Karina Jones is a real-life ranch wife in the Nebraska Sandhills and one of the most highly sought-after speakers in the cattle industry nationwide!
The hard and the grateful. Thanks for joining me today on Ranch Raised.
How many of you are guilty of silently telling yourself, “Next week things will slow down.” If you are involved in ranching, then you know that phrase bounces between your ears like a dull echo, from now to eternity. Despite the busyness of our ranching season, I am thankful to have all my chicks back in the nest, so to speak. All the cows are home from the far-off places we send them for the warmer months and all of may cattle crew is home under one roof. All of that is at the top of my grateful list today.
The last few days have given more time for reflection between the hard and the grateful. Hard things like being a family split between two ranch locations but grateful to have kids that are so capable of handling big ranch jobs at both places to help us out at. Hard to manage daily chores and cattle feeding while solo parenting a busy toddler but thankful for a daughter who stayed with me this week to handle all the barn chores on her own and to share in wrangling of said toddler with me. Hard to know that I had a husband, kids, and four trucks with cows on the snowy icy roads yesterday morning. Grateful to have everyone arrive safely to my yard and to know that all of our truckers arrived safely to their families last night. Despite the hard to be a part the last few days, today we are grateful to be back together, doing chores as a family, eating together at the dinner table, and just being whole again.
I know that everyone’s “hard” looks different. But, I hope that you are surrounded by people that help remind you that even in a season of hard, there is so much to be grateful for. And that might be the bigger message to remember this week. Not what centerpiece goes on the table or what you are serving for dinner, but truly giving thanks for all that you have, both big and small.
Karina ranches with her husband, Marty, and 4 children near Broken Bow, NE. She grew up in western NE, with roots also in southwest SD. The cattle industry and raising kids is her passion.
Watching the cattle industry go the path that it has gone, she could no longer sit quietly at home checking cows, fixing fence, and doing all the everyday tasks wondering when some else was going to make it all better. As she became more active and outspoken on industry issues, she was asked to join the R-CALF USA staff in September 2020 as the Checkoff Petition Campaign manager. That position transcended into her former role as full time Field Director for R-CALF USA.
Listen to Ranch Raised on a Your Ag Network hometown station or www.youragnetwork.com where she talks about her daily life on the Jones Ranch.
Cattle producers are her people. She will meet you at the county fair, at the sale barn, or anywhere the dusty trail leads.
[email protected] or visit facebook.com/ranchraisedwithkarinajones
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