You know what I love about your videos? Instead of click bait that promises something big and delivers nothing, you title your videos "Pruning Grass" and I think "oh, well, I'll watch it anyway, it's Jess." And I get filled up with inspiration and hope! You are such a well of wisdom. Thank you so much for sharing it with us ❤
I’m thinking “weeding wisdom” should become a regularly scheduled series this summer!?! Thank you for sharing your heart with us Jess! 💚... and Happy Anniversary!!!
I agree I hope you make this a regular thing this summer and way into the future. I really enjoy the talk and all the wisdom you have to offer. My I love your honest heart felt stories. Don't stop, don't apologize.
Do you have ANY idea how your channel inspires, promotes, encourages and sends this people REELING into the love of God for us? You are amazing Jess and we are so proud to get to know you in this season!!
I need a “This season I’m pruning the grass “ sticker so I can stick it on my mirror to remind me everyday I’m just practicing for when my prayers are answered . With the prices of land and houses blowing up, and my desire to get out of suburbia, the reality of having a mini homestead has been pushed a little further out of reach. I needed to hear this today 💗🌱🐓🦙 Thank you.
Or, just: "Pruning Grass" with some beautiful R&R graphics. I'd put it on my new car...and it would always remind me that I am not just in the waiting room- I'm learning and growing and readying for the next big (or small) thing!
@@elizabethmcdonald652 Second this! "Pruning the Grass" maybe with a kid-scribbled flower or tomato. Teaching my kids about gardening lights up my life.
I've heard you talk about growing up poor and that feeling of wait for the other shoe to drop. I'm not sure I'll ever get away from that. I've found myself in a position where I don't have to worry anymore. I frankly don't know how to handle it. Watching your videos together has given me the chance to talk to my wife about it. It a little bit easier. Thank you
Thank you Jess for helping me turn my waiting room into a classroom. I’m living alone in an apartment, working as an attorney, growing veggies on my balcony, and getting ready to learn canning so that one day, when I have a family, I can feed my future children well!
I love the way you minister without being all “God up in your face”. I seriously get more out of these chats than going to church and having “religion” pounded into my head. I’m 56, have struggled getting close to my higher power, never had a dream before. My heart is changing, I pray not too little too late. I do hope you’ll write a “daily devotional for the gardener” someday. What a beautiful way to start each day! 💙
I paused this video and just stopped and stared and thought several times. I've been thinking so much about what I'm supposed to do next in my life, and this is just exactly what I needed. Thanks for listening to the Spirit and sharing a message from the heart.
Your transparency is admirable! Yes, homesteading with a bunch of little ones has it's tricky moments...often. But how AMAZING and humbling to be the one to teach them all your special skills! We have an almost 6 year old obsessed with our loppers. He just wants to use them for all our trimming needs, but he's learned over the years to have respect for tools and and our animals. Our 4 year old is a free spirited gal who just loves to get her hands in the dirt because it's fun. Our 17 month old is always testing the palatability of our homegrown goodness. YUM. All of them want to be outside all the time. Toys just aren't their thing and I couldn't be more proud they choose experience and exploration instead. You're inspirational and what a treat for all of us to follow you in your journey. Thanks for taking us along!
This was exactly what I needed to hear. It seems like every time I start feeling like what I want so badly will never happen, Jess has a way of beautifully and gracefully filling me with hope and determination again. Thank you for that. God bless you.
I was literally performing a “pruning the grass” type task, and questioning myself about it. I turned this on for some company... truly a godsend, this girl is!
This video felt like you were sitting across from me like a good friend giving me the best advice I could ask for. I am in the situation of impatience waiting for my dreams to happen. This has given me so much encouragement to start teaching myself. I don't need to wait for my dream to happen in order to teach myself about homesteading, etc. Thank you!!!
You are a gifted teacher. When you said "you're going to have stuff die" you saw my heart. Recently I've had the realization that I am living my retirement with great abundance knowing life is a gift. Having been through great loss has taught me that how I live this life now, without my wife, is somehow a compliment to the great love we share and shared. In some way that's very difficult to explain, the zeal I have now, after her death, reflects our long life together. Thank you for your daily vlogs. I'm sure they are demanding but you'll never know how much I appreciate them. God bless.
Jess, you have such a way with words, that I have never heard before 😌 I love your style of gardening and you philosophy on things like this, and you have no idea how much of a refreshment your videos are to my days and honestly on RUclips (not that my days are horrible).
She's an absolute treasure, isn't she? "pruning the grass". What a meaningful anecdote to share, so impactful for me personally. Have a wonderful day Leyla!
Seven years is the perfect number for moving on to the next step. I don't know you personally, but I feel proud for you and for what God has brought about in your life. You are a gifted teacher ❤️
You are wise beyond your years....and so generous to share your heart. I wish everyone had a friend like you....and a pray you have a grand friend to encourage, teach, and uplift you. WHAT A HEART YOU HAVE.
Hearing your gratefulness and your happiness and pure joy about getting your dream and worshiping in your chicken coup has me 😭😭😭. Thank you for reminding us all to be grateful at every moment of every season. And for the reminder that God hears and wants so much more for us than we can even dream about at times. ❤️
I miss your devotionals. Shared them with friends before, with tears running down my face. They are a blessing. They're for whom they're for and can only exclude those who wish to be excluded. Thank you and bless you and yours Jess, in Jesus name. 💜
About to move out of our condo to an acre outside of the city. Been praying and waiting for it for many many years. Our living room has been our classroom. Thank you Jess 😭🙏🏻
I cried at least three times listening to this vlog while potting up cups of neglected and crowded tomato seedlings while my kids slept. I've been struggling with postpartum depression and avoiding this task due to overwhelm, but watched 5 of your vlogs today and was able to work up the inspiration and energy to just start on the task. So thank you, Jess. You are the reason I fell in love with gardening and continue being brave in growing even when I feel clueless. I appreciate you ❤
Oh Jessica! These talks are my favorite times on your channel. Pruning grass may be my favorite story ever that you’ve told. You might not have known at the time, but it was a divinely designed unfolding of events. Now I can imagine your son telling his own children that story one day after he teaches them how to prune grass!
