If you’ve been wondering where I went these last few months… I’m still here. I just stepped away from the blog for a while, and honestly, this has been one of the busiest, hardest, and most meaningful seasons I’ve ever walked through. 💛
Our home got fuller this season. We’re foster parents, and our house grew in ways we didn’t fully plan for but wouldn’t trade for anything. For a little while David and I even moved our own bedroom out into the living room so there’d be enough space to go around. Eventually we brought in a little support worker help, because there just weren’t enough hours in the day to do it all myself. That was a humbling thing to admit… and the right thing to do.
All the while, we’ve been renovating our new off-grid home with our own hands. 🏡 For months now it’s been flooring and plywood and insulation, kitchen sinks and faucets and laundry rooms and generators, and about a hundred tiny decisions I never knew a house needed. It’s been exhausting. But every single step has brought us closer to a place we can truly call home.
One of the sweetest moments in all of it was watching my youngest son, Chase, graduate. That means all four of my boys have now finished high school. As a mom, it felt like one chapter quietly closed and another one opened. I couldn’t have been prouder of the man he’s become.
I’ll be honest about the hard part too. This season has been rough on my body. I’ve kept living with the chronic pain my doctor believes is fibromyalgia, and there are days every muscle aches… neck, ribs, jaw, feet, strange little electric-shock feelings, the kind of exhaustion that sits in your bones. I went through round after round of being sick on top of it. There were days I truly didn’t feel capable of much at all. But life doesn’t stop when you’re a wife, a foster mom, a homemaker, and building something of your own. You just keep going, small and steady, the best you can. 🌱
And in the middle of all of that, my business went through its biggest change yet.
For a long time my focus was The Homestead Haven. But somewhere along the way I realized my heart wasn’t only to teach people how to homestead. What I really wanted was to help women build lives that feel rich… not just financially, but spiritually, emotionally, and practically.
So I gave it a new name. Homesteading to Riches.
For me, that name was never about a fortune. It’s about the kind of riches this life has actually given me. Riches in faith, in family, in freedom and purpose, in practical skills, in resilience, in community. That’s the story I want to keep sharing with you.
As the mission got clearer, I rebuilt almost everything behind the scenes. I mapped out a real content plan, organized my products, worked on the website, built out recipes and printables, and grew our little Skool community. One of my favorite moments was watching it reach 100 members. That wasn’t just a number to me. It was 100 women who chose a space built on encouragement, real homemaking, and building a life that actually means something.
I even made a corner inside the community I call the “Real Life Corner”… a place to celebrate small wins, share the hard days, ask for prayer, and just be honest without pretending everything’s perfect. Because that’s the whole point. I don’t want you to feel like you’re looking at an influencer’s life. I want you to feel like you’re sitting across the kitchen table from a friend. ☕
If you asked me what I learned about myself these last four months, I think I’d say this: I’m not trying to become an influencer. I’m trying to build a life that points people toward something better. True riches were never the size of a bank account. They’re family gathered around the table, food in the pantry, skills you can pass down, faith that holds through hard seasons, children who feel safe and loved, and income built in a way that doesn’t cost you the things that matter most.
So today feels like the start of a brand-new chapter. Our home is finally coming together. My brand finally feels like me. And my message has never been clearer.
If you’re in a loud, hard, in-between season of your own right now… I want you to hear this. You don’t have to wait for perfect conditions to start. You can build right where you are, in the season you’re actually in. That’s what I’m doing, one ordinary day at a time.
I’m so glad you’re still here. Come along for this next chapter with me. 🌿
From my kitchen table to yours,
Rachel 🌿
Leave a Reply