Giving Thanks for Suffering

Tomorrow we will sit around tables filled with delicious food, surrounded by family and friends.  We will count our blessings and give thanks.  Tonight at mass, Father talked about counting our blessings.  The gospel included the story of the 10 lepers which Jesus healed and only one returned to give thanks to Jesus for his healing.  While we sat in the pews and thought about our blessings I couldn't help but drift into thinking about being grateful for my sufferings.  Some day I hope to be able to write about my sufferings here but for now I will summarize it as a heavy, broken heart. I am on the other side of my suffering and I can speak with confidence that there is healing and growth on the other side of suffering. 

We talk about strength when we face hard times.  Dairy farming is full of hard times, difficult times, challenging times, but life is harder.  Dairy farming creates people who are determined, persistent, resilient, tough, passionate and strong, but I would argue that strength is more than these.  Strength found in suffering, which is the result of growth from the hard times and heartbreak, is vulnerability.   It is compassion, kindness, and honesty.  When I look back on my suffering, I am grateful for this growth that created the ability to be vulnerable.  Being strong all of the time is hard and it can be cold.  Being vulnerable is harder than being strong because it is real and you have to feel everything.  The sadness is sadder and the happiness is happier, but that's the benefit, it is real. I look back on my sufferings, and there were some very dark days. 

I chose to lean into the feelings and be completely vulnerable.  I was vulnerable to the people that hurt me and I was vulnerable with God.  I made my confessions many times, working hard to forgive myself, but when I look back, the biggest healing came from being vulnerable.  I am so grateful for this suffering.  If given the chance to live my life over again, I would do my suffering over again.  Sure I would make different choices to avoid hurting people I love but I know the end result would be the same.  If I hadn't leaned into the heart ache then I wouldn't have grown in the ways that I am today.  I am thankful for the suffering, for my compassion, for my honesty, and for my vulnerability.  It makes me real and it helps me live life to its fullest.  Here I sit, reflecting on Thanksgiving, knowing if it wasn't for the suffering, I wouldn't have my second chances either, to live life to the fullest with the deepest love possible.  Thankful and Blessed :)

Thanksgiving Wisdom: Finding Gratitude

As we move into the Thanksgiving and Christmas season, I pray that everyone who reads this is able to truly find gratitude and thankfulness in their lives.  Maybe it is a consequence of growing older or maybe it is just the realization that there is more to life than “stuff” and “things” but with each passing year I find myself increasing my sense of gratitude for all that I have been blessed with.  It isn’t the “stuff” or the “things” that I am grateful for, it is the opportunities and the relationships that God has blessed me with.  Even in the hardest days or in the simplest moments, there are moments of gratitude.  I started a gratitude journal a couple years ago when I was going through a hard and painful time in my life.  At the end of each day I would write down at least 3 things that I was grateful for during that day.   I have continued this journal and write almost every night.  I was recently at a women’s conference where one of the keynote speakers, Laura Daniels of Heartwood Farm, spoke about the importance of keeping a gratitude journal, especially to keep us grounded in our crazy hectic lives.  How right Laura was!  That gratitude journal helps me focus on the joys in my life rather than dwelling on the sorrows as well as an increasing sense of happiness for life itself.  In the spirit of Thanksgiving and gratitude I would like to share some of those gratitude moments for the Thanksgiving Holiday:

·       I am so grateful to live in a country where we have dedicated servicemen and women who sacrifice their lives for my freedoms; I will forever be grateful for their service, God bless them all!

·       I am grateful to live in a country where I am free to practice the religion of my choosing; a freedom a hope to never take for granted by continuing to develop my faith in God.

·       I am so grateful for a government that while it is dysfunctional at times, does provide leadership and democracy for our nation when so many other countries live in oppression.

·       I am grateful to have family and friends that are near and dear to me; that have been there for me in my darkest days and shared in my brightest joys.  These people are irreplaceable and I know God has blessed me with them for a reason.

·       I am grateful for a career in agriculture which allows me to work with some of the best people in the world, those who would give you the shirt off their backs and invite you to supper.  Farmers are some of the most humble, honest, and caring people and I pray for all of them. 

·       I am grateful to be me, with all of the wisdom and knowledge that I have acquired in my few short years and I pray that I have the ability to be open to whatever may come my way in the years to come.  I pray that I will be open to new opportunities, have the courage to take risks and the strength to pursue my dreams with love.

·       I am grateful to have grown up on a dairy farm where I was taught values and morals that have helped me to be the best person that I can be, caring about my community and environment.  I am truly grateful for all of the times this farm offered me the opportunity to show love to people, to animals and to the land.