Please don't be sorry for "turning it into a devotional style vlog" because it's actually the very reason you are here with us today. It's refreshing to hear you speak like that again. Gods hand has been over your dreams since childhood, putting everything in place for such a time as this... I miss your devotionals in the garden. I hope you bring them back again.
This video was absolutely beautiful! How you opened up and shared the realness of dreaming and achieving those dreams. Each step in life truly does have a "waiting room". How to live life to the fullest by turning that waiting room into a classroom. The image of Ben and the grass is beautiful. Learning the little steps before taking on those the big steps. Thank you for sharing! You're so lovely and such a wonderful mom!
“BECOME” Amen, Jess! This is exactly how you have spoken into my life. I’ve come to LOVE my classroom because a dream is a journey and I want the responsibility/weight to unfold in a sustainable and joyful way. Blessings, a always, to you!!
This message really moved me. You have no idea how much I needed to hear this. We are a military family, and we move so much, my heart aches for the day that we can have a forever home to call our own. We just moved to Germany 6 months ago and will be here a total of three years. I am lucky to have a great yard, and I’m starting my first ever vegetable garden with the help of my lovely neighbor who is guiding me. I have already learned so much in the past few months. This is my classroom time. I can learn and learn, and then when we get back to America I can learn some more until the time comes for my husband to retire in several years. We still have no idea where we want to live when he gets out, but we have time to think about it. All I want is a little bit of land to call our own. Times are hard so far away from family and friends with three kids that I homeschool in the middle of a pandemic. It’s so nice to have your channel to come to, so I can hear encouraging words and dream about what our life will be like once we can finally settle down somewhere and have our little homestead. In the meantime, I’m making the best of what I’ve been given in this moment and learning all I can and experimenting ❤️
There are so many of your videos that touch my heart but this one? This one touched my soul. I can’t thank you enough for that. I’ll gladly listen to any talks you want to have while you’re weeding. God bless you, Jess.
This video should be labeled 'Garden parables for Life: at 10:40 or middle you are so encouraging about gardening but also living life... We make mistakes, things die... I'm crying... I really love what an amazing soul you are. I am truly blessed by your knowledge every day. Thank you and your sweet family for all you do, for all of us.
I'm crying. I so needed this today. My husband and I dream of having a homestead in collaboration with a few other like-minded people to grow our own food and reclaim the idea of a supportive village. And where we can have young (or even not so young) mothers who are in a difficult place come and have a safe place to live and grow in their motherhood and in life in general. But between my husband's chronic health conditions, and the fact that, in the state we're in now, we can currently only afford about a quarter of an acre, it often seems totally impossible. Your story gives me so much hope that God can do anything, and that he gives us dreams for a reason. So thank you for sharing today ❤️
😳😳anyone ever been super giddy to click on a video not realizing it was about to stop you in your tracks and smack you in the face with wisdom at the exact right moment! Sweet Jessica Sowards-your words are always so lovely. But your obedience to allow Gods words to speak through you and to be vulnerable is extraordinary. Thank you for the work you do. The cuts in the video, the movements of camera angles, the times you pressed through emotion- you legit just gave a sermon that I was not prepared for! Whatever classroom God is teaching and preparing you for, I will be registering for the front row when you get there! You are precious and loved and so so so appreciated.
Pffffff. 😭😭😭😭 Listening to you talking about your classroom after you got your place is choking me up. Your description sounds EXACTLY like it could have come out of my mouth. In November I was washing dishes after everybody went to sleep, and I prayed, "Lord, if it's the RIGHT thing for our family to have a cow. Please help us. Please make it so." Two days later my cow was born, and I was the only human around that could save her. There's more details to that story, of course, but it felt like the turning point for us. Now we have 6 chickens and a rooster. And we were given the go-ahead to tear apart this house and fix it. It never feels like it's happening fast enough, but IT IS HAPPENING! What bliss. Even in the transition.
I'm living in an apartment and waiting for my chance at a homestead. I always think of you saying "turn your waiting room into a classroom" when I'm working on skills and thinking "does it really matter if I do this now when I can't do everything the way I want to just yet?" Your voice pops into my head reminding me I am in my classroom phase. Thank you.
Such wisdom. I am 60 years old and you always encourage and spur me on to dream. Not only that but to believe that they will come true. I can only imagine how God will use your wisdom and sweet willing heart.
Jess, you took my breath away. I was so enthralled by every thing that you said today; I laughed and cried. You are so very special and I'm so grateful to have found you. Hugs to you and your lovely family:)
I’m a student pastor and my wife and I dream of homesteading. Started out first garden this year after buying our first house in Nashville. She started making sourdough bread and using cast iron more. We will be canning this season as well. This video spoke to me, I want to reverberate what you said at the end back to you. I am believing God for your next season and for ours as well. Thanks for the video Jess.
Jess If I could like this a million times I would. You are so insightful, heartfelt, genuine and articulate. Thank you for speaking to my heart as well. I will be watching this vlog again and again. Chris
These devotions honestly bring me to tears and give me so much hope. I’m praying for you all. Thank you for all your content, it is truly amazing and inspiring!
GURL!!! I don't cry often. I consider myself a tough & almost calloused soul but your devotional videos has broken me to an ugly, sobbing mess a few times! 😍 you have just a blessed soul & have a way of getting the message across! Thx for sharing your time & life with us 🥰
We are in that classroom cutting grass on the precipice of listing this almost 70 year old northern California girl’s homestead of nearly 25 years to move (it feels like half way around the world) to an alien environment and way of life to lower eastern Alabama. What is in store for us is both scary and exciting. Can’t wait to get going and at the same time apprehensive about leaving all we have built to someone who may not love it as dearly as we. We are moving to be nearly family and support each one. I want to continue to nurture my deep love of gardening and manage life’s challenges as God opens His doors for us. The unknown is tough, but I want to grow in my new classroom and begin trim pruning & nurturing our new garden. Please pray for us that we’ll be good stewards of Gods provisions in what comes next. Thank you Jessica for sharing this vlog, it really means a lot and is soooo timely.
