The soil and the soul. Our mission is to plant seeds not only in the soil but also in farm guests’ soul and heart. We want to touch people’s lives positively as a witness for Christ who lives in us. The only One who can provide peace, love, joy which so much of the world is literally dying for. 

I will sing to the Lord, because He has dealt bountifully with me. Psalm 13:6 

Our story.

I, Christa, have wanted to write this for a while now but with farming and the busyness of life distraction got in the way.

I, along with my brother, grew up in the mountains of North Carolina. My father was from Florida his father being vice president of National Airlines later to become Pan Am Airlines. Their family lived in a gated upper class golfing community. On the opposite end of the spectrum was my mother who was raised Amish so the difference in live style was drastically different. When visiting our grandparents in Florida everything seemed so fancy and well-groomed having all the nice amenities one would expect in that area. Visiting my Amish grandmother (my grandfather passed when my mother was young) in Topeka, Indiana was starkly different with no electricity, farming everywhere and such a simple calm peaceful quiet way of living. I’d love to walk in the barn to see the chickens, Holstein cows, and smell the hay. I have fond memories of visiting both and they left impacts on my life especially my Amish relatives with farming which would prove true to where we are today.

Growing up was pretty good though with some family disfunction as I am sure is in many families was present. Then the split was declared and a divorce settled by my parents which led me to unfortunately get into the wrong crowd of friends that led me in a direction not pleasing to myself or God, one that I would regret for a long time.  The lyrics “Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God. Oh, it chases me down, fights 'til I'm found, leaves the ninety-nine” from the song “Reckless Love” by Cory Ashbury fits me perfectly. He left the 99… for me. Me? Who am I? Nothing without Him… JESUS.  I now have no shame because of Jesus alone and am completely forgiven and free. Free. In place of regret I was given peace, love, and JOY.

Fast forward to meeting Brad. I had been on a few dates with a guy just here and there nothing serious. One day I abruptly woke up and sat straight up from a nap with a message “I have someone I picked especially for you and I want you to wait for him.” I realize this sounds wild I agree and never have I before or after had a message like this, I knew it was from God. I also, from the message, knew the man I had been on a few dates with was not “the one”. I met Brad when I was 20 years old, and within about 1.5 months we were engaged and within about 8.5 months we were married. The saying “when you know you know” is so true.  If you’re reading this don’t settle, you’ll pay for it later if you do and who wants to waste their precious time of youth? Search the Lord, get yourself in order and established in Him as your foundation.

We ended up having 3 amazing children who are, beside Jesus and each other, the best gifts we could have ever dreamed of.  Many people opt in for the decision to not have children which I feel is so sad as children bring the most love you could ever imagine.  I think our hearts just double with love for each child. It’s absolutely unexplainable. There are so many blessings and joy with children, I wish I would’ve had more.

Through our marriage we had several different events that stood out that were very challenging and very hard to work through. We were Christians through our whole marriage and I wouldn’t say we were lukewarm but not as close and established in Christ as we should’ve  been. It seems like when you face tough times you either draw closer or move farther away from Christ. When you find yourself in the midst of hardship and at the bottom of the barrel all you can do is look up. Step by step as we drew closer to God He turned our lives right side up, set us on solid ground, and equipped us to live not only in peace but more established in Him as well as each other and our family.

We never planned on being farmers. Never. It wasn’t even in our thoughts. Since early in our marriage, we always had chickens and honeybees but never really planned on much else. We had raised a few hogs over the years just for our own use and I had dreamed of one day having just one raw milk cow but never had any plans for it just a fluffy dream.

One year the demand for our eggs was high and we were in need of more eggs quickly, so we went to another farm who had adult hens for sale. He also had so many different kinds of animals including a dairy cow. I, just in passing, mentioned how I wanted to get a dairy cow one day and he said, “well I’ll sell her to you!” We were shocked and didn’t expect this offer, nor did we have any fencing up for a place for her. After discussing it together and thinking we could put just one single paddock in for her, we agreed to purchase her with the man. Well, when the fencing was installed and the time came to pick her up, we called saying “we’re ready to pick her up” the man said, “oh I’ve decided I can’t sell her.” Thrown for a loop we were too far invested and ended up getting a dairy cow from a well-established registered dairy about an hour away. The quality between the two cows were huge and we feel it was a blessing in disguise to have been able to get a cow of much greater quality. We’ve since purchased several from the same farm. It started there and has grown to what it is now. We’re always thinking and dreaming of new things to add, change or tweak. We want to be a spotlight in our hometown and wish to be a blessing touching lives with unique items and experiences full of laughter and memories to keep. 

Our marriage, faith, farm, home, animals – would not exist without God, we’ve witnessed so many amazing events and experiences through our lives and through different events and opportunities with the farm – ones that cannot be explained out… But God.