Right now I am taking a minute to step away from the craziness of this week. The sun is shining, it is in the near 60s and there is a light breeze. I can smell a mix of wet leaves from the morning dew and a fire that someone must have going in the neighborhood. The weather isn’t really chilly or cold, but I can’t resist wrapping myself up in my favorite orange soft blanket. As the sun beats down on me, I sit in my chair pondering my thoughts. I am at peace. The warmth soothes my troubled mind as if God himself is wrapping His arms around me letting me know that I am safe.
Life is a mix between the happy and sad, fair and unfair, hurt and healing, but what all these years of living has taught me is that time does not wait on anyone. We will experience ebbs and flows as we journey through this time we have here on Earth. What we do during that time is what makes this life enjoyable or unbearable. When I was younger I really enjoyed playing carelessly in the leaves and jumping in the huge piles my mom would rake up for me. The joy and excitement would sustain me at least for the rest of the day. How do I replicate that now? Would I find the same happiness and joy if I jumped in a pile of leaves now? Maybe. But what is it that brings me the unending peace and joy and liberation to be me, to be free from the stresses of this week, to not take on the burden of the hurt, the sad, or the unfair? There is only one answer that comes to mind that I find truly frees me from the constraints of this suffocating world. It’s God, it’s His word, and the freedom I get from having a relationship with Him.
I have been asked time and time again, “Jenn, what makes you happy? Why are your kids so good?” Trust me they have their days as all kids do. “How did you and Mike have such an amazing relationship together?” There is only one common link to it all. God. I don’t claim to have the perfect life, but I do know, spending time with God in the mornings has created a peace like no other. Both my children and husband start their days spending time with God and this has been a non-negotiable for our family by choice, not force. We have found that we are so much happier.
Even as I sit here and share my thoughts with you, my world is a mess. Loved one in the hospital, stress of flying during a pandemic, leaving my children when going on a business trip, managing the business, coaching others whose lives are a hot mess like mine, and making sure everything is in order, which in reality it’s not. Somehow, through all of this, I can say I am at peace. The devil does his best, but when I root myself in the promises of God’s word, I can only be excited, liberated, and at peace knowing that God is my sunshine on a new tomorrow. 
I know that some of you may not be believers, but when others want to know what makes up MY Healthy Homestead? This is a part of it. It all works together, good cooking, a mindful life, and my faith, to create who I was meant to be. A Christian, a loving mama, wife, and leader, and definitely a country girl at heart.
