Throughout the process of bringing Harvest Hope Farm to fruition, Jason and I have been amazed at the way the right people have been placed in our path at the perfect moment. Sometimes, these moments have brought me to tears. Jason has reminded me several times that God has blessed us with the opportunity to impact others through Harvest Hope Farm. Many people have asked how we came up with the idea of Harvest Hope Farm; honestly, I don’t know. God planted a seed in my heart and many images in my mind as I walked in our forest during the spring of 2017. With the support of my dear husband, close friends, family, and many prayers, Harvest Hope Farm became a reality
As God has placed so many amazing people, friends, acquaintances and strangers in our path at just the right time, I have learned that God also places us where we need to be, at just the right time.
In February, Jason and I took a four-day trip to South Carolina. It was the first time in many years we had been away without kids for more than a night. As a mom of seven active children who works full-time outside the home, in addition to my responsibilities to Harvest Hope Farm, I felt very guilty for leaving. I knew that I personally needed the time away and that we needed the time away as a couple, but I felt an overwhelming sense of guilt as I made all the plans for the kids to be cared for and shuttled to their many activities that weekend. Originally, when we planned the trip the kids had no activities but when the trip actually happened, there were seven different events for four children to get to.
The trip was amazing, the kids all survived, their caretakers survived and we all appreciated each other more when we returned and were together as a family again. But, the biggest lesson for me from the trip came two days after we returned.
While in South Carolina, Jason and I had dinner with a dear friend, Chris. Chris, like Jason, is a Catholic School principal. Over dinner, Chris asked us about Harvest Hope Farm as Jason had talked with him about it briefly in the previous few months. We talked about our mission, as well as farm camp and our desire to help find a cure for Huntington’s Disease (HD); to offer hope to families impacted by the devastating disease. During our conversation, Chris shared that one of his teachers was at risk for HD, as am I. I left this conversation praying that God had allowed me to share some hope with Chris; that he could - in turn - share with Karen the research that we are involved with surrounding HD. There we were, half way across the country, talking about HD research and how our special sheep may be part of the cure for the debilitating and life-limiting disease.
Two days after returning from South Carolina, Jason received a message from Chris stating that his school - St Gregory the Great Catholic School (SGGCS) - wanted to sponsor two of our sheep by providing for their care! In April, we were blessed to join SGGCS for a school assembly via Skype, at which time the students revealed the names they had chosen for their two sponsored ewes. One was named Rocco, after St. Rocco, and the second was named Pickeney, after the family of Chris’ teacher, Karen, who has also been impacted by HD.
Despite my guilt and hesitation about going to South Carolina, God truly did put Jason and I in the right place at the right time so that our path could cross with Chris’. He allowed us to provide hope to another family impacted by HD and allowed SGGCS to be a blessing to Harvest Hope Farm.
This is just one of many examples of the right people being placed on our path as Harvest Hope Farm has transitioned from being an idea to becoming a reality. As Jason has said many times, “It is out of our hands; we need to be a vessel for God to work through.” We have been blessed by so many wonderful people who are helping to support Harvest Hope Farm and our “special sheep”. We are thankful for each and every person who is praying for the mission and success of Harvest Hope Farm.
Blessings - Lynn
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