experience, they are the perfect teacher for a novice rider.
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Rules. They are there to guide us and keep us safe. Some rules help us to live life the best way possible. Some show us our shortcomings. Many people don’t like rules. That rebellious heart just wants freedom, I know I’m not alone here. Some people like me test the rules. Is that really a rule or a suggestion? Why is it even there?
Bless my mother, somehow she didn’t kill me growing up. But she did learn if she wanted me to follow a rule, I needed to know the why and that she really meant it. Guess what? My daughter is the same as me….
One rule that I have followed since growing up was what some consider the ‘Golden rule’. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
What kind of rule is this? Really it's more like a guideline to life than a rule. It is one of those rules that show us how life works best, how to interact with others well. Logically, if you want to be treated kindly, you should probably treat others with kindness as well. It is in our human nature to want to reciprocate how others make us feel.
This is also a rule that is so hard for young kids to learn. Why should I share? It’s mine! She’s in my space, so I pushed her out. He took my toy, so I hit him. Just a few examples from my house lately. At the same time it is so important to teach our kids this guideline.
Kids who grow into adults who never learned or choose not to follow the ‘Golden rule’ are ones that are bitter. They are adults, people don’t like to be around. I do not want my kids to grow up to be those adults. I want them to be kind, understanding, and a friend. As their mom it is now my job to teach them what it means to be a friend, to be kind, to be understanding. And it starts at home with their siblings.
As one of my kid’s favorite books says “to have a friend, you have to be a friend.”
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What is something you want to pass on to your children? One lesson you want them to remember. I want my children to know and remember that God gave us everything we need, you need to know where to look and how to use it.
When you look around you in nature, you see all different colors, textures, and fragrances. You see beauty in the minor details. But what about when you look closer? The beauty gets even better! Different parts of the plants have different uses, for healing, for poison, and for nutrition.
Throughout time plants have been used for good or bad, healing or poison. As we have moved into a more medically minded society much of this ancient knowledge has been lost. As I have begun my journey in using food and nature as our first line of defense to keep us healthy, and help to heal our bodies when we do become ill, I have come to appreciate much of this old wisdom. Some of it is as simple as lavender or aloe vera for a burn, some more complex like which herbs and spices to use to warm the body and increase the energetics.
Bringing my children along on gathering trips around the yard or when we are cooking or making a salve, helps them to not only learn the plants early, but also how to use and preserve them. They will know how to care for or find the plant they need to heal a wound. How to make the salve or tincture to use in the winter when the plants are not available.
Does this make the process take longer? Most definitely! I will be honest, there are times I would rather just do it by myself, but then I remember the bigger goal. I don’t want to just take care of them now, I want to give them the tools and knowledge to take care of them and their families once I am gone.
I want my children to remember these lessons I am now learning. I want them to remember when times get hard, God provides in many ways. Bow your head and pray for wisdom in what to do or use.
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What is something that completely annoys you? We all have those random things annoy us. For me it is chaos and disorder.
I like my life organized, whether that is my environment, or my actual schedule. The order helps me to function and stay focused. Having kids has greatly altered that, but I still keep the clutter to a minimum, and try to keep things picked up and organized. If it is an area I need to work in, you had better believe there is order to it. I will get so distracted by the disorder, I don’t work on what I need to, only cleaning the mess up.
Chaos, tends to be more of a social thing. We’ve all seen it, you walk into an area, and there are 500 things going on and no one really knows what they are doing or why. Some people do just fine in these situations, my sister thrives in them. Me? I want to take command and organize everyone, so we are all working towards the same things, not necessarily the same task, but the same goal. It takes everything in me to not.
Life has taken a lot of time to mature me and settle me down a bit. I've learned to prioritize, what actually needs to stay organized, and when it is time to have the kids clean up their toys. I have learned to keep the clutter to a minimum, eliminating piles before they become huge, and throw away the broken toys that don’t need fixed.
I still try to schedule my life, but have learned to give myself time and grace when plans change. I obsessively write things in my planner, so it looks organized, but understand that the 30 minute task is going to take an hour at least with kids in tow. I have learned to schedule my tasks not on my old time self, but on the I have 2 helpers in tow time (at least twice as long).
Do I still stress when life takes a left turn when I was expecting a right? YES. But I am getting better at letting go and rolling with the changes.
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What was the first job you had? Was it a job that helped shape your views?
One of the first ‘jobs’ I had growing up was helping in the lambing barn. After all, I had convinced my dad to keep the ewes, so it was now part of my responsibility to help with the extra work and rewards of breeding them.
We would split lambing checks, with mom and dad doing them during the day, while we were at school, my sisters and I doing them after school and in the evening. I would then do the early 6 am check before school. I was the morning bird and enjoyed the quiet of the barn in the morning. I was also usually late for Spanish class once those checks started. Sorry, Ms. Hofts.