My goodness, how does your chest hold onto that big heart of yours? You made me cry ..Again... lol. Thank you for sharing... And pulling weeds! I hear you and I hear the lord speak though you, so I feel it and I am moved🙏🏻 God bless you and your journey w all of your students taking in your vision of a better life. We are walking with you and love you!! Blessings and Always in your waiting, Thank You for your never ending encouragement ❤️❤️❤️❤️❌⭕️❌⭕️
As Christians, we know our testimonies aren't for us, but for others. Thank you for giving yours. It was an absolute, timely blessing. Also, professing your next steps without knowing how you will achieve them is a show of faith. More importantly, God will get the glory when you accomplish them... giving you yet another testimony. Thank you for sharing and being transparent. Keeping you in prayer.
I’m sure you are such an encouragement to so many including my old lady self. I love a devoted devotional teacher. Keep bringing the real content that the Lord puts on your heart. God bless you and your family!
Isn’t it so spiritually stirring that God satiates our yearnings with his wisdom through others? He hears that we have a need and he uses others to fill it. It’s so beautiful.
Every single word that you say, every thought that you share from your heart is loved, appreciated, and absorbed like a sponge. I personally thank the Lord for your testimony every day....💙💚🙏🥰
I began watching your channel shortly after you uploaded “How to grow the best tomatoes” because I wanted to help my Dad garden. I’ve been watching every video since then. Your passion, profound wisdom, love of the garden, your family, and your animals, has inspired me to realize my dream is much more than helping my dad grow the best tomatoes. I purchased my first home last October and have been learning as much as I can about homesteading. Monday, I will be putting in a large garden (probably more than I can handle but I’m eagerly looking forward to the learning experience) and I will be getting chickens within a few months. I feel like I would not have found my dream had I not clicked on that video a couple years ago and I am forever grateful for that. You and your family are a blessing and I pray all of your dreams become reality and infinitely more than you could imagine!
NEXT WEEK!!! I'M NOT PREPARED!!! But also I'm super excited! Also, I have so much edging that needs to be done. If Ben misses that work, I'm not opposed to child labor in the garden. I'll pay him in legos.
I was going to comment on how inspirational you always are but, it's been covered. All I could do was go through and hit the 👍🏻on all of the comments that stated my own thoughts in a much more eloquent way. Thank you Jess and thank you to.all the other loving and inspiring folks here participating in this place of growth with me!💖
I love that Ben loving pruning ended up him being able to actually help with pruning because the way you encouraged him to prune the grass...but also taught him how to prune tomatoes. You didn't just brush him off. Which is such an easy thing to do as a parent just wanting to get a job done.
Thanks for this encouragement, all my husband and I dream of is having children and having that family life. We need some medical treatment to make that happen. Whilst we are in the waiting room of saving for treatment, I will make a home and environment the best it can be for a family, I will learn all I can and build a stronger relationship with my husband whilst we go through this trial in our lives. Thank you for this lesson Jess, keeps me focused on something whilst we wait ❤️
That felt like a Ted Talk! Homesteading is not a dream of mine, but your story and insight was really uplifting. You have a beautiful soul and it shines through the videos.
Jess, this brought me to tears. I feel so connected to you through this channel. You are an amazing communicator. Last year I binge watched all of your videos, and yesterday I had the thought “I need to go back and find her devotional videos”. So this was perfect timing. ❤️ God knows what he’s doing when he speaks through you!!
I'm selling my home, moving to Cancun buying a Bed and Breakfast 300' from the beach and starting a youtube channel to empower women to be the best version of themselves that they want to be. Your message today was very timely in my life, so thank you very much 🙏🥰
Thank you for bringing us along as you weed your garden. Watching you use the cobra head weeder makes me want one. I've deciced to call my sister so we can talk and discuss life as I pull weeds. I've said this before. You are a natural born teacher. I always want to get out and work in my garden and make my plans after watching your videos. Thank you Jess.
I can't help but fixate on the fact that you have been there for *7* years .... And now, 7 years in, is when the next step unfolds for you. That just makes me smile 😊 x
You are such a blessing! I am very much in the waiting room, renting a house in Southern California where ownership feels impossible... but our rental has a yard that we are allowed to plant and maintain. And your videos have really helped me to embrace where I am and find contentment and excitement in just doing what I can with what I have. God bless you and your family!
I can relate to the season of waiting and learning. I feel God has put on my heart to learn the old ways turning back to basics at age 60!!! I am learning and growing closer to Him through this journey. Learning and reading about foraging using herbs for medicine. I have had a career, raised 4 children, became a nurse worked at a hospital for almost 20 years. Since 2009 I have been free to work part time and learn so much. I'm still growing and very grateful for the life God has given me. You are a great teacher and motivational speaker. Keep it up.
From the most sincere place in my heart thank you for truthfully and fearlessly chasing your dreams and giving anyone and everyone permission to do the same. I can not wait to see you fulfilled the same way you have fulfilled so many others! Bless you and Miah!! (My homeboy)
Hit me hard!! been praying for a while now! My husband and I came out of a huge heroin and everything that come with that 6 years ago February. I began to learn about things I should have already known, even small stuff like my favorite color. God seriously made me into a Worship Pastor and director over REwired a recovery ministry, it all blew my mind! This was a WORD for me! We are currently in our classroom in waiting! Thank you Jess! God moves through you more then I think you realize. My fulfillment is coming! So is yours!
Jess I know you probably won't see this but I wanted to say thank you. I've found myself in a larger classroom than probably most, having a 6000 square foot garden, and chickens and ducks, and now 3 bottle baby goats. I am blessed and I used to pat myself on the back thinking look at all my hard work that brought me here. I NEVER believed in God. My family was not religious though I was baptized at birth. Because of you God has come to he. He has come to my heart and my life and showed me him in ways I never thought possible. I managed chickens and a small garden and through him in this place he has given me so many more of my hearts desires. I know I am still in a classroom for the homestead. But because of you God is also in my classroom and I could never thank you enough.
😭😭 Thank you so much for this video. I cried the whole time. The things you said just spoke to me heart. I have always wanted to have a place to call my own to grow food and for the past 5 years I’ve had a strong desire to move to NC just thought, “but it will probably never happen”. I will be 61 this yr and the possibility of moving at times get very dim, but after today’s video I feel that there a possibility for this to happen. That I just have more waiting to do. I will say from watching your videos my garden is the best it has ever been, so I am very thankful for you and all your words of encouragement. I will be be patient and do more learning and my time to move will come. Thanks again. 🙏🏻🙏🏻💕🧑🌾🌱
I believe feeling gratitude in the classroom season is part of the lesson. I once took a job I had sworn never to return to because I was hungry and the electric got turned off etc. Within weeks, I got a phone call at my workplace from a prospective employer offering my dream job. How had he found me there, 2 weeks after my interview? My acceptance of my desperate circumstances changed my future for awhile and restored my faith in God and his wisdom for our lives.
