Some dreams start with a map and a pencil.
When my husband and I began searching for land, we literally drew a circle on a map. One hour’s drive—that was our limit. We both had jobs we loved (I work at a university, he’s a maintenance supervisor), but we craved country living. After years of searching, we found our 15 acres right at the edge of that circle. An hour from each of our jobs, naturally.
The previous owners grew hay for horses. Practical and perfectly reasonable. But as we began remodeling the house and walking those fields, we knew hay wasn’t our story. We planted apple trees. Grew pumpkins. Started a garden. But something was missing.
That’s when lavender began whispering.
“Lavender doesn’t grow in Missouri,” everyone said. But the whispers persisted. Then I discovered the University of Missouri Extension was researching lavender as a potential cash crop for our state. A few brave farms were already proving it possible.
That whisper became a roar. We spent a full year researching—reading everything, watching videos, following the Extension’s trials. The more we learned, the more certain we became.
Sometimes the best things happen when you don’t listen to “that won’t work here.”
As Amelia Earhart supposedly said, “Never interrupt someone doing what you said couldn’t be done.”
We’re not interrupting ourselves anytime soon.