The latest from the homestead

You are standing in a room, and in that room are various doors with windows in them. Waiting for one of the doors to open you can see they all look amazing on the other side and you are wondering which one God will lead you through. As a wife and mama I'm anxious to make plans and set into motion living life behind any of those doors. We've been slowly grieving leaving Lake City, CO and at the same time becoming more and more excited about the prospects of living in North Park. It's beautiful country and the people here are honest, hard working individuals that don't shy away from challenge or their family and friends. I'm ready to be living life here, jumping into activities and getting to know people. 

We spent most of the month of May working on the Lake City home, taking down the green house, hay barn and turkey shed. We made a trip to Walden with all of our fencing materials. Turning right back around and stopping along the way to pick up Jordan's brother, Tyler, their mom and the two oldest nephews to help with staining the house and porch and continue to do other various projects around the house. I'm incredibly thankful for the work that was put in by them and my parents who graciously stayed in North Park to feed the ranch's bottle calves, working on a milking stand for me and finish the curtains for the kids rooms!

During this month Rachael and I did a water challenge on Facebook and this was so helpful for me as I needed to stay healthy during this time and it kept me on track to use my supplements daily as well. Here are my go to's for busy mamas:

1) Ningxia Red

2) Inner Boost and Balance

3) Vitality Drops - Jade Lemon Berry +energy

We use so much from Young Living on a daily basis that sometimes it doesn't occur to me that people use other items that honestly don't work or only kind of work. If you are ready to try something that REALLY works, grab the three items above, take them consistently for 30 days and see how you feel. I always feel so much better when I stay on top of taking my supplements. What is even better? They all taste amazing!!!

Oh! if you put these on a monthly subscription (loyalty order) you get a 24% discount. It doesn't lock you in, if you decide you don't want it or want something different you can change it, easy peasy. Finally, if you spend a certain amount with loyalty order, you get free products and earn "points", I call them Young Living dollars, to spend on all most any products you want. Here are the freebies this month: 

For more information on them, click the picture.

Want an opportunity to just hangout and chat with the sisters? We are planning some times this summer for just that, but we will be pushing pause on a class for those times until after the summer. However, questions always come up and we still wanted to be available for those who would like answers. Stay tuned for those upcoming dates and times. Let us know what days and times work for you, so you can have your questions answered live!

Here’s our first Shop Talk! I’ll send out a link later this next week.

 

Don’t forget to tell us what days and times work for you to hangout and Shop Talk AND what questions do you have for us. It could be anything from health and wellness to homesteading and animal care or relationship advice! 

Have you ever felt uncertain about your future? Any moment could result in a job change, a move or a loss of some sort? Since last fall we have been in that state of being unsure where we are going or what we are doing. For us the cloud moved in December (being God moving us to Walden, CO). We didn’t officially move the kids, me and the animals until March as housing wasn’t available until then. 

Now, the end of April and we are in a situation, again, where we don’t know if we are staying or going! There are moments where I’m irritated, frustrated, and sad. We uprooted and came to a place where it is uncertain again! As I read through my Bible this morning I was reminded of God’s faithfulness to the Israelites. That same faithfulness is granted to believers even now! “We are rooted in the story of God’s faithfulness to Israel. Our sufferings and trails are not evidence of His failure to care for us but an invitation into deeper faith in Christ Jesus, the risen and resurrected One.” (1st 5 Hosea study: It May Not Be Absurd, Dr. Joel Muddamalle).  

We’re finally based out of Walden, CO! Praise God all the animals and such are in one place now, but we still have a lot of things to move. I have a lot to update you all on and it’s a combination of life changes, business updates and parables! Depending on what you want updated on, I’ll do headers so you can read everything or just scroll on by to what you really want to know about.

I cleaned and organized more than I thought I could! Rachael, my sister and I, ran a challenge group this last month. 14 days of a cleaning challenge, but many of us loved it so much we decided to continue in the group until the end of this month! We cheered each other on and celebrated our wins. You can still get an overview by heading here: Overview

Tomorrow Rachael and I will be running our Shop Talk/Zoom Talk at 5pm MT. These shop talks have been amazing and truly just like hanging out together, chatting about life and then having a class about a specific topic. Here’s the rundown:

5pm - 5:30pm: Shop Talk - this is what is different from any other Zoom class you’ll go to. This is a time for your questions to be answered, and for all of us to dialogue about life.