Definitely felt this was for me, I feel the spirit over this message so much I can't stop crying. My waiting room lead me into fasting for Jesus, and ever since, my life has completely changed. I learned that if you need an answer from the Lord about anything it is guaranteed he will answer you if you fast about it.The blood of Jesus on you and your family💕
I stumbled upon your channel a while back and just want to say what an amazing individual you are! I use to garden years ago and after having my life completely uprooted by a cancer diagnosis I wanted to get back to a more peaceful way of living. This video is exactly what I needed today! Thank you for always being such a positive light and inspiration to others.
Thank you for sharing your heart - raw and real. Our dreams are just starting to be fulfilled- God has carried us soooo far in this past year after so many struggles. We have been so incredibly blessed. I’m new to watching your channel - your heart and love for your garden, family and God is beautiful. God bless you and your family ☺️❤️
Love all your garden updates. I need to get your little weed tool. Creating content and posting it is for me. Also have with homeschooling 6 kids , planting, taking care of farm animals, and more. Sometimes it overwhelming to even get to a video posted. 🌻❤️ love y’all.
I love the story about Ben and the grass being pruned and it preparing him for a purpose greater than the intended one. I’m really trying to work on patience in my own life at mo, so this example just may help me on the more challenging days. Thank you 😊
Your heart always speaks to my heart. Your words remind me of things I already know inside but sometimes it feels more comforting from the voice of another. I wish I could give you the biggest hug, because saying "thank you" again just doesn't cut it!💕
Don't be sorry for speaking about your dreams. I love listening to you talk about the classroom, and throwing a little bit of God into it. I am excited for you for the next season of your life.
I just like to say thank you Jess you're so delightful an insightful watching your videos is such a joyful part of my day. And even though I'm not very religious I still find your videos very inspiring. Oh and your gardening tips are a big bonus . I've learned a lot and my garden thanks you LOL
You have so much more to teach us than gardening and homesteading. I first came to your channel because of a devotional video you did. I stayed because your faith is evident in everything you do and occasionally, like today, it fully shines out. Thank you for sharing and for caring about the many people watching. One day God will show you how many lives you touched and were a blessing to. 🙏☺️💖
Thank you, I appreciate this content so much. Speaking from a place where I can finally say I am beginning to thrive, instead of just survive, and your content has really been a big part of that. My experience is no learning is a waste. All learning adds value now and more value in the future. I am starting a garden this year and find such similarities between what the soil and plants needs to grow and what we need to be healthy and grow. Thank you for the encouragement, the good example you set in your life and your family, and the gardening philosophy and reality. Happy Anniversary for the house and the especially the marriage.
Thank you for this. It seems so timely as I just watch you "seedling" devotional last night when my thoughts were running from my head in this season of waiting and preparing. Just a reminder that God is good and has the best plan and I need more patience and to continue to dream big and believe
Jess - you are SUCH a great teacher, motivator, inspirational speaker, communicator- you truly have a gift and we are so thankful you continue to use your waiting room as a classroom, and then sharing that learning with us. We appreciate you!!
I am doing exactly what u had described. Looking at land, its depressing getting told I dont qualify for a home loan. I'm learning how to garden and dreaming about an acre ish.
Honestly Jess, the devotional style chats you have with us is my favorite. I get it more when it comes from the heart and from God’s plan for our lives if only we just stop “be still” and listen. Your words just made my heart sing. Thank you and I’m so excitedly see where the future of Roots and Refuge and to follow all the travels and adventures. God bless. 🙏❤️
Tears! Could you be a more beautiful soul Jess?! This video has me in tears. Such a beautiful & deep message (to me). Thank you for being the amazing, wonderful you and sharing.
Me: *crying my eyes out*
My husband: you're watching the Arkansas garden girl again, aren't you?
It’s therapy.
Same
🥺
You know what I love about your videos? Instead of click bait that promises something big and delivers nothing, you title your videos "Pruning Grass" and I think "oh, well, I'll watch it anyway, it's Jess." And I get filled up with inspiration and hope! You are such a well of wisdom. Thank you so much for sharing it with us ❤
Exactly!!
exactly true. I was thinking a similar thing.
I agree with this. I like videos that are truthful in their title. I just watched some of your content. Great stuff :)
I’m thinking “weeding wisdom” should become a regularly scheduled series this summer!?! Thank you for sharing your heart with us Jess! 💚... and Happy Anniversary!!!
Or “Weeds of Wisdom”
Love the idea!! She is a very powerful speaker to so many people.
Yes! That's such a great idea!
thats a great idea
I agree I hope you make this a regular thing this summer and way into the future. I really enjoy the talk and all the wisdom you have to offer. My I love your honest heart felt stories. Don't stop, don't apologize.
Yes her lasted video is just that. Weeding with wisdom! I absolutely loved it
Jess - I love the times that you just talk and talk and express yourself. You are so gifted with sincere words and thoughts. Thank you.
Yes
I agree completely, I love her talks
Weeding with wisdom!
Benjamin pruning the grass is a "wax on, wax off" moment. Which would make you the Mr. Miyagi of gardening.
Love this analogy!
Exactly what I was thinking. 😉
Right?! That's the perfect analogy.
This is what I thought of lol..
Love it!!
Do you have ANY idea how your channel inspires, promotes, encourages and sends this people REELING into the love of God for us? You are amazing Jess and we are so proud to get to know you in this season!!
Please don’t apologize for giving us a Word of encouragement based on God’s wisdom. Our world needs more of that! Thanks again!
Amen!
Amen Sister 🤗
😍😍
Yes, the world is hungry for Him!
Amen
Tell me I’m not the only one who burst into tears when Benjamin got to finally prune the tomatoes
I did too 😭😭😭
Same 😊💕
When she got choked up and turned the camera off that's when I burst into tears. She's amazing. Jess you are amazing ❣️
👋🏻
Yessss!!!! Little Benjamin!!!
