Engaging in radically ordinary hospitality means we provide the time necessary to build strong relationships with people who think differently than we do, as well as build strong relationships from within the family of God. //
Your children are learning how to love and share the gospel with fluency and how to live it before a watching world.
– Rosaria Butterfield The Gospel Comes With A Housekey

Romans 12:13b “Practice Hospitality.”

“We do not want merely to see beauty, though, God knows, even that is bounty enough. We want something else which can hardly be put into words — to be united with the beauty we see, to pass into it, to receive it into ourselves, to bathe in it, to become part of it.”
C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory

There have been so many good books written about hospitality, so many studies (see my recent faves “The Gospel Comes With a Housekey” by Rosaria Butterfield, “Dinner Changes Everything” by Kelly Welk @ciderpresslane, and “Making Room” from @shereadstruth) and sermons and lessons…. and I love them. But opening our homes, hearts, and lives to our neighbors is easier in some seasons than others. There have been years when Steve and I excelled in this, but starting a farm business from scratch in 2012 took so much of our attention, and for the past 6-8 years this has been an area where I have truly struggled. 

Any small business owner knows how much mental and physical energy goes into just keeping the business going, and then there’s been the layer that our home is at our farm… And it’s incredibly hard to keep everything looking “just right“ for company while bootstrapping such an exposed and manual-labor oriented business. This has been our particular difficulty, but everyone’s got one. Every season can hold seemingly insurmountable obstacles to opening our doors and welcoming in our brothers and sisters. 

But the truth is God’s Word tells us to do it. It doesn’t say, “when it’s convenient,” or “when your home is perfect,” or “when you’re sure your kids will behave,” or “when you’re well-rested and have no need for copious amounts of under eye concealer so you don’t frighten your guests….” Seriously, I’ve waited for too many of these things! 

So this year we’ve committed to engaging more, to going ahead and inviting even when it’s hard. I am refusing to succumb to paralyzation when things aren’t perfect.

“Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling.” I Peter 4:8-9

See the birds who are singing in the spring air
They’re given everything they need
They don’t worry where their next meal will come from
They don’t worry bout a thing So just look around you And try to listen to the song creation sings And don’t you worry cause you’re in the hands Of the God who made everything

See the flowers in their colorful beauty
They’re dressed better than a king
They don’t worry about what they should wear, no
They don’t worry bout a thing So just look around you And try to listen to the song creation sings And don’t you worry cause you’re in the hands Of the God who made everything

Because you’re not a bird and you’re not a flower
You don’t have petals or wings
But there’s good news
You’re worth so much more
To the God who made everything

So when you worry ’bout today or tomorrow
And the storms that they might bring
Try to remember that you’re in the hands
Of the God who made every single thing
Just remember

You’re not a bird and you’re not a flower
You don’t have petals or wings
But there is good news
You’re worth so much more
To the God who made everything

Thank you @ellieholcomb for touching my heart so deeply over the years with your sweet, simple songs. @rainforroots 

And thank you @bigbenbender for capturing my work so magically. 📷✨

I Peter 5:6-7 “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”

This weekend I listened to a @typologypodcast where the host @ianmorgancron shared this question his wise sponsor posed to him when he was in a quandary. And now I can’t stop asking myself…. What would you do if you weren’t afraid? 

This weekend I listened to a @typologypodcast where the host @ianmorgancron shared this question his wise sponsor posed to him when he was in a quandary. And now I can’t stop asking myself…. What would you do if you weren’t afraid? 
What would you post if you weren’t afraid (of being misunderstood)?
Who would you call and talk to if you weren’t afraid (of rejection)?
Who would you call and ask to buy your product, if you weren’t afraid (of failure)?
What would you say no to if you weren’t afraid (of what people think)?
How would you be transparent and vulnerable if you weren’t afraid (of being hurt)?

My list of questions pours like a flood, and it hasn’t come close to stopping. I’m not sure where it will take me. Can you let your mind run on it for a while today? 
What would you do?

I John 4:18a There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.

Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you. Luke 12:27-31 

When I look over my shoulder and see my little lady making her own bouquet as she follows me in the flower fields, my heart overflows.
“Don’t forget to strip the leaves off, Mama!” she says with a grin.
When I help my growing boy harvest German chamomile to dry for his tea-making venture, and listen to him brainstorm how to rig up a home-made chamomile rake to make the job easier, I am filled with an intense joy.

