Tag Archives: homestead

Tuesday Homestead Update

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A week from today, exactly 10 minutes after I posted last weeks update, I fractured my ankle. It was not a fun way to end that really peaceful morning. But it happened, and now we are just working around it. And by “we” I really mean my poor husband. He is picking up the slack like a champion all while tending to me. He is pretty incredible. But on to the important stuff, our homestead.

This week things have gotten exciting. We got to harvest some of our black cherry tomatoes. One of our green bean plants is about ready to be harvested as well! Its so exciting to see some of our hard work paying off already.

I took a class and did some research to learned how to use my essential oils in the garden for pest control, companion planting, and weed control. Its pretty interesting what these tiny vials of concentrated oils can do for us!

So we sprayed lavender oil at the roots of our other green bean sprouts to help them produce more beans. We sprayed rosemary oil around the perimeter of the gardens to keep the cats from using the soil as a litter box. We also mixed up a bug control recipe that won’t poison us when we eat our veggies! Pretty amazing huh?

In regards to our vegetables with vines, we skillfully planted them at the edges of our garden, so we just continue to encourage them to grow out of the garden. Instead of growing all over our other plants. Its so funny because when the spaghetti squash tried to fall over to vine out, I thought it was trying to die, so I kept picking it back up and adding more dirt to make it stand. My husband had to stop me! I was determined to not let my favorite plant die. But, come to find out, it was just doing what it is supposed to be doing.

As for our animals, they are all doing wonderfully! I mixed up a bug spray for our horse from my essential oils and she is very appreciative. We have oregano vitality on hand for any chicken illnesses in the future. Better to be safe than sorry! The meat chickens have grown so well that I would love to get more, however that will have to wait until I heal. And our little turkey babies are adorable and strong! They are so different from our chickens, its funny to watch.

If any one is interested in getting some essential oils to help with their garden,or tips and tricks, let me know! These are amazing to have on hand. Its so nice to know we are serving happy healthy vegetables to our family. No pesticides or chemicals in our house or outside of our house. Its a nice feeling.

God Bless

Grace Revival Homestead

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Couch Arrest

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This is not what I do. There are animals to feed, gardens to weed, eggs to collect, a house to look after, children to chase. I do not have time to sit on this couch while my leg heals. BUT apparently, that’s what I am doing anyway.

At first, I was kind of ok with the forced rest I’m on. Then an hour passed and I realized just how long a sitting hour is. It is LONG, and boring, and frustrating.

Having to sit and ask for people to do the things around the house that I normally do is a hard pill for me to swallow. One because I do struggle with control. Two because I should be able to do it, but I can’t. And it drives me insane. However, this time really opens my eyes to the village mentality!

This is one of the busy seasons. We were hoping to get more meat chicks and purchase some meat rabbits. Alot of our ideas are now on hold.

But, I am choosing to try and see what God is working on in me. There is always a reason for the seasons of life that we go through. Instead of sitting here stewing over the things I cannot do, I am choosing today to start celebrating the things I can still do.

I can show more love and attention to my children. I can spend more time in the Word. I can dig deeper in my studies of Jewish culture. I can devote more time for praying for my tribe of people and the chaos in the world. I have the time to sit and let God work on me. Change me. Remove the nasty world from me and replace it with Him.

This couch is a hard spot for me to sit all day long, but I’m determined to turn this around for the glory of God. I mean, He does work all things out for His glory anyway. Might as well bend to His will so its not really painful for me!

So, there is a small update on our life. Everything is running as ‘smoothly’ as possible at the moment. This down time does give me more time to write, so that will be nice for the blog! And probably humorous to all of you. Until next time!

God Bless

Grace Revival Homestead

AND It Broke….

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My ankle. Not all the way, just a fracture. But painful none the less. And I injured it in the most silliest way possible. Trying to chase my daughter to wipe my dirty hands on her shirt. Let me explain!

Yesterday, I was sitting outside, writing a blog post to update everyone on our homestead, just enjoying the peaceful day God blessed us with. I spot my horse and decide to bring her an apple to enjoy.

After she messily finishes her apple, my hand is covered in horse slobber and mashed up apple bits. So I turn to my daughter and proceed to taunt and chase her with my nasty hand. Trying to wipe it on her shirt.

Which led to me stepping into a hole, mid sprint/pivot, and hearing a pop then falling to the ground. It was terrible! Of course, my son and daughter run to my rescue. My son drops to his knees and begins praying for my ankle, while my daughter panics and runs around the yard. Poor child did not know how to handle momma in pain.

So I send her to get my mother in law, who lives next door, and we hobble me into the house. A few hours later, I’m splinted up and leaving the hospital wondering how to handle a homestead on crutches?….Thank God for both my momma and my mother in law for tending to me and the kids. It takes a village guys!

Now here I am this morning, watching a storm blow through with my leg propped up. Thank God because now I dont have to water the garden (God had my back there!)

