Letting Go of Good Things: Homemaking in Every Season of Life

A few years ago, our backyard looked a lot different than it does now. We had a big garden we’d been working on for years, and we had chickens and goats out back too. After 2020, like a lot of people in America, Jeremy and I zeroed in on becoming more self-sufficient. We already had a garden, but I wanted it to be bigger. And then we thought getting chickens was a good idea (which it was). Later on, we added goats to the mix, though only for a practical reason. Our yard was overgrown, and we couldn’t keep up. Rather than renting-a-goat, we got Pippin and Gandalf, our Nigerian dwarf goats.

All that to say, between the homestead, learning to can, and baking bread regularly, I felt good about how things were going. I started to feel a little more competent and skilled, and the homestead life was fun for us.

But life kept getting fuller. We were homeschooling with five children (at the time) while the business grew. And then we adopted.

So this year, for the first time in a long time, we did the unthinkable: I didn’t plant a garden. Around the same time, we said goodbye to the chickens and the goats. And for a while, our bread came from Costco (most of the time).

I’ll be honest, it felt like a little shot to the heart (I really miss our eggs). But it also surprised me how freeing it felt.

You Don’t Have to Bake Bread to Be a Good Homemaker

Letting those things go taught me something I really needed to learn at a deeper level. I can’t do everything, and I’m not supposed to. So many of us pick up things we believe a good homemaker should be doing, and they can be good things! But a good thing can still be the wrong thing for this season.

Despite what we see on social media, you don't have to bake homemade bread to be a faithful homemaker.

What has helped me is asking why before I ask how. Before I add something to my day, week, or my overall rhythm, I stop and ask whether it makes sense to prioritize in this season of life. For us in the example above, this looked like buying bread and eggs for a while, and giving Jeremy back the time he was spending doing homestead chores to spend more time with me and our children.

There really is a season for everything, just like Ecclesiastes says.

This is the heart of what I teach inside the Rooted Homemakers Collective. It takes you through a simple, 5-stage process that starts with getting clear on your priorities and your season, and then gives you the next right step to build realistic rhythms for a fruitful home. By the end, you have a home that runs well and more margin to slow down and enjoy the people you love.

A Practical Next Step

Something I’ve learned is that letting go of good things is a lot easier when I can actually see what my days and weeks are holding.

This week’s video walks through how I plan my days and weeks backwards, so I always know what’s next and when enough is enough. If you’ve been feeling behind lately, I believe you’ll find it helpful.