If you've been reading my emails for awhile you may have heard this story before, and I’m not sure why I never made it a blog post before now!
In August of 2019 I pretty abruptly left my off-farm job. I had reached a point of burnout and childcare struggles that I couldn't do it anymore.
It was a risky decision. That job paid our bills, provided our health insurance, the vehicle I drove every day, my cell phone plan, retirement account, all of it.
It hadn't even been a year since we had our second baby and took out 2 mortgages to buy our farm, but somehow I knew it would be ok.
I knew the farm wouldn't be replacing my income anytime soon, but I had a specific financial goal for the year.
One of our mortgage payments is due as a lump sum on January 1st every year. I wanted the farm to make that payment 100% on it's own without having to put any of our personal off-farm earnings towards it.
So I'm at the last winter farmers market of the 2019 season. The market closes in 20 minutes. The farm payment is due the following week. I was SO CLOSE, but hadn't sold enough to cover the rest of the mortgage payment.
We had the money in personal savings thankfully, but not hitting that goal was leaving me with so much doubt about whether I made the right decision and if I should give up and go find another job.
What happened next still brings me to tears every time I think about it.
One of our customers showed up 15 minutes before the market closes, picks out a few items, then hands me her credit card and asks me to also load 12 gift cards. Those gift cards added up to almost exactly the amount I still needed to make the mortgage payment.
There was only $11 left in the farm bank account after the check cleared, but I made the mortgage payment with 100% farm income dollars.
I took this as a sign I was exactly where I needed to be, doing exactly what I was meant to be doing, and that I needed to keep going.
We can't thank you enough for being a supporter of our farm and family.
You're not just another order number or sale to us. We see you, we appreciate you, and we would not exist without people like you who value the work we do and go out of your way to shop with us.
We are honored that you choose to help us keep a roof over our heads, farmland under our feet, and give our girls the opportunity to grow up this way.
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