So to everyone out there, life took a crazy turn, but I am not to worried. God has a reason for every thing. This is just another episode of Grace Revival Homestead!

God Bless

Grace Revival Homestead

Diaversary Day!

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So a few days ago, we celebrated my sons “Diaversary”. If you do not know what this is, then you are blessed! If you do know what it is, feel free to comment your diaversary date so I can send you some celebratory stuff on the date! But any who, it is the anniversary of his diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes (T1D).

I had plans to make it super special. Low carb cake, balloons, rides to places he enjoys. However, the entire world is shut down right now (thank you Covid-19). So my plan was a stay at home party of five. THEN we woke up and realized his insulin pump had shut off last night…that’s not good. Apparently his sugar spiked right at bedtime due to a small head injury after dinner (no worries, it only bled a little!). That sugar spike caused his alarm to go off all night. Which then led to his battery going from 50% to 0% in the middle of the night.

Talk about a long night for everyone, except him. I started using some essential oils on my children and now they can literally sleep through anything. I have even moved a dresser while tripping over toys inside their room, and no one budged! (Thank you Peace & Calming) Those oils are truly a life saver for a mom of a diabetic child and a toddler who share the same room. the alarm wakes the toddler and then no one goes back to sleep.

So anyway, back on task Stephanie! His insulin pump died, which causes his CGM to disconnect from his pump, and it stops reading how much insulin he has in his pump. It kind of snowballed by 7 that morning. All before I had even consumed coffee! I was overwhelmed, exhausted, and done with the day. So I did what any mom would do, I did the next right thing. (hello Frozen 2 song lyric).

We reset his pump, there was no saving that CGM connection, but luckily it stays connected to my phone too. So at least we have that. With him reconnected and that crisis kind of avoided, I sent the kids to the sand pile. I oiled up with some Stress Away and then joined them. BUT the craziness of this day was not yet over! My son meets me at the door holding his pump and attachments. his insulin pumped had gotten snagged on something and ripped completely out.

Luckily I had just put on Stress Away lol. So, we unhook everything, fill his pump up with more insulin, reinsert it into his little body, and try this outside thing one more time. Yall! I was at my limit of the day by this time. And it was only noon. I could feel the tension in my body, I could feel the shortness in my answers to the kids, I was not being the best version of myself.

Then my son did an amazing thing. He laid hands on me and started praying for me. My humble, wonderful 8 year old child prayed for my heart, my happiness, and for Jesus to help me to feel His love for me. As Wyatt was praying, my four year old son, Mason joined in. With both of my tiny children laying hands on me and praying for my sanity, I felt the layers of stress begin to melt away.

God began to minister to my heart and mind through the actions of these tiny humans. It was a humbling experience. And yes, I ugly cried. Hard. My children are the best blessing I ever received from God. They are truly faith builders and love connectors. Pure. Set apart. I learn about love and acceptance from them every day. Through the faith of my children, I was brought back to a place of perfect peace once again.

So, we finally celebrated his Diaversary in true us style, by swimming all day long and playing with baby chicks. By the time my husband got home with my surprise of chocolate covered pretzels, I was my normal happy, healthy self. We wished my son a happy 1 year Diaversary, told him all the ways we are proud of him and love him, then explained God’s love for him. Wyatt truly is a remarkable kid, his love for God is incredible and we are ready to conquer diabetes for another year.

God Bless

Grace Revival Homestead

BTW! If you are interested in any of the oils I mentioned, shoot me an email or comment below. I’d love to help other mommas find peace in the night and relaxation during the day!

The Mountaintop

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So I took a small sabbatical from life while I learned how to survive the valley I was apparently still in. And now that I am standing on the mountaintop, overlooking everything that was supposed to take me out, I am content.

Its a marvelous thing when you are on the mountaintop. We went through a 3 year valley, and it was tough. But standing on the mountaintop, seeing the blessings of God fall on our family, makes every tear worth it.

From here, I can see how much I learned in our valley. We all grew deeper roots in Christ’s love. We all grew more perseverance. We all learned how to surrender our wills to God’s will for our lives. It was an amazing experience.

One I dont want to necessarily repeat, but I would do it again to learn the lessons I learned. The valley is hard and dark and scary. But it is needed. If you find yourself in a valley today, here is my advice.

Embrace your valley. Embrace the hardships, learn from your mistakes, and surrender to God. Let the tears fall. Feel all the emotions. Then ask God to give you His perspective, and follow His lead. He wont let you down. He will shape you into a greater person through this. Your testimony will be used for His glory. Bend to His will today.

And when you get back to the mountaintop, you get to look back at everything you survived! Its beautiful here đź’™

So, now to catch everyone up on how life is going. We have currently started fulfilling my dream of having a self sustaining homestead! I am absolutely in love with life right now. God has fully and completely blessed our life, our garden, our children, our finances, and our health. It seems like the world is in massive chaos all around us, but here we are in the perfect peace of Jesus Christ.

Get ready to start seeing some pretty routine posts from me again!

God Bless!

Grace Revival Homestead