I need a “This season I’m pruning the grass “ sticker so I can stick it on my mirror to remind me everyday I’m just practicing for when my prayers are answered . With the prices of land and houses blowing up, and my desire to get out of suburbia, the reality of having a mini homestead has been pushed a little further out of reach. I needed to hear this today 💗🌱🐓🦙
Thank you.
Or, just: "Pruning Grass" with some beautiful R&R graphics. I'd put it on my new car...and it would always remind me that I am not just in the waiting room- I'm learning and growing and readying for the next big (or small) thing!
@@elizabethmcdonald652 Second this! "Pruning the Grass" maybe with a kid-scribbled flower or tomato. Teaching my kids about gardening lights up my life.
"Maybe your dream is just to raise a healthy family because you weren't raised in one." That hit me hard 😪
Me too! I tried not to cry as I was cooking dinner for my family.
Same!
Got the feels on that one...
Damn onions...
That was my first big dream. I told God that if I got only one that would de the one.
“You never know what you are being prepared for.” gave me goosebumps in the best way. Thank you for the inspiration to keep learning, always.
Same!
This is so Biblical, most of the people in the Bible didn’t get to have the full picture of what was ahead of them.
I've heard you talk about growing up poor and that feeling of wait for the other shoe to drop. I'm not sure I'll ever get away from that.
I've found myself in a position where I don't have to worry anymore. I frankly don't know how to handle it.
Watching your videos together has given me the chance to talk to my wife about it. It a little bit easier.
Thank you
Thank you Jess for helping me turn my waiting room into a classroom. I’m living alone in an apartment, working as an attorney, growing veggies on my balcony, and getting ready to learn canning so that one day, when I have a family, I can feed my future children well!
we want a garden cookbook Jess pretty please!!
Yes please! ( not like you aren't busy enough) lol
Yeeeeeessss!!!
I’ve already named it The Refuge Cookbook. It simply MUST happen.
I’d buy that in a heartbeat. I’d love to learn to cook these fabulous meals she cooks for her family from her homestead
This video should come with a tissue alert😭❤️
Honestly!!!
I was surprised to feel the tears well up.
Totally
Yes!
This comment was the trigger that made me lose it. I totally agree with you :)
I love the way you minister without being all “God up in your face”. I seriously get more out of these chats than going to church and having “religion” pounded into my head. I’m 56, have struggled getting close to my higher power, never had a dream before. My heart is changing, I pray not too little too late. I do hope you’ll write a “daily devotional for the gardener” someday. What a beautiful way to start each day! 💙
Oh my gosh, love this idea.
I paused this video and just stopped and stared and thought several times. I've been thinking so much about what I'm supposed to do next in my life, and this is just exactly what I needed. Thanks for listening to the Spirit and sharing a message from the heart.
Your transparency is admirable! Yes, homesteading with a bunch of little ones has it's tricky moments...often. But how AMAZING and humbling to be the one to teach them all your special skills!
We have an almost 6 year old obsessed with our loppers. He just wants to use them for all our trimming needs, but he's learned over the years to have respect for tools and and our animals. Our 4 year old is a free spirited gal who just loves to get her hands in the dirt because it's fun. Our 17 month old is always testing the palatability of our homegrown goodness. YUM. All of them want to be outside all the time. Toys just aren't their thing and I couldn't be more proud they choose experience and exploration instead.
You're inspirational and what a treat for all of us to follow you in your journey. Thanks for taking us along!
This was exactly what I needed to hear. It seems like every time I start feeling like what I want so badly will never happen, Jess has a way of beautifully and gracefully filling me with hope and determination again. Thank you for that. God bless you.
I was literally performing a “pruning the grass” type task, and questioning myself about it. I turned this on for some company... truly a godsend, this girl is!
This video felt like you were sitting across from me like a good friend giving me the best advice I could ask for. I am in the situation of impatience waiting for my dreams to happen. This has given me so much encouragement to start teaching myself. I don't need to wait for my dream to happen in order to teach myself about homesteading, etc. Thank you!!!
Gotta turn that waiting room into a classroom. You don't need to have it all to start now. A simple small planter or 2 with a veggie.
You are a gifted teacher. When you said "you're going to have stuff die" you saw my heart. Recently I've had the realization that I am living my retirement with great abundance knowing life is a gift. Having been through great loss has taught me that how I live this life now, without my wife, is somehow a compliment to the great love we share and shared. In some way that's very difficult to explain, the zeal I have now, after her death, reflects our long life together. Thank you for your daily vlogs. I'm sure they are demanding but you'll never know how much I appreciate them. God bless.
Jess, you have such a way with words, that I have never heard before 😌 I love your style of gardening and you philosophy on things like this, and you have no idea how much of a refreshment your videos are to my days and honestly on RUclips (not that my days are horrible).
She's an absolute treasure, isn't she? "pruning the grass". What a meaningful anecdote to share, so impactful for me personally. Have a wonderful day Leyla!
Seven years is the perfect number for moving on to the next step. I don't know you personally, but I feel proud for you and for what God has brought about in your life. You are a gifted teacher ❤️
You are wise beyond your years....and so generous to share your heart. I wish everyone had a friend like you....and a pray you have a grand friend to encourage, teach, and uplift you. WHAT A HEART YOU HAVE.
Hearing your gratefulness and your happiness and pure joy about getting your dream and worshiping in your chicken coup has me 😭😭😭. Thank you for reminding us all to be grateful at every moment of every season. And for the reminder that God hears and wants so much more for us than we can even dream about at times. ❤️
I miss your devotionals. Shared them with friends before, with tears running down my face. They are a blessing. They're for whom they're for and can only exclude those who wish to be excluded. Thank you and bless you and yours Jess, in Jesus name. 💜
Well said!! So much more eloquent than I ❤️
About to move out of our condo to an acre outside of the city. Been praying and waiting for it for many many years. Our living room has been our classroom. Thank you Jess 😭🙏🏻
I cried at least three times listening to this vlog while potting up cups of neglected and crowded tomato seedlings while my kids slept. I've been struggling with postpartum depression and avoiding this task due to overwhelm, but watched 5 of your vlogs today and was able to work up the inspiration and energy to just start on the task. So thank you, Jess. You are the reason I fell in love with gardening and continue being brave in growing even when I feel clueless. I appreciate you ❤
I walk away from your videos with a smile on my face and my heart lifted. Doesn’t matter to me what you talk about.
