COMMUNITY

We were reluctant.  Caught in the comparison cycle, measuring ourselves against those with experience and notoriety.  No way could we invite people we don’t know onto our farm.  What would they do? What would we do?  Would anyone show up? We even struggled calling ourselves a “farm”.  We knew what farms were and we surely weren’t one of them. Farms were tractors and combines and cattle and row crop. 

These were the thoughts and questions that consumed us when a couple of friends encouraged us to invite others onto our “farm”.  It was our home, yes, but that was it. Well, a home and a hobby.  It was that too.  A worrier by nature, I was often reminded at a young age to put fears in perspective and ask, “What’s the worst thing that could happen?”  

Death!  Some way, some how any fear could lead our thoughts to that grim conclusion. But, we had made it to  the other side of the pandemic and were reflecting on life, as many of us were.  A few major life changes and some tragedies to boot, we were tired of being controlled by our “what ifs” and the worst thing wasn’t death, it would likely just be a healthy dose of humble pie-something we all need to munch on from time to time. We started to learn you don’t have to have the answers, and the first step is often the most challenging.  

So, we invited the community out to our “farm” to visit our newest arrivals – baby goats, and kittens.  None of us had never held a baby goat till that previous year and we wondered if others would enjoy the opportunity.  As it turns out, baby animals can be quite the attraction – our very first event, Spring At The Farm, was an encouragement to us. A word that now holds plenty of weight.  Since that day, we’ve slowly added opportunities for our surrounding community to visit us for a variety of reasons –  goat yoga, pumpkins during fall, worship nights, Christmas Trees to name a few.  

Each time we open, we still hear those doubting questions and thoughts, but they’re not as loud anymore.  Doubts are silenced by the laughter, the smiles, the conversations, and the experience of life on the farm. As long as we feel encouraged, we’ll do it again.  Encouragement will be our measurement. And you can’t get encouragement without courage.  We might not be the place you think of when you imagine an Iowa farm, and we certainly don’t have it all. Even if we don’t have a big tractor and only raise goats for yoga (which we don’t) we’re going to keep trying to grow the best product money can’t buy – community.  

If you missed out on Spring At The Farm, join us for our harvest event mid September for Pumpkins At The Farm!