One of the primary driving forces for the beginning of our farming adventure was our children. When we started building a small farming business from scratch, our son was 4-1/2, our daughter a 1-1/2 year old bundle of energy. We wanted our kids to know foundationally where food comes from, and were excited for this to be something they’d always known and experienced, not something that dawned on them one day. We wanted them to grow up around chickens and kittens and vegetables and dirt, and for them to be aware that they were a part of our farming team. We were so incredibly inspired to be at the farm for their early years. Now inspiration is one thing, but the daily working out of diapers and naps and planting and harvesting is quite another! Nurturing the littlest ones holds challenges for every parent.

We “accidentally” signed up for fairly-new-parent boot camp combined with the flower-farmer-florist learning curve! And while we wouldn’t trade our experiences from the past few years for anything, it definitely has held its challenges. The only way we’ve made it, slogging through this season of long days and short years, is through grace and balance and prayer (lots of prayer!).

Our kids are still fairly little, but at least for now most of the mind-numbingly hard, long days that are part of farming with tiny people are in the past. Our children are more independent day by day, our farm systems are more established each season, and I’ve found myself reflecting a lot lately on how we ever made it through the first few years of farming without throwing in the towel!

As I’ve reflected, a few things have started to stand out in my mind. For instance -Consistency is important.
-Keeping our eyes on our long-term goals (and actually taking time to set those goals!) is essential.
-Realizing that potty training will actually most likely occur before anyone gets married is key. 😂

But as I’ve given it more thought, I believe the true answer to “How in the world are we still alive, still sane, still farming?” lies in that we purposefully seek to live a balanced life. A healthy work-life balance (which is so often discussed in our culture that it has become a cliche) is tremendously hard to manage, and our family farming adventure is no exception. In some situations, our business grew more slowly because we rightly chose to meet immediate little-person needs rather than bend over backwards for the farm. At other times we skipped sleep and harvested by head-lamp (or head lights!) while they slept in order to meet deadlines.

It was (and often still is) a series of daily, in-the-moment decisions that added up one at a time to equal the balance we were desperately working for. Isn’t that what life is like, no matter our vocation or situation? Life is an accumulation of decisions, inches, steps that eventually become a way of life, a marathon run?

It was us trusting God to answer our prayers for wisdom about which decisions and directions were best moment by moment, and to give us grace for everything, from daily “moments” to our life-direction.

We are so thankful for this amazing opportunity to truly live life together as a family, and as time passes, I realize that I am thankful for ALL the moments and days – not just the pretty ones!

In our particular slice of farm life, we’re preoccupied with beauty. At @triplewrenfarms we grow and sell flowers in all kinds of ways, so choosing beautiful ones to grow, growing them well, and processing them carefully so they stay beautiful is a pretty important part of what we do. It would be easy to be distracted by the work and busyness of all that and forget to take time to just gaze on the concentration beauty that God has created here. 

When I do stop and just… look… and listen… it’s an amazing sensory experience. I often wonder, how did I get to live this life, where I swim in such beauty every day?? {more on that soon!}

I love the book of Zechariah. The JOY of God’s redemption of His people, the amazing promises that Jesus fulfilled {He’s our ultimate Shepherd (Zec 10:2)! Our example of true mercy and compassion (Zec 7:8-10)! Our life-Giver (Zec 14:8)!}, and the clear message of God as the Source of all that’s GOOD and BEAUTIFUL. 
Will you gaze on his character with me by taking just a moment today to look at the beauty of his creation and how it reflects Him? What an amazing Father He is!

And, if you like this picture, hop into our instagram stories and grab a screenshot of it for your phone lockscreen, and while you’re there, check out some of the beauty we’re enjoying at the farm!

Hello, friends! I’m Sarah Pabody, and I am so excited to have this space where I can share my heart with you. 

On this blog I hope to push past my fears and share windows into our family, farm life, my marriage, female entrepreneurship, and most importantly, my faith. I’ve found true inspiration throughout my life from like-minded women who have bravely and transparently opened their hearts and shared their stories.

My prayer and goal here is that you would also be inspired to grow in grace, to run to Jesus more quickly every day, to love your family with abandon, to live life to the fullest as you chase the dreams God has given you, and to enjoy beauty in your daily life. I’m cheering for you! Follow along and we’ll go on this adventure together.