Oh Jessica!
These talks are my favorite times on your channel. Pruning grass may be my favorite story ever that you’ve told. You might not have known at the time, but it was a divinely designed unfolding of events.
Now I can imagine your son telling his own children that story one day after he teaches them how to prune grass!
Please don't be sorry for "turning it into a devotional style vlog" because it's actually the very reason you are here with us today. It's refreshing to hear you speak like that again. Gods hand has been over your dreams since childhood, putting everything in place for such a time as this... I miss your devotionals in the garden. I hope you bring them back again.
This video was absolutely beautiful! How you opened up and shared the realness of dreaming and achieving those dreams. Each step in life truly does have a "waiting room". How to live life to the fullest by turning that waiting room into a classroom. The image of Ben and the grass is beautiful. Learning the little steps before taking on those the big steps. Thank you for sharing! You're so lovely and such a wonderful mom!
“BECOME” Amen, Jess! This is exactly how you have spoken into my life. I’ve come to LOVE my classroom because a dream is a journey and I want the responsibility/weight to unfold in a sustainable and joyful way. Blessings, a always, to you!!
This message really moved me. You have no idea how much I needed to hear this. We are a military family, and we move so much, my heart aches for the day that we can have a forever home to call our own. We just moved to Germany 6 months ago and will be here a total of three years. I am lucky to have a great yard, and I’m starting my first ever vegetable garden with the help of my lovely neighbor who is guiding me. I have already learned so much in the past few months. This is my classroom time. I can learn and learn, and then when we get back to America I can learn some more until the time comes for my husband to retire in several years. We still have no idea where we want to live when he gets out, but we have time to think about it. All I want is a little bit of land to call our own.
Times are hard so far away from family and friends with three kids that I homeschool in the middle of a pandemic. It’s so nice to have your channel to come to, so I can hear encouraging words and dream about what our life will be like once we can finally settle down somewhere and have our little homestead. In the meantime, I’m making the best of what I’ve been given in this moment and learning all I can and experimenting ❤️
There are so many of your videos that touch my heart but this one? This one touched my soul. I can’t thank you enough for that. I’ll gladly listen to any talks you want to have while you’re weeding. God bless you, Jess.
This video should be labeled 'Garden parables for Life: at 10:40 or middle you are so encouraging about gardening but also living life... We make mistakes, things die... I'm crying... I really love what an amazing soul you are. I am truly blessed by your knowledge every day. Thank you and your sweet family for all you do, for all of us.
I'm crying. I so needed this today. My husband and I dream of having a homestead in collaboration with a few other like-minded people to grow our own food and reclaim the idea of a supportive village. And where we can have young (or even not so young) mothers who are in a difficult place come and have a safe place to live and grow in their motherhood and in life in general. But between my husband's chronic health conditions, and the fact that, in the state we're in now, we can currently only afford about a quarter of an acre, it often seems totally impossible. Your story gives me so much hope that God can do anything, and that he gives us dreams for a reason. So thank you for sharing today ❤️
I'm 62 and still have the dream of a small farm and garden! I garden a lot on our small patio in a condo. It makes me so happy!
😳😳anyone ever been super giddy to click on a video not realizing it was about to stop you in your tracks and smack you in the face with wisdom at the exact right moment! Sweet Jessica Sowards-your words are always so lovely. But your obedience to allow Gods words to speak through you and to be vulnerable is extraordinary. Thank you for the work you do. The cuts in the video, the movements of camera angles, the times you pressed through emotion- you legit just gave a sermon that I was not prepared for! Whatever classroom God is teaching and preparing you for, I will be registering for the front row when you get there! You are precious and loved and so so so appreciated.
Paige, thank you ♥️😭🥰
Pffffff. 😭😭😭😭 Listening to you talking about your classroom after you got your place is choking me up. Your description sounds EXACTLY like it could have come out of my mouth. In November I was washing dishes after everybody went to sleep, and I prayed, "Lord, if it's the RIGHT thing for our family to have a cow. Please help us. Please make it so." Two days later my cow was born, and I was the only human around that could save her. There's more details to that story, of course, but it felt like the turning point for us. Now we have 6 chickens and a rooster. And we were given the go-ahead to tear apart this house and fix it. It never feels like it's happening fast enough, but IT IS HAPPENING! What bliss. Even in the transition.
......for "those with ears to hear" this message is a masterpiece.
I'm living in an apartment and waiting for my chance at a homestead. I always think of you saying "turn your waiting room into a classroom" when I'm working on skills and thinking "does it really matter if I do this now when I can't do everything the way I want to just yet?" Your voice pops into my head reminding me I am in my classroom phase. Thank you.
Anyone else tear up on pruning the grass?!?! Oh, how I'm in that stage right now.
Such wisdom. I am 60 years old and you always encourage and spur me on to dream. Not only that but to believe that they will come true. I can only imagine how God will use your wisdom and sweet willing heart.
Jess, you took my breath away. I was so enthralled by every thing that you said today; I laughed and cried. You are so very special and I'm so grateful to have found you. Hugs to you and your lovely family:)
I’m a student pastor and my wife and I dream of homesteading. Started out first garden this year after buying our first house in Nashville. She started making sourdough bread and using cast iron more. We will be canning this season as well. This video spoke to me, I want to reverberate what you said at the end back to you. I am believing God for your next season and for ours as well. Thanks for the video Jess.
Jess If I could like this a million times I would. You are so insightful, heartfelt, genuine and articulate. Thank you for speaking to my heart as well. I will be watching this vlog again and again. Chris
These devotions honestly bring me to tears and give me so much hope. I’m praying for you all. Thank you for all your content, it is truly amazing and inspiring!
GURL!!! I don't cry often. I consider myself a tough & almost calloused soul but your devotional videos has broken me to an ugly, sobbing mess a few times! 😍 you have just a blessed soul & have a way of getting the message across! Thx for sharing your time & life with us 🥰
We are in that classroom cutting grass on the precipice of listing this almost 70 year old northern California girl’s homestead of nearly 25 years to move (it feels like half way around the world) to an alien environment and way of life to lower eastern Alabama. What is in store for us is both scary and exciting. Can’t wait to get going and at the same time apprehensive about leaving all we have built to someone who may not love it as dearly as we. We are moving to be nearly family and support each one. I want to continue to nurture my deep love of gardening and manage life’s challenges as God opens His doors for us. The unknown is tough, but I want to grow in my new classroom and begin trim pruning & nurturing our new garden. Please pray for us that we’ll be good stewards of Gods provisions in what comes next. Thank you Jessica for sharing this vlog, it really means a lot and is soooo timely.
