Our First Calving Season: Faith in Every Step

There's something humbling about watching a calf take its first steps. You've prepared everything you can — the pen is
clean, the feed is right, the vet's number is saved in your phone — and still, in the end, it's out of your hands.

That was the lesson of our first calving season at Rancho Jireh.

We started with twelve Beefmaster heifers, all first-time mothers. The books told us to expect a few complications.
What they didn't tell us was that three would calve in the same night during a cold front, that we'd be out at 2 a.m.
with a flashlight and a prayer, or that every single calf would make it through just fine.

Jireh means "the Lord will provide." We chose that name before we'd planted a single fence post, before we'd bought
our first head of cattle. We chose it as a declaration — a reminder for ourselves more than anyone else.

That night, standing in the pasture watching a wobbly new calf find its footing while its mother looked on, we
understood the name a little more deeply.

Ranching is not a business for the faint of heart. The margins are thin, the weather is unpredictable, and the land
asks more of you than you think you have to give. But it is also one of the most honest ways to live — close to
creation, dependent on something greater than yourself, reminded daily that you are a steward, not an owner.

We're still learning. Every season brings new challenges and new gifts. But we're grateful for every one of them, and
we're grateful you're following along.