Homesteading is a mindset as much as a skill. If the goal of homesteading is moving toward self-sufficiency, the low hanging fruit is not growing and raising food. It’s learning to do hard things.

Let me ask you a question. What have you always paid someone else to do instead of just doing it yourself?

Does the service you thought of have value just because of the convenience to your life? In other words, does it save you time and effort, but you feel confident that you could do that thing yourself if you wanted to?

An easy example of this is buying coffee at a coffee shop. Millions of people in the U.S. drink coffee every day and many of them buy it rather than brew it at home. All of those people are more than capable of making coffee themselves.

But maybe the paid service that you thought of is not something that’s easy to do. Maybe it’s a very hard thing to do. You might even say that you can’t do it yourself and that’s why you pay someone else to do it for you.

An example of this in my life is car repair. If my car breaks, I’ve always taken it to the experts to fix it. I’m a handy guy, but I can’t work on engines. I don’t know how to do it. I don’t have the right tools. It’s too hard. Or at least that’s what I’ve always told myself.

A few months ago, I allowed the oil level in my truck to get too low, which resulted in severe engine damage. The only way to fix it was to remove and rebuild the engine. Serious stuff.

After going through all the various emotions that people go through in times like that, I decided it was on me to fix it. I knew roughly how much a mechanic would charge me and that didn’t seem like the right path forward, but it was more than that. This was a chance to redeem myself for what I had done, and dive far into the deep end of the unknown.

I had no idea what I was about to do, but I was determined to do it.

That is what homesteading is all about: Doing hard things. Decide to do something that you don’t know how to do, do it yourself, and learn as you go.

You have no idea what you’re capable of doing. When you dig deep, like so deep that you have no choice but to completely surrender to the Lord and trust Him to bring you through it, something truly amazing happens. You believe that you can do the impossible.

Jesus said, “If you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matthew 17:20)

My truck isn’t done yet. I’m still growing through that project, but I’ve already learned so much. About engines, yes, but more importantly, about myself. And about God.

It has been very hard. I never wanted to quit, but there were times I didn’t know how to keep going. I prayed. I kept going. I prayed with my family. I kept going. My kids helped. We kept going.

It’s hard to explain all the ways that the Lord has blessed my family and me since I broke my truck. Maybe that’s for another post. And like I said, we’re not done yet.

Homesteading is hard. There’s no point in sugar coating it. If you do, you won’t be ready to do whatever it takes to succeed. You’ll never know how good it feels to accomplish something you didn’t think it was possible for you to do.

Don’t start with rebuilding your engine. Maybe start with brewing coffee at home. Once you’ve got that down, start cooking all your meals at home. Stop paying other people to do things that you can do yourself. Gardens, chickens, and everything else will come when you’re ready. And you will be ready.

Do hard things. You won’t regret it.