For someone so young, your words are old soul style. Thank you.
My goodness, how does your chest hold onto that big heart of yours? You made me cry ..Again... lol. Thank you for sharing... And pulling weeds!
I hear you and I hear the lord speak though you, so I feel it and I am moved🙏🏻 God bless you and your journey w all of your students taking in your vision of a better life. We are walking with you and love you!!
Blessings and Always in your waiting, Thank You for your never ending encouragement ❤️❤️❤️❤️❌⭕️❌⭕️
As Christians, we know our testimonies aren't for us, but for others. Thank you for giving yours. It was an absolute, timely blessing. Also, professing your next steps without knowing how you will achieve them is a show of faith. More importantly, God will get the glory when you accomplish them... giving you yet another testimony. Thank you for sharing and being transparent. Keeping you in prayer.
I’m sure you are such an encouragement to so many including my old lady self. I love a devoted devotional teacher. Keep bringing the real content that the Lord puts on your heart. God bless you and your family!
Isn’t it so spiritually stirring that God satiates our yearnings with his wisdom through others? He hears that we have a need and he uses others to fill it. It’s so beautiful.
Every single word that you say, every thought that you share from your heart is loved, appreciated, and absorbed like a sponge. I personally thank the Lord for your testimony every day....💙💚🙏🥰
I began watching your channel shortly after you uploaded “How to grow the best tomatoes” because I wanted to help my Dad garden. I’ve been watching every video since then. Your passion, profound wisdom, love of the garden, your family, and your animals, has inspired me to realize my dream is much more than helping my dad grow the best tomatoes. I purchased my first home last October and have been learning as much as I can about homesteading. Monday, I will be putting in a large garden (probably more than I can handle but I’m eagerly looking forward to the learning experience) and I will be getting chickens within a few months. I feel like I would not have found my dream had I not clicked on that video a couple years ago and I am forever grateful for that. You and your family are a blessing and I pray all of your dreams become reality and infinitely more than you could imagine!
NEXT WEEK!!! I'M NOT PREPARED!!! But also I'm super excited! Also, I have so much edging that needs to be done. If Ben misses that work, I'm not opposed to child labor in the garden. I'll pay him in legos.
I thought people had kids for this exact purpose. 🤷🏼♀️😂
@@melissasullivan1658 that’s my parents always told me. “That’s what we had you for.”
I was going to comment on how inspirational you always are but, it's been covered. All I could do was go through and hit the 👍🏻on all of the comments that stated my own thoughts in a much more eloquent way.
Thank you Jess and thank you to.all the other loving and inspiring folks here participating in this place of growth with me!💖
I love that Ben loving pruning ended up him being able to actually help with pruning because the way you encouraged him to prune the grass...but also taught him how to prune tomatoes. You didn't just brush him off. Which is such an easy thing to do as a parent just wanting to get a job done.
Thanks for this encouragement, all my husband and I dream of is having children and having that family life. We need some medical treatment to make that happen. Whilst we are in the waiting room of saving for treatment, I will make a home and environment the best it can be for a family, I will learn all I can and build a stronger relationship with my husband whilst we go through this trial in our lives. Thank you for this lesson Jess, keeps me focused on something whilst we wait ❤️
That felt like a Ted Talk! Homesteading is not a dream of mine, but your story and insight was really uplifting. You have a beautiful soul and it shines through the videos.
I adore you, Jess. I adore your wisdom, insight, and ability to express things that I feel but unable to express myself. God bless you sweet girl.
Earlier I literally went back to watch the lemon balm/honey medicine video when you were letting Ben prune the grass💚
I was doing exactly the same, then saw a new video upload, and had a bit of a surprise to see the "prune the grass" reference again. It was kismet.
Jess, this brought me to tears. I feel so connected to you through this channel. You are an amazing communicator. Last year I binge watched all of your videos, and yesterday I had the thought “I need to go back and find her devotional videos”. So this was perfect timing. ❤️ God knows what he’s doing when he speaks through you!!
I'm selling my home, moving to Cancun buying a Bed and Breakfast 300' from the beach and starting a youtube channel to empower women to be the best version of themselves that they want to be. Your message today was very timely in my life, so thank you very much 🙏🥰
Thank you for bringing us along as you weed your garden. Watching you use the cobra head weeder makes me want one. I've deciced to call my sister so we can talk and discuss life as I pull weeds. I've said this before. You are a natural born teacher. I always want to get out and work in my garden and make my plans after watching your videos. Thank you Jess.
This is one of my favorite videos you have posted. I have watched it several times. Love it.
I can't help but fixate on the fact that you have been there for *7* years .... And now, 7 years in, is when the next step unfolds for you. That just makes me smile 😊 x
You are such a blessing! I am very much in the waiting room, renting a house in Southern California where ownership feels impossible... but our rental has a yard that we are allowed to plant and maintain. And your videos have really helped me to embrace where I am and find contentment and excitement in just doing what I can with what I have. God bless you and your family!
I can relate to the season of waiting and learning. I feel God has put on my heart to learn the old ways turning back to basics at age 60!!! I am learning and growing closer to Him through this journey. Learning and reading about foraging using herbs for medicine. I have had a career, raised 4 children, became a nurse worked at a hospital for almost 20 years. Since 2009 I have been free to work part time and learn so much. I'm still growing and very grateful for the life God has given me. You are a great teacher and motivational speaker. Keep it up.
From the most sincere place in my heart thank you for truthfully and fearlessly chasing your dreams and giving anyone and everyone permission to do the same. I can not wait to see you fulfilled the same way you have fulfilled so many others! Bless you and Miah!! (My homeboy)
Hit me hard!! been praying for a while now! My husband and I came out of a huge heroin and everything that come with that 6 years ago February. I began to learn about things I should have already known, even small stuff like my favorite color. God seriously made me into a Worship Pastor and director over REwired a recovery ministry, it all blew my mind! This was a WORD for me! We are currently in our classroom in waiting! Thank you Jess! God moves through you more then I think you realize. My fulfillment is coming! So is yours!
