Back to the Homestead; An Exciting New Beginning down a Familiar Path

My name is Amy (Stewart) Bell and I am many things; a soldier, an artist, a farm girl, a businesswoman, and the list goes on. But above all, I am a mother of five precious gifts from God. Over the years (more than I typically like to admit), I have learned so many wonderful lessons. —Enter the Homestead…

An Introduction

Never being one to shy away from a new adventure, I have been blessed to have a variety of experiences under my belt. The composite of all of these experiences have built me and led me to my current position, down a new path once again. Well, maybe not so much a new path as an old path from a new point of view; our homestead.

I have just recently returned from my second tour of duty overseas; this time in Afghanistan. Having found myself a recently single mom directly before I deployed and a wounded warrior now that my tour is over, my life and my way of doing things had to be revisited.

Time to Reevaluate

First and foremost, I had to look at and determine what was most important in my life, define my goals and lay out a path to reach them. This is a skill that I learned from my father; planning and preparing, meticulously laying out a day, week, month, even years; one of the many lessons that my father has taught me throughout my life-one I am proud to have in my arsenal. (Though I will point out that all of my ‘lists’ make me the butt of all my children’s’ jokes.)

For me, there was no question; my children are the best part of me. God has truly blessed me and it is my duty to raise and care for them in a manner that is pleasing to Him. But how? That’s where a great deal of prayer and reflection began to light the path for me.

After the war, suffering from several physical injuries, but most severely with PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder), I had a great deal of rage and fear with which I had to find a way to deal. For me, the answer was to focus on God and my children. But, that doesn’t really make a living…which brings us to step two in a series of moves toward happiness and independence once again.

Time for a Change – On to the Homestead

One day, I was praying, fearful of what was to come of my family and God laid something on my heart. It was so simple that I should have seen it before, I just couldn’t get out of my own way. I even laughed out loud when the realization hit me…talk about missing the forest!

I had been feeling sorry for myself and worrying about what I didn’t have and I should have been seeing what I did have; those talents and resources with which God had already blessed me so many years ago. You see, I was worried about “where will I get what I need to care for my family” when what I should have been asking is “how can I use what I have to take care of my family”.

That was the moment that my life became peaceful again. I sat down at that moment and wrote a list (yes, another) of the many talents that God had given me. I wrote a list of the information and knowledge that experience has taught me. I wrote a list of the very resources that God had already made certain that I have. All of them led me back to the homestead life that I love.

The next step would be utilizing them. For me, it was getting back to my roots; my knowledge of and love for farming and all related issues. Our small little corner of the world wasn’t huge, but it was ours. I knew from that peaceful moment amid the despair and desperation that had surrounded me, that God had set me on a new path; one that He would bless if I followed with a willing heart.

This is a journal of a journey. A journey that will take a family down a path to their future by learning lessons from the past.

More Ways to Connect and Contact Us

We also, as a homesteading family, have three additional blogs that might interest you. Two Oaks Farm Talk concerns the more technical side of homesteading. We discuss subjects like gardening, food prep, and farm building and construction with lots of tutorials!

Farm Raised Family is basically a hub for everything under the Two Oaks Farmstead umbrella. You can learn a great deal about all parts of the farmstead there. The Farm Raised Family blog focuses on financial matters such as budgeting, saving, and more and on current events affecting families.

You can also have a more in depth look at all that we do by visiting our Two Oaks Farmstead YouTube Channel and be sure to subscribe so that you don’t miss a thing!

Farm Life and Freedom is the new podcast we are in the process of launching! It is going to be so much fun!

Two Oaks Farmstead is the farm store… the one that holds the umbrella! Check us all out and join us, not only on our blogs and Farm Life and Freedom podcast but come join the fun on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter… wherever you get social!