I get it all the time--Rather we get it all the time...A customer walks up and starts gushing about how we are living their dream. Once they say that I wait for them to continue and they are guaranteed to continue with "When I retire I want to move out to the country and have a goat farm.". Oh, really thinks I.
Not to be cynical or anything, but it's a random thing to want. A goat farmer really?
Have you thought this out? Because I can tell you back in the day it's not something we thought out. Oh, sure once we had goats for a few years, tried the milk, showed some, eat everyone Else's cheese, then we started thinking "Having a dairy might be something worth looking into."
Never did we think we would end up starting it the year we did, we always said "Some day when dad retires.", So, I always thought it would be when I was no longer living at home that the dairy would be started. We found out (one of the many time we found this out), God had a different plan for us & we started the dairy in 2009. It was fun, it was stressful, it was educational & It was a time when we grew together as a family.
As the years passed things changed we went from ONLY milk & yogurt, to adding chocolate milk, flavored yogurt & kefir, but still we were NEVER going to do cheese. Again, things changed. Dad took a cheese class, Austin farmer's market asked us to bring cheese & thus started the Swede Farm cheese part. I did in internship in New York for four months, came home taught everyone how to do Feta & Ricotta & we added that to the diverse Swede Farm Line.
Over the years things have changed, many different flavors of cheeses, yogurt, & milk, as well as different types of cheese & I can't forget to mention the cajeta. All from the goats at Swede Farm Dairy. Things were hard sometimes but they were still, Fun, stressful, educational, & a time for the family to grow together.
Then two years ago we added another farm's milk to our milk for cheese & things really took off. All looked good over the two years. We enjoyed working with the other farm & they enjoyed our cheese.
But, God is in control & you never know what he has planned for you until he hands it to you & You sit there praising God for his blessings, feeling that you have everything you need. Or you sit there doing everything you can to remember that God IS in control & God DOES have a plan & God WILL take care of us. But the former is easy to live with & the later is hard to remember & not question.
Earlier this year we dealt with those same thoughts, but carried on thinking "God got us through the fire & everything that went with it.". But there were days where it was harder & days were you felt like burying our head & all would be well. AS the year continued God, kept us afloat, but barely. And he is still there with us, but there are still those days.
But, we also have to keep in mind that we don't know God's plans & they may not (and most likely aren't) what we won't them to e or what we think they will be. We must always remember~Hard though it may be~That God is in control & knows what is best for us.
Here's a true look into what is going on at Swede Farm.
