"Three Thankfuls & A SURRENDER"

 As we get ready to say goodbye to 2024 and say hello to 2025, I wanted to post a year-end message.   Soon you will receive an email from us, with all of the exciting things we have accomplished in agriculture education this past year.  But THIS message, is from me to you.
 
Recently I started a challenge with myself each morning.  It came out of knowing I needed to settle my heart (again) on what matters most.  I call it, “Three Thankfuls and a Surrender.”  Each day I identify at least three things I am thankful for and one thing I need to surrender.
 
We all celebrate Christmas in different ways, but I know we can agree that we all have things to be thankful for and things in our lives that we need to surrender. 
 
So let me share mine:

1. I am thankful for 2024, all of it!   Strawberry season started early in late May, and then we never slowed down.   We had a bounty of fruit for all our crops.  We had ideal weather almost every day (until the late fall drought).  From daily experiences on the farm, I am thankful for new friendships and ones that deepened.  I am thankful that our sunflower field brought in a stranger who needed a safe place and someone to tell her that somehow she was going to survive her unimaginable loss. I am incredibly thankful for the people I work with every day.  I am so thankful that we had the opportunity to impact over 4,000 children with healthy agriculture education. I am thankful for all of the customers who chose to visit with us, support our small business and share their lives with us.  I am also thankful for the long, bone-weary days, because there is something so satisfying about that feeling at the end of the day.
   
   
2. I am thankful to look forward to 2025.  In 2025, Rohrbach’s Farm will celebrate its 70th year as a family-owned farm.  We have made it 70 years by the grace of God alone.  It will be a year of celebration and excitement and I hope you will join us in celebrating. 
   
   
3. I am thankful for winter.  If you know me well, you know this is a stretch.  Ideally, I would rather be sitting on a porch in a sunny and warm place in the world, but I choose to focus on the many things to be thankful for.  This winter, I will cherish the un-rushed time I will have to spend with my family.   I will have the opportunity to read some books cover to cover (and not just a page or two at a time).  I am thankful that my life slows down in these winter months, at least enough for me to be able to enjoy my coffee while it is still hot.  

 
Then comes the hard part:  the surrender.  We all like to think we are in control, but the reality is, we just aren’t.  Intentional planning is essential, but flexibility is equally important.    That comes easier to some than it does to others.  My surrender is 2025.  All of it.   The unknown, and the uncertainties.  The planning… oh yes, there will be quite a bit of planning, but I will surrender the anxiety that comes with all of the unknowns. 
 
As you reflect on 2024, I hope your list of “thankfuls” is endless and your “surrenders” are short!
 
Many blessings and much gratitude,
Denise