Jess
I know you probably won't see this but I wanted to say thank you. I've found myself in a larger classroom than probably most, having a 6000 square foot garden, and chickens and ducks, and now 3 bottle baby goats. I am blessed and I used to pat myself on the back thinking look at all my hard work that brought me here. I NEVER believed in God. My family was not religious though I was baptized at birth.
Because of you God has come to he. He has come to my heart and my life and showed me him in ways I never thought possible. I managed chickens and a small garden and through him in this place he has given me so many more of my hearts desires. I know I am still in a classroom for the homestead.
But because of you God is also in my classroom and I could never thank you enough.
😭😭 Thank you so much for this video. I cried the whole time. The things you said just spoke to me heart. I have always wanted to have a place to call my own to grow food and for the past 5 years I’ve had a strong desire to move to NC just thought, “but it will probably never happen”. I will be 61 this yr and the possibility of moving at times get very dim, but after today’s video I feel that there a possibility for this to happen. That I just have more waiting to do. I will say from watching your videos my garden is the best it has ever been, so I am very thankful for you and all your words of encouragement. I will be be patient and do more learning and my time to move will come. Thanks again. 🙏🏻🙏🏻💕🧑🌾🌱
I believe feeling gratitude in the classroom season is part of the lesson. I once took a job I had sworn never to return to because I was hungry and the electric got turned off etc. Within weeks, I got a phone call at my workplace from a prospective employer offering my dream job. How had he found me there, 2 weeks after my interview? My acceptance of my desperate circumstances changed my future for awhile and restored my faith in God and his wisdom for our lives.
Definitely felt this was for me, I feel the spirit over this message so much I can't stop crying. My waiting room lead me into fasting for Jesus, and ever since, my life has completely changed. I learned that if you need an answer from the Lord about anything it is guaranteed he will answer you if you fast about it.The blood of Jesus on you and your family💕
NEVER stop sharing your heart. You blessed me and my wife tonight with this video. We are in a huge waiting/classroom.
I stumbled upon your channel a while back and just want to say what an amazing individual you are! I use to garden years ago and after having my life completely uprooted by a cancer diagnosis I wanted to get back to a more peaceful way of living. This video is exactly what I needed today! Thank you for always being such a positive light and inspiration to others.
Anyone else feel like standing up and applauding? Thanks, Jess!
"Don't Stop Believing" ~ Journey. How appropriate! Thanks, Jess! God bless you!
Thank you for sharing your heart - raw and real. Our dreams are just starting to be fulfilled- God has carried us soooo far in this past year after so many struggles. We have been so incredibly blessed. I’m new to watching your channel - your heart and love for your garden, family and God is beautiful. God bless you and your family ☺️❤️
Love all your garden updates. I need to get your little weed tool. Creating content and posting it is for me. Also have with homeschooling 6 kids , planting, taking care of farm animals, and more. Sometimes it overwhelming to even get to a video posted. 🌻❤️ love y’all.
This may have been my favorite vlog you’ve ever done..... thank you for being part of my life.❤️❤️❤️❤️
I love the story about Ben and the grass being pruned and it preparing him for a purpose greater than the intended one. I’m really trying to work on patience in my own life at mo, so this example just may help me on the more challenging days. Thank you 😊
Your heart always speaks to my heart. Your words remind me of things I already know inside but sometimes it feels more comforting from the voice of another. I wish I could give you the biggest hug, because saying "thank you" again just doesn't cut it!💕
I needed to hear this. I've been doing a lot of pruning the grass and I didn't realize how important it is. Thank you!
Don't be sorry for speaking about your dreams. I love listening to you talk about the classroom, and throwing a little bit of God into it. I am excited for you for the next season of your life.
God gave you an amazing heart. I appreciate you sharing it. Your words are a blessing to me. Thank you Jess
I just like to say thank you Jess you're so delightful an insightful watching your videos is such a joyful part of my day. And even though I'm not very religious I still find your videos very inspiring. Oh and your gardening tips are a big bonus . I've learned a lot and my garden thanks you LOL
I needed to hear this today. In case you felt like it was on your heart to say this for even one person, just know that might have been me. 🥰
You have so much more to teach us than gardening and homesteading. I first came to your channel because of a devotional video you did. I stayed because your faith is evident in everything you do and occasionally, like today, it fully shines out. Thank you for sharing and for caring about the many people watching. One day God will show you how many lives you touched and were a blessing to. 🙏☺️💖
Gooood afternoon from central Florida! Hope everyone has a great day!
Thank you, I appreciate this content so much. Speaking from a place where I can finally say I am beginning to thrive, instead of just survive, and your content has really been a big part of that. My experience is no learning is a waste. All learning adds value now and more value in the future. I am starting a garden this year and find such similarities between what the soil and plants needs to grow and what we need to be healthy and grow. Thank you for the encouragement, the good example you set in your life and your family, and the gardening philosophy and reality. Happy Anniversary for the house and the especially the marriage.
Thank you for this. It seems so timely as I just watch you "seedling" devotional last night when my thoughts were running from my head in this season of waiting and preparing. Just a reminder that God is good and has the best plan and I need more patience and to continue to dream big and believe
Jess - you are SUCH a great teacher, motivator, inspirational speaker, communicator- you truly have a gift and we are so thankful you continue to use your waiting room as a classroom, and then sharing that learning with us. We appreciate you!!
I am doing exactly what u had described. Looking at land, its depressing getting told I dont qualify for a home loan. I'm learning how to garden and dreaming about an acre ish.
Honestly Jess, the devotional style chats you have with us is my favorite. I get it more when it comes from the heart and from God’s plan for our lives if only we just stop “be still” and listen. Your words just made my heart sing. Thank you and I’m so excitedly see where the future of Roots and Refuge and to follow all the travels and adventures. God bless. 🙏❤️
This came just in time. I needed to hear this! God works in mysterious ways. I was just praying about this.
My husband and I are celebrating 10 years today! How sweet!
It's not a bad thing for something to turn into a devotion. ♥
Tears! Could you be a more beautiful soul Jess?! This video has me in tears. Such a beautiful & deep message (to me).
Thank you for being the amazing, wonderful you and sharing.