Mommin' Through Life

If you think you're too small to have an impact, try going to bed with a mosquito in the room. — Anita Roddick I recently discovered that quote on a Facebook page of a very close friend.  Each day we face challenges, opportunities, and circumstances that sometimes make us feel as big as a moose or as small as a tiny mosquito.  We tend to either become bogged down with the feeling of guilt, failure, stress, etc., or, depending on the situation, we feel like we are soaring on wings of eagles and it almost seems as if things are falling into place as each day is brought to us.   Now, some of you may think that things that come your way are circumstances that you "deserve", (positive or negative), however, when we really think about the society that we live in, I find too often that that "deserve" word is full of selfishness.  Whether it is in the show ring, workforce, within your own family, etc., is there really anything in life that we deserve?   It make...

As the holiday season approaches, things seem to get extremely busy around the farm!  It seems this time of year equipment tends to break more often, cows tend to become lazy on their milk production, and   those cows that are due to calve decide to do so on the coldest, snowiest night possible.  I arrived on the farm for my three week Christmas break from classes at Purdue on Friday.  During my breaks, my dad always decides to take advantage of me (which I don't blame him) being home by either cleaning out the sheds, hauling cattle, paying bills, etc., all while I milk.  I am usually assisted by my younger sister which always helps the milking go a bit more smoother when there are two milking. There are times I wish the cows knew how to milk themselves, but then I think how proud God must be when His children want to care for his animals.  These bovine creatures can't really prepare their own food and milk themselves, a...

It was quite an eventful night at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, IN, Wednesday, December 16.  The American Dairy Association of Indiana hosted a special event for the dairy farmers of Indiana to show their appreciation. With over 400 Indiana dairymen and women attending this event, these farmers should be more familiar as to how their check-off dollars are used.  The event was held to show appreciation for dairy farmers’ support of the dairy check-off program, while enjoying food and fellowship.  Not only did dairy farmers get to feast on an array of pizza, a cheese buffet, milk and ice cream, they also got to meet a special guest, Miss America 2009 Katie Stam, who calls Seymour, Indiana her home. Important not to miss anything during this event, cameras flashed, individuals chatted and stomachs were filled.  Meeting many farmers from Indiana, many were interested in letting the public know why they attended this event, why this promotion was important a...

Recently submitting my first assignment for an agriculture newspaper, The Farmer's Exchange, getting to experience that overwhelming feel of accomplishment is a feeling unlike any other.  I was thrilled when I got asked to cover Hoosier Beef Congress this past weekend, and felt like I was on top of the world.  My nerves were all worked up in anticipation for the event that could possibly be the start of something great.  With my sisters attending the event with me, I felt more confident knowing that if I screwed up, they would be there to help me figure out what went wrong. Being a dairy girl, I had never attended Hoosier Beef Congress, but had known many individuals who had been there whether it was to participate in the showing events or just to go spend some money shopping at one of the greatest places in the world to shop!  However, I had seen beef shows take place at the county and state levels, but to me,  this event was something completely different th...

George MacDonald once said, "Instead of a gem, or even a flower, we should cast the gift of a loving thought into the heart of a friend, that would be giving as the angels give." Give generously, for your gifts will return to you later. Ecclesiastes 11:1 After spending time with a famliy who I consider a part of my family, I realized that as dairy farmers, we go through almost seemingly more heartbreak and losses than anyone else.  There are less fortunate individuals out there, but at times when things happen suddenly and unexpectedly we are at a loss for words and feel like we are trapped in a tunnel.  Wanting to try to figure out how to get out of the tunnel but having little motivation to do so, we begin to turn to our close friends and family members for encouragement.  Not only are dairy farmers struggling to meet ends meet, but there are some out there that are dealing with the loss of very special cows, broken water lines and other sorts of tragedys.  I ...

Have you ever really wanted to get to know someone or get in contact with someone, but were afraid to because you had never talked to them or even met them?  Well, a few months ago I was in that position.  I knew I needed to get in contact with this individual, but thought why would she want to talk to me?  I am just a college student with dreams that I'm not sure will come true.  After numerous people had informed me that I needed to talk to Melissa Hart, I finally gave it a shot. Reading her blogs daily, not only on Dairy Agenda Today, but also on her knolltopfarmwife blog, I receive these little inspirations after each blog I read.  Something about Melissa connects with me and I had this deep desire within me to email her.  In my email, I said something along the lines that I loved reading her blogs daily, gave her a little bit of background information about me and then asked her about a couple other things.  I anticipated her reply back to my em...

As I was waiting for my car to get its tire fixed, a lady who was having issues with her tire walked into the office and said, "I'm here for my weekly flat!" The past three weeks, she had been fixing her tire by herself putting air into it, but the problem never seemed to be solved until she brought it to where it could be fixed right.  Often times we do that with our own lives.  We think we can solve all of our problems on our own and when circumstances don't get better we can't figure out what is wrong.  It is then that we think there must be someone/something bigger and better that can help make our issues right.      As this lady said, "I'm here for my weekly flat!", I begin to think how much God would love to hear each one of us tell him not just weekly but daily, "I'm here for my daily fill!"  How much better could our lives be if we would just go to him daily with our problems? Being a child of a dairy farmer, we are chall...