The Cultivation of My Soul

The story of my free spirit. 

As a child, I can’t recall a day that was spent inside. So much was to be explored in the fascinating world I had around me. From the abundance of the piglets, to the curious mind Ethan, Jesse, and Seth would instill in me, Hillcrest Farms was a place full of life and grand adventures.

With a mind of my own, I never liked wearing shoes. Barefoot from the garden to the barns is how I liked to go, as an adventure wasn’t much of an adventure if you didn’t have a sense of true freedom.There’s something about being able to feel the crisp spring water in the creek, the fresh-cut lawn, and the soil clenching the beginning of roots of crops beneath your feet that makes you feel truly alive. Shoes had a way of disconnecting me from these God-given graces.

My parents used to joke on the time I stepped on a nail creating a puncture in my little foot. Not long after they found me outside barefoot again, to find a rock making its place inside the little hole. It’s a wonder, today, if I still carry that little rock around with me. My little piece of the farm I like to say.

My soul became etched in a place with so much life. My spirit was being cultivated into the very earth my farming family was planting and harvesting the crops, the vegetables, and the animals we welcomed each year. My fondest memory was tilling the garden in the spring, walking barefoot in the cool, upturned soil. There were few things that could beat that.

As I grew older, I began to realize I was simply grounding myself to the farm. To its dark, rich soils, every crevice on the rocks, and the peaceful animals I cared so deeply for. My every desire was to be outside, fully experiencing and taking in the world I had around me. Every grace encompassing Hillcrest Farms became a part of me. All of these things and so much more shaped me into who I’ve become today and at the age of 22, continues to do so with each visit home.

These ‘adventures’ my brothers and I had, really became experiences of getting to know and understand who we truly are and our reasoning to be here on this earth. Although that is still in question for me, being grounded to Hillcrest Farms taught me essential ways to live a true and meaningful life:

Stay real, stay humble, stay down to earth, but above all, stay grounded.