I had to see.
My first SOKY Happenings article was on the subject of Faith in Childbirth, talk about going all in. Within weeks of my debut into local writing my inbox was full of messages from local pastors concerned about my view on "faith", criticism from real life friends and some awkward moments with rare acquaintences. But more importantly than the criticism I began to experience authentic connection to people who had struggled and worked through some of the same things I was feeling. I was "just a mom" and later a farmer simply sharing my life-and others seemed to connect to that-in both positive and negative ways. That began my very local efforts to help, encourage and put myself out there even when it meant concerns about this and that. Thankfully, most of the time it meant the best.
"Things that belong together have been taken apart. And you can’t put it all back together again. What you do is the only thing that you can do. You take two things that ought to be together and you put them back together. Two things, not all things. That’s the way the work has to go. You make connections in your work." -- Wendell Berry