Living a Life of Grit & Grace
Greetings from Tennessee! I am penning this column in my hotel room before I head out for the day. I’ll be touring a beef processing plant this morning and speaking at a bull sale later in the day, and I’m looking forward to learning, connecting, and celebrating with great cattle ranching families the abundance of opportunities that exist in this industry for those willing to differentiate themselves in the marketplace and apply an entrepreneurial spirit to this way of life.
As many of you know, I have a weekly podcast called, “The Heart of Rural America,” and on that show, I’m on a mission to highlight the incredible people I have the great fortune of meeting on the road. These folks inspire me and fuel me to keep working and fighting to keep families on the land and to ensure our nation remains free and fed.
As I travel, these stewards of the land and livestock have taught me so much, and I truly believe that the best people reside in the heart of rural America — folks who are kind-hearted yet gritty; who live with integrity and handshake deals; who are generous and giving; and who truly have a passion and a purpose outside of themselves. This is confirmed to me with every stop I make in my travels to speak, and sometimes, the meetings are so powerful and so profound, it’s hard to even express how meaningful they are to me.
Let me share an example of exactly what I mean.
I was recently invited to speak at the Grit & Grace Nation gathering, held in conjunction with the Professional Bull Riders event in Sioux Falls, S.D. This organization is the vision of my dear friend, Fanchon Stinger. The mission of the organization is to encourage young ladies to live with grit and grace and to follow Biblical principles and the cowboy way as they navigate the world around them.
Fanchon’s resume is quite impressive. She’s a 15-time Emmy-winning co-host of PBR Now, a TV show host on Dr. Phil’s Merit Street TV channel, a contributor to Western Sports Roundup and NFR Tailgate, an actress in the movie, “God’s Not Dead: A Light In Darkness,” a PBR bull owner, and the list goes on. Her accolades and television awards are too numerous to count, but to me, she has become a trusted friend and confidant and a treasured sister in Christ who I can count on for wisdom and support.
But this friendship didn’t happen by chance. It started in the heart of rural New Mexico when a young lady named Jaleh Mosher applied for a Grit & Grace scholarship two years ago. In her video application, Jaleh spoke about her passion for teaching kids in her urban school in Albuquerque about food and agriculture, and she mentioned my name as someone she followed on social media who had inspired her to pursue her passion for promoting agricultural literacy in schools.
Jaleh went on to win the scholarship, and that’s when Grit & Grace founder reached out to me to connect. For two years, Fanchon and I hoped and prayed that one day the opportunity would present itself for Jaleh and I to meet, and at long last, this event in Sioux Falls brought all of the pieces together.
We planned a surprise meeting for Jaleh, and when I walked into the hotel lobby to meet her, there were many happy tears between myself, Jaleh, and Fanchon — all brought together by God’s divine intervention and timing.
It’s an example of the importance of connectivity in agriculture and the power of building a network of people to build, to grow, to learn, and to do good with. My day with Grit & Grace was nothing short of extraordinary. Messages of faith and hope permeated through the entire day. We got to work closely with young ladies who were experience hard challenges in their lives, and pouring into them with encouragement and advice created a meaningful day, hopefully for everyone in attendance.
The day concluded with the PBR bull riding event, where the Grit & Grace ladies were reminded that in the game of life, if you get bucked off the bull, you’ve got to brush yourself off and get back on the bull. That’s how you live a lie of both grit and grace.
Thank you, Fanchon, for the invitation to be part of something so meaningful. You have truly created a mission that is powerful and important and will generational impacts on the young ladies and the people they go onto be.
