Today I’m remembering this life-changing moment from almost exactly 4 years ago:
“Early in our 2017 flower season, a dear friend (@liketheriverfilms) stopped by the farm with his drone.
I was up to my eyebrows in weeds, trying to stay faithful on succession plantings, coordinating harvests and grocery orders, building beautiful weddings, making sure my little ones felt loved, secure, were well-fed, safe and sleeping enough, and I didn’t even realize he had taken photos.
Later that week, Steve stopped me in my bustling around and showed me this photo, and I 100% did not realize he was showing me OUR farm.
“Ohhhh, that’s beautiful,” I gushed, and he agreed. He asked me to look at the photo more closely.
“It’s so tidy and lush – it’s lovely,” I said, wondering a bit about why he was so focused on the photo when there was so much to do at the moment on our OWN farm.
“Sarah,” he said, with a meaningful look, “This is a picture of OUR farm.”
I was completely astounded. All I could manage to see was the never-ending task list, the piles of “farm junk” that I wished would disappear, the weeds and pests, unfilled ditches, and derelict buildings. But the farm in the photo was stunning, and it was ours.
This moment is forever etched in my mind, and the lessons are far-reaching. I was not seeing the forest for the trees, so consumed with the details that I couldn’t see the big picture. The photo marks a turning-point for me, when I determined I’d not be so bogged down by daily tasks that I’d forget to take time and remember the true loveliness that surrounds me.”
I believe that God is good, and that he is true, and also that he is beautiful. Beauty is important to him, and it should be to me, too. I am committed to creating as much beauty as I can, to filling my little world and the worlds of those I influence with it.
As a woman whose business it is to share beauty, it is too easy for me to get it all backwards, but I’m determined. I will do my best to spend time enjoying the early morning light on the flowers, intentionally spend time exploring the PNW with my children, take walks with Steve, look up at sunrise and sunset, and not forget the big picture.