5:30pm We start a specific topic and tomorrow night it is Sip and Shine. This also comes with another challenge group and prizes are included!  

On top of attempting to get everything moved we were hit with another unexpected possible life change. In the last month we learned that some people in the town were very disgruntled with the current sheriff and decided to pursue recalling him. They managed to get the necessary signatures and now a recall is underway. You may think this wouldn’t affect us but it actually does. The undersheriff, which is Jordan’s job, is closely tied to the sheriff. He serves at the pleasure of the sheriff. In other words, if a sheriff is done, then his undersheriff, most likely, is done as well. This leaves not only the sheriff in uncertainty about his future but also Jordan and I too! Considering what we just came from, within the Lake City political realm, it’s almost laughable that we find ourselves in a similar position. So, you can pray for us and the community here. The recall election is mid-June, so we should know in a month or so what our future looks like. We would love to stay here, but we know ultimately our future is up to God and we will wait for His leading. 

We loaded up the sheep and managed to wrestle Connie, our guardian dog, into the back of the trailer with the sheep. I headed out with all the kids in tow as well. For some of these sheep they hadn’t been in a trailer for several years. We stopped in Gunnison to top off on diesel, chatted with a gentleman who had never touched a sheep before and got to pet ours through the trailer. The joy on that man’s face from touching a “real life sheep” was fun to see. As I peeked in on the sheep I realized one of our older ewes was laying down and some of the other sheep were standing on her! I of course thought the worst, climbed in there with them and got to her. She was breathing heavily and looked like she “thought” she was dying. I grabbed ahold of her and picked her up, setting her on her feet. She looked around, astonished, as if she realized she wasn’t dying. I laughed as I realized that as believers we often think we are dying within the circumstances God has placed us (the trailer for our ewe), but upon closer examination and God coming in to pick us up and set us back on our feet, we realize we are not dying. We maybe uncomfortable in our circumstances in the moment but we are not dying. God has us in that place for a reason and we may not understand but we do need to trust. 

As we continue in the uncertainty of our life we know God has us in this uncomfortable position for a reason and we trust Him. This also helps us realize that the people involved in these circumstances are just tools God is using to move us and make us more Christ like. Just as God uses us to make those around us more Christ like. As much as I sometimes don’t want to walk in the Spirit in these situations, I know it is necessary. Sometimes God has to come along, grab ahold of us and set us back on our feet. You are not dying, get up! 

Join us tomorrow tonight! Shop Talk 5pm MT.

It’s true! We are officially moving, this month. We also moved in March of 2020 to the home we’re leaving now and March of 2018 back from Russia. So, there must be something about March. God has provided a rental for us! It even has a barn and corrals for the animals. We are still praying for housing, not just for us, but also for Karen. We have gone from her being able to live right next to us, part time, to no home for her to come too. Since her husband passed away, she has been able to live next to us, in her own home, or with Jordan's brother and sister in law in Texas. It has been an ideal set up, but that is now changing.

So, how did this move come about? Well, Jordan was contacted by the sheriff for Jackson county after he sent in his resume. We had a conversation with Jarod and after a few days of prayer and waiting we heard back that he wanted Jordan to be his undersheriff! The details and how it all happened is nothing less than God’s leading. Jordan has already started working and has been commuting, which is a long commute. He travels up for the work week, stays in a hotel and then travels back for his weekend. He is having to learn more, as this sheriff’s office has its on jail and dispatch. He’s already busy and has been pursuing getting to know some of the folks in the community. The difficulty though is that he is packing up, traveling up there, working, then having to pack back up and come back; only to turn around and do it all over again. This is taxing, emotional and mentally, but we know God has a purpose and plan for this time. However, this time is coming to a close! We are excited to finally be back together again, but also sad about leaving the community that we have been apart of since 2004, except for the 3 years we spent in Russia. We know God is moving us to minister in this community now and are excited to see what He has in store for us. 

In the midst of preparing to move we have battle multiple illnesses as many families have this season. I have gone through alot of natural remedies these last couple of months. As I reflect on that and how I managed recovering my family from these issues, I couldn't help but think I use to feel somewhat helpless as my babies dealt with a cough or fever. We've used the normal over the counter remedies and I can confidently say that what we do now is more effective. Yes, I'm not a doctor and have only had EMT training, but I have years of experience and 5 kids. Lots of stories and contacts who are well versed in the medical field and still use the same natural remedies I do. Please reach out to me, if there is something you need to help with! 

