Before the Page Turns: 2025 in Review
2025 is winding down… I truly can’t believe it. Wasn’t it just yesterday I was ringing in the 2025 new year (at 9:30 PM 
) with my kiddos??
This time of the year is a tremendous gift. The Christmas season – what I consider the most important holiday, secondary to Easter. The rejoicing, celebrating, and remembering.
And then looking head to the new year. What will it hold? I have things I hope for, and the cognizant awareness that it may not look anything like what I expect. What I do have for it is the hope that I will walk closely with my Lord, trusting His goodness, His wisdom, and His genuine care for me.
But for today, I wanted to give you a peek into the past year with my family. I don’t always share this stuff because my goal is to be here for YOU. I don’t want it to be all about me. But I’ve talked with you enough to know that you WANT to know what my life looks like, from time-to-time. And not just the daily logistics of farm life (although I’m glad to share that with you too 
).
You are so gracious to me and to my family – my heart is so full to know how much you care. So my first reflection of the past year is a simple, thank you.
✨Thank you for supporting me and my family.
✨Thank you for encouraging us.
✨Thank you for being there for us, month after month.
Alrighty, here goes the rest:
Role Call
There’s me – you know me, the goat farmer. You chat with me in the farm store, on the phone, and on farm tours. You hear from me most weeks via email. You know a lot about me!
Then there’s my husband, affectionately referred to as “Farm Boy” (Princess Bride reference). He told me before we got married that, “you won’t see me out milking goats.” And although that may be true, he eagerly volunteers for anything requiring the tractor and works with me on pretty much anything else that is not directly milking, because he loves me. We’ve had the privilege of being married for 11 years in 2025. He’s amazing 😍
There’s our children. Abigail (almost 8), Josiah (6), Daniel (almost 2), and *drumrollll* BabE4 coming in late February! 🥳 These blessings make life so rich. And they also refine my character daily, which is a true honor. We spend a lot of time together through homeschooling, the farm, community, and church activities.
Abigail is a sweet, bright, self-motivated, little lady. She started 4-H this past year, loves playing the piano, adores babies, and has a green thumb for flowers. I constantly joke (although it’s true), that if anything happens to me, she could run the home and the farm. Her tender heart notices amazing things about people.
Josiah is everything a 6-year-old boy should be. He’s self-confident in all of his abilities (including those he has not yet put to the test 
), a magnificent story-teller, and delightfully active. He mastered reading this past year and plows through books. He has a unique ability to connect with people of all kinds… if you chat with Josiah, there’s no telling what “wisdom” you’ll walk away with!
Daniel lives his best life desperately trying to keep up with his siblings. His motor, “brrrrrrrmmmmmm,” is always running with toy trucks and tractors, and he innately uses everything he finds as a weapon. I’ve never understood this mystery with little boys, but it rings true yet again. He’s great with farm life and doesn’t know any different!
The Lows
No life is perfect, and it is walking together in these lows that draws us tightly together.
The lowest season for us this year came in the latter part of May. We had a stack of unexpected house repairs that required immediate attention, Abigail fell off a trailer while playing and required stitches to her upper lip, and then she needed to be seen by a specialty dentist for a possible root canal due to potential damage to permanent tooth. About the same time, we miscarried a little one at 13 weeks. The combination of all of these things at once felt like a lot to bear at the time.
Undoubtedly, the Lord was faithful, and oh, did we praise Him! We found great people to help with the house repairs, Abigail’s lip healed beautifully, and no root canal was required. God walked with us to heal our hearts and my body, only to give us another blessing.
I won’t lie, working the most labor-intensive six months of the year through first trimester fatigue was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. For a time, I started to feel like something was “wrong” with me, because it took so much physical effort to do anything.
I share this because I hear you tell me of your own physical limitations… and although mine may not look the same as yours, sometimes it’s nice to know that someone else out there walks through them, too.
And I know fully that not every “low” has a happy ending. Loss is still loss. Grief is still grief. Pain is still pain. But I can tell you in full confidence that God is good. And I absolutely cling to 3 portions of scripture in this:
1. Job chapters 38-41, where God’s creativity, power, and awareness are showcased. Job takes it all in. And in chapter 42, Job says, “I was talking about things I knew nothing about, things far too wonderful for me…. I had only heard about you before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes.” In agreement with Job, I can say our Lord is mighty and awesome, inspiring, and truly wonderful.
2. Philippians 4:6-7, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” I’ve come to Him for a lot of things and He DOES give peace. Sometimes not the answer I want on the timeline I’m looking for, but I KNOW He’s near to me in my asking and waiting.
3. 1 Peter 5:7, “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.” Some people perceive God as far-off, angry, or oppressive. But this verse tells me otherwise. It tells me He wants to hear from me and He deeply cares about the problems I bring to Him. I find a lot of comfort in that.
The Highs
This part is so fun! Here are some highlights from our year:
- Meeting every 5-6 weeks with another set of friends for supper and games
- Getting a tour of the New Century AirCenter in Gardner, KS (our family finds airplanes fascinating!)
- Celebrating Daniel’s first birthday (with pie of course, since it’s on Pi Day)
- Growing with our church family through countless studies and social events
- Gaining knowledge and expertise through multiple farm-related classes
- Watching Colton’s IT business grow in ways he finds exciting and fulfilling
- Meeting up with you through Spring and Fall Farm Tours (don’t forget to reserve Mother’s Day weekend this year!)
- Taking our youth group to Ohio for a week-long conference
- Meeting so many health and nutritional needs through raw goat milk and cheese
- Being involved in our local community through our amazing public library and homeschool co-op
- Enjoying the Sunflower Summer Program by being tourists in our lovely state!
- Visiting my grandparents nearly every other week
- Watching Abigail and Josiah develop in their schooling abilities, interests, and talents
- Welcoming our pony, Cookie
- Vacationing to Arkansas for a week in October as a family to hike, rest, and visit family
- Prioritizing hospitality and points of connection with others
Walking with our Lord through it all, rejoicing that all we have is His and we are here for His purposes… that makes life the sweetest of all. We can’t help but rest in deep gratitude at His incredible provision in our lives.
The Future
What’s next?
Well, that’s always the question, isn’t it? In one sense, it’s keep-on-keeping-on. The kids will resume school next week, I have a list of “nesting” tasks to tackle before babE4, and we hope to welcome our little one at the end of February.
Our goats should start to have babies in mid-April, and we will again eagerly host a stop on the Spring Farm Tour across Mother’s Day weekend, which will launch the beginning of our 2026 season. You can see all of our 4-legged kids and meet our new 2-legged one, too!
There are always improvement projects to look forward to on the farm and in the house, but we hold things loosely, because, well, life 😉
But most of all, we hope to for the opportunity to bless you, to encourage you, and to grow with you in 2026. We hope for the chance to provide you with healthy raw goat milk and products, as well as for the gift to just walk through life together – in the highs and lows. Thank you for allowing us the blessing of serving you. It is a genuine joy and honor! ❤️
With Love,
Sarah & Family