Don’t Give Up

When the two swathers driven by Clay and Cole pulled out of the barnyard together for the first time this weekend, I stood at the driveway and watched them go with tears rolling down my face.

These days you see our family living the “first-generation ranch” dream and things are going well. Our Red Angus herd has developed into a program we are so proud of. We’re producing our own hay, selling hay, and doing custom work for local farms. We’re in the startup phase of our online Ranch Goods Store, which is yet another way to diversify the operation. We’re busy every day, and it’s all been so good.

But what you don’t see today are all the years between 2005 (when we began) and now. 

There is no numerical, physical, or logical way to make sense of how we got here. I’m convinced that God did not want us to give up, even though the world kept telling us to. Every single professional we hired or advisor we worked with told us to quit, and that we needed to cut our losses. While everyone was saying there was no hope, Keith and I walked out of every single one of those meetings more determined to make things work than ever before. Truly, we both felt we weren’t supposed to quit.

The sound of the two swathers heading out to mow together…seeing our boys driving away, living this life their dad had dreamed of for his family… sure shook up some emotions! I know that we never know what tomorrow will bring, but we do know that the choice is ours to push ahead and keep trying.

 

 

I was so excited to follow the boys over to the field and get pics of the two machines mowing. Ironically, one got stuck and had a gearbox leak, so this is as close as I got, but I think it just goes right along with my point.

Don’t let discouragement talk you out of your dreams. Don’t listen to the people who say you can’t. Don’t let the setbacks make you quit, even though there will be more than you imagined. Keep dreaming, keep believing, and work harder than you thought you could. 

Most of all, don’t give up.