My father shared some precious wisdom growing up.  On Thanksgiving, many years ago, we worked as a family to get milking and chores done as quickly as possible so we could enjoy a huge family meal, made by my mother, with my aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents.  After a few hours we had to leave our company and return to the barn for milking and chores, which we also did as a family.   As we walked out to the dairy barn I will always remember the words my father said: “I am thankful to be able to go to the barn and do chores at the end of Thanksgiving Day!  How else can you work off all of those calories and still have room for another piece of pie?”  I sure do love my father!  Thanksgiving Blessings to All!

A Time to be Thankful

It's been a little while since I last posted, unfortunately I lost my Grandmother over a week ago, and was busy with the events that came with her passing.  But from the combination of this loss and the coming Holiday, I had some time to reflect on what I am truly thankful for....

In life, we enjoy the presence of some very special people.  People who help develop who we are. not through their directions or orders, but through their example.  My Grandmother was and is still that person in my life.  We hear that "you never know how important a person is until they are gone", but I know that my family was well aware of how important our Grandmother was when she was here.  This Thanksgiving we celebrate without her here, but at the same time we know her spirit is with us.  There are so many moments in my life that Grandma was there.

As a child, she would often babysit me and my siblings.  We looked forward to spending time with her, hearing her stories about cousins from far away, looking at her pictures, enjoying her delicious cookies (she was the best cook I will ever know!) and her hugs.   She would let us play as we wished, and if we accidentally broke something, she would forget it, as she was mostly happy that we were there with her. 

As a dairy farmer's wife, she knew all too well the struggles that would face me as I told her that I was planning to return home to farm with my husband, a few years ago.  She shared so much wisdom about making sure that we always remembered the most important things in life: God and family.  She shared how proud she was of me to be working so hard to produce a wholesome food for the people of the world.  Dairy farming is a noble profession, and she knew that.  I wasn't wasting my college education, I was working to do something great; she knew that.

She had faith and passion for her God.  Grandma was always praying for her kids, grand kids and friends.  If there was something in life we needed help with, we would ask Grandma to pray for us, and she always did.  Just knowing that she was praying offered us so much encouragement and confidence. She attended church almost everyday with my Grandpa.  She enjoyed 63 years of marriage and 92 years of life, surrounded by the people that loved her most.  She stood as a role model for all of us to be humble, modest, honest, prayerful, loving, caring, and responsible.  I can honestly say that there are so many lessons in life that I learned just from looking up to Grandma, and how she would have handled them.  I joked with my sisters last week, that we need to ask ourselves, "What would Grandma Do?" whenever we were challenged in life; hoping to become better people, more like her.  So this Thanksgiving, I am truly thankful to have known a person as wonderful as my Grandmother, she will be missed, but she will also always be with us....God Bless You Grandma!

Things we are Thankful for...

Every year I try to sit down and reflect on the things that we (Jonathan and I) are most thankfull for in our lives and in the past year. So since I started blogging, I thought it would be a great idea to post our list:

1. God: Thankful that we have a deep faith in God and that no matter what life brings our way, we can depend on him to help us through it. On a farm this may be a daily event, so faith in God is critical.
2. Each other: It's especially nice to be able to depend on each other. When we have bad days and yell at each other, it's nice to know that we will always be able to make up and move on with life, with each other. I don't know what I would do if I didn't have Jon-he's been my best friend for almost 10 years already~!
3. Family: we are so thankful that we have a family that loves us and supports us, and even though they can be a little annoying from time to time, we know that they are always there and in our corner.
4. Our Farm: We are truly grateful to be able to live on a farm. What a great future we can provide out kids someday! A farm is an awesome place to see all of the wonders that our Lord can provide as well as a great school to teach some of life's best lessons.
5. Our Cows: Yes, we sure are thankful for those darn cows! How could we not be thankful for them? With great love, we care for them and we know that the better job we do caring for our cows the greater their care for us. It's a priviledge to be blessed with the care of one of God's great creature....each with their own indearing personalitites.
6. Fellow Farmers: Without the friendship of our neighbors and fellow farmers, some days would be unbearable. We are truly thankful for them and the good work that they do as well. As less than 2% of the nation's people are farmers, we know we are part of a small group of people that feed the world...we are thankful for their hard work and the food that they provide.
7. Our Consumers: Thank you for your support of our products. Thank you for serving your kids 3 servings of Dairy each day to provide them their daily requirement of calcium. Thank you for enjoying cheese, milk and yogurt as nutritious snacks! We are very grateful for your support and hope to continue to supply you with safe, quality, wholesome products this coming year.
8. Our Leaders: Without leaders, we could have no followers....thanks to those who are leaders in government, religion and in the ag community...your leadership is inspiration to the rest of us, working hard each day!

So many things to be thankful for! Make sure as you gather with your family and friends tomorrow to say a couple prayers for those who worked so hard this past year to help put food on your plate. It's not an easy job, but we do it every day to feed our consumers like you!

Have a very Happy Thanksgiving from Orange Patch Dairy!

Shannon and Jonathan