There was a time in my life when a 40-hour workweek felt heavy. When 8–5 inside a climate-controlled building felt like all I could handle. When I believed that climbing the ladder, chasing titles, and trying to be “someone big and important” was the purpose I was meant to pursue.

A decade in finance will do that to you. You get caught up in numbers, metrics, expectations, and, honestly, a whole lot of noise.

And then God whispered…
“Daughter, this isn’t where your roots grow.”

Fast forward to today — I traded my heels for muck boots, my climate-controlled office for the winter wind that freezes my eyelashes, and my 8–5 schedule for what I lovingly call the 4 a.m. to 9 p.m. life of a full-time farmer.

And somehow? This “ALOT” feels lighter on my soul than any office job ever did.

The Trade-Offs Nobody Talks About –

Working for yourself — especially on a farm — is a different rhythm entirely. There’s no PTO, no snow days, no calling in sick because you’re tired. The cows don’t clock out, the chores don’t pause, and winter doesn’t care how busy your week already was.

I went from warm offices to popsicles dancing on my nose, from spreadsheets to feeding calves in sideways snow, from conference calls to checking waterers in the dark with a phone light.

It’s grit.
It’s grace.

It’s faith held together with frozen fingers and muddy boots. But it’s also purpose — real, God-given purpose — the kind you don’t question when you finally taste it.

A Leap of Faith
Leaving “security” to run a farm full-time felt risky. It felt wild. It felt like stepping off a cliff and just trusting that God would catch me on the way down.
But He did what He always does…
He provided.
He opened the right doors.
He guided the next step before I even saw it.
I thought I was leaving behind a career.
Turns out, I was stepping into a calling.
Because sometimes God leads us away from what we thought we wanted — to give us what we were made for.

This Life Is Hard… but It’s Holy
Working these winter hours isn’t easy. Some days it’s bone-tired, breath-frozen hard. But there is beauty in the simple, the honest, the raw. There is peace in watching the sunrise over a frosty pasture. There is joy in caring for God’s creatures. There is purpose in being exactly where He planted me.

When I look back, I realize:
40-hour weeks seemed long…
Until I learned what meaningful work actually felt like.

Scripture to Carry This Season
Colossians 3:23
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord…”

A Prayer:
Lord, thank You for the doors You close and the ones You boldly swing open. Thank You for the courage to step into callings that don’t always look like success to the world, but feel like purpose to our souls. Give me strength in the hard days, gratitude in the long days, and faith in every season You walk me through. Amen