This latest struggle with respiratory issues I was taken aback by, as I used and did everything I normally did in the past and it wasn't really cutting it. As I was thinking and praying and doing some reading, I came across some information on putting cedarwood on the bottoms of the feet. Then, I found a "flip kit" in my garage! This was a full kit I had purchased a couple of years to use to sell on the spot to a customer and then we would have the kit they sign up for sent back to me so I could have another available for another customer. I was so thankful to find it and was reminded how the oils in that kit, really are the ones to get you started on supporting your health and wellness. I grabbed the frankincense and R.C. out of it and found my recently purchased bottle of raven. I applied raven to the upper back and frankincense to the upper chest. We used R.C., which stands for Respiratory Care, in a bowl of baking soda and put that in a hot shower. This is what finally turned things around. As some of my other kiddos caught the same thing, I used this new strategy and had great results. Once again, these things are not verified by the FDA, I'm not a doctor, but what I do for our health and wellness works! If you are wanting to grab that starter bundle, do it now! I'm here to help walk you through how to use everything and don't forget to sign up to stay in the loop. 

Also, don't forget! We have another Shop Talk coming up soon! March 17th. From 5-5:30pm MT will be when you can bring your questions to my sister and I. We'll "talk shop" and give you our experience and wealth of information. Then, at 5:30pm, Rachael will cover: Clean Spring Cleaning. If you missed our last shop talk, check out the replay here: What Your Cycle is Telling You.

Finally, if you are on Loyalty Rewards, here are the freebies this month: 

We’ll keep you updated! 

In Christ’s Love,

Becca Maria

We've got news! Do you know what shop talk is? Most of you probably do and in whatever work field you are in, there is probably shop talk going around. We live in a society though that doesn't do a lot of shop talk anymore. We are online, even at our workplaces! So, my sister, Rachael, created a monthly space for us to have Shop Talk. She is the one who encouraged (I mean told me) to get a Young Living essential oils kit and I did. It changed the way I look and health and wellness. It really was my gateway drug how chickens are the gateway drug to getting sheep or goats or gardening or a baby cow. Take your pick. Here's the deal, we want you to join us for Shop Talk. Bring your questions, thoughts and just conversation and every month we'll be talking about what you want to talk about in regards to your health and wellness. We are big on preventative help and no we aren't doctors, but we are mom's, wives, sisters, cousins, and friends that have a WEALTH of information that can help you. We did our first Shop Talk on the 17th and if you missed it, that was my fault and I'm so sorry because it was soooooo good. Rachael shared how our monthly cycles can tell us what we are missing in our bodies. Catch the replay here: Shop Talk

Our next Shop Talk will be March 17th, 5pm MT doors open and "shop talk" 5:30pm MT will start a discussion topic that you all have said you want to talk about. This is going to be amazing! 

Speaking of our cycles and our health "down there", wanted to jump in and talk about something that happened to me, that has NEVER happened to me before. I got a UTI for the first time in my entire life. I know shocking as most women experience them quite frequently. So, what did I do? Recommendations are that you drink plenty of water, grab some OTC meds and drink some cranberry juice. In severe cases you have to take antibiotics. Well, if you know me, you know that I immediately went to my essential oil desk reference. Antibiotics can destroy your gut and then it takes a hot second to build back up your microbio in your gut. I set to work and in a couple of weeks was feeling much better. Hot compress over the lower abdomen with castor oil, tea tree, frankincense, lemon, and myrrh. That corn sack was my best friend! I did hot baths with epsom salts and baking soda. Of course lots of water and extra ningxia red helped to boost my immune system as well. I also had deep relief on hand to roll on my lower abdomen when it was super uncomfortable. The last thing I did was start drinking dandelion root tree as my first hot drink in the morning. I love my hot coffee because it's cold here in the mornings, but I had read that caffeine can hinder the healing, so I knew I had to cut back. It probably has been the best thing for me as it made me cut back even more through out the day. The last recommendation, of course, is sleep. Your body is fighting of an infection and when that is happening you have to slow down. Most of us are driven people and want to get as much done through out the day as possible, but when we're sick, we have to rest to get better quickly. Finally, here's a link to the products I used: UTI

Please let me know what health questions you have, or homesteading or homeschooling. I happy to discuss anything really.