Those years of caring for the ewes taught me a lot about life. The natural cycle of life and death happens readily with sheep. And it is a hard lesson to learn, but one that brings understanding to the rest of life. But it also taught me that life and birth and death is natural. So many times we try to step in and adjust life to make things more convenient for us. But many times all we do is interfere and nature adjusts. The best example of this I can remember was with one of my first ewes (mom sheep).
It was chore time that afternoon, and one of my ewes already had one lamb almost born. We picked up the lamb and led the ewe into the maternity ward, where she would have her own pen to bond with her lamb. I continued to watch her as it finished chores around the barn. I knew she was carrying more than one lamb, but she refused to settle down and have it. Eventually we all left the barn and went back up to the house, deciding to go back in an hour and check her. In that hour she settled down and had another lamb. I made sure it got up and nursed well, and returned to the house. The next check she had another lamb! She ended up with 4 lambs that night, but every time we were in the barn, she would act as if nothing was going on and shut labor down. She needed her space and time.
The biggest lesson I learned in the lambing barn was when to step in and help and when to just leave the ewe alone. 95% of the time the ewes had the lambs just fine on their own. As long as none of the other ewes were bothering them or it wasn’t super cold, they did quite well in the pen until the lamb was up and had nursed. Then they could be moved to their ‘private room’. The other 5% of the time was the critical ones, where the ewe just wasn’t going to have the lamb on her own. Either the lamb was positioned wrong, or the ewe was just too exhausted, usually, but she needed help.
Distinguishing the difference in the two was tricky in the beginning, but with time and practice, it became easy to spot the births that were off, or not progressing as they should.
When I started having my own children, part of me wondered why something so natural was so medicalized. But it was what everyone was doing, so I followed suit. Later I learned there was a different more natural approach, and I was all for it. I just wanted the same space and respect I had given all the animals in my care.
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What is the biggest challenge in pregnancy? The weight gain? The mental games? The issues with body image? While all of those can be issues, they were in mine, it is not the biggest challenge. The biggest challenge for almost any pregnancy boils down to proper nutrition. Yep, that is it. Nutrition.
In the standard American diet (SAD) today, proper nutrition is really difficult to come by. Our food tends to be highly processed and void of key vitamins, minerals, and enzymes. Eating healthy takes on a very intentional lifestyle choice. When you are pregnant, that choice is even more difficult, but more important.
Quick easy to fill carbs are abundant and cheap, but protein, fresh fruits and vegetables are not. During pregnancy, your body needs extra protein. All the cells and DNA your baby is forming, requires amino acids, which comes from protein. Your body needs protein to build your own blood supply as your baby needs more blood. The vitamin and minerals from food are the most readily absorbed form for you to ingest. These are needed to help your body continue to function, stay healthy, and clear debris that builds up in your own system.
Eating a proper diet during pregnancy can also help prevent other complications like preeclampsia, PUPPS, gestational diabetes, and strengthen the uterus, reducing the risk of hemorrhaging. There are many other conditions a proper diet can prevent as well, I just haven't needed to look further yet.
So what can you do? No matter where you are, you can start choosing to eat healthy. I highly recommend sticking as close to a whole food diet as possible. This cuts many of the quick easy, but highly processed meals out. Sorry, Hamburger Helper. But the benefits quickly outweigh the convenience.
What are some good guidelines? The Brewer’s diet is huge and you can look up more on their website here. The simplified version I have made as a quick and easy to print off guide for you. It does come from their website, but saves you trying to print and format it for your fridge. You can get that guide for FREE here.
What diet changes are you making? Are you already following the Brewer’s Diet? How is it going? Let me know!
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.
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What is a belief that grounds you? One that not only defines you, but governs your life decisions? Most of my core beliefs center around God and what He has said, about life.
I’ll share two of those with you. The first is that life is precious. God has a high value of human life. As you read through the Bible you can begin to see how many of the laws He set in place in the Old Testament center around the value of life. Some of these are consequences for ending life, some are consequences for harming another person. But they center around God guiding us on how to love and respect each other.
The second belief, I want to share with you, is one I have come to learn little by little in my own journey. God designed our bodies beautifully. They are intricately woven together and function beautifully. Sometimes things go wrong. We live in a fallen and sinful world. Our perfect design is now flawed by sin. However, God still designed the body to preserve and heal itself, if it is given what it needs.
Sometimes this is eliminating things from your life that are slowly poisoning or disrupting your body. Sometimes it is adding key nutrients in, to let the body rebuild. Sometimes it is using nature to simply rebalance the body, giving it what it needs to clean itself. Sometimes it is specific exercises or movements to help the body do what it is designed to do.
There are many different ways to promote the body and care for it. Most of the time it can be accomplished with things God already gave us in nature. The key, as it was for me, is learning how and what to use. And believe me it is a continuing learning process. That is why digging to the root cause is so important. Have I found all the WHYs? No, but I’m still digging and learning. Because for me, just letting something unnatural or not normal go, is not ok.
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