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!
We are smack in the middle of summer vacation and for a lot of kids that means swimming lessons!
While there are a lot of life skills that I love teaching our kids, there are some areas I have to recognize that I am not a master of and defer to others for help. Learning to swim is a life skill that is not used a lot on the ranch, but I feel very passionately as a parent that my kids are equipped to handle themselves in the water.
I sheepishly admit that during the last few summers the only time our girls have been to the public swimming pool is for swimming lessons. While I do not see them ever aspiring to be lifeguards and we never frequent bodies of water bigger than the stock dams in the pastures around here, I still find this skill vitally important.
I really encourage all parents to check into their local swimming pools to see what swimming lesson opportunities are offered. I know that summer tends to fly by, but I really feel that you will never regret empowering your kids to become more confident in the water.
Thank you to all of the community lifeguards who have taken the time to be properly trained and then teach kids all of the skills to save themselves and others around water. You really are a difference maker in the world. You will probably never know if you have saved a life, but I promise you influence and teaching will make a difference in someone’s life.
Come back tomorrow and I will tell you just swimming lessons during my youth made a big difference for me when working on the ranch growing up! You won’t want to miss it!
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Karina ranches with her husband, Marty, and 3 daughters 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 current role as full time Field Director for R-CALF USA.
You can hear her almost every Friday on Your Ag Network’s Hot Barn Report that is broadcast on 60 radio stations with coverage in 9 states, where she deep dives into cattle industry issues and highlights R-CALF’s work on industry reforms. Listen to Ranch Raised on a Your Ag Network hometown station or www.youragnetwork.com where she talks about her daily life on the ranch.
Cattle producers are her people. She will meet you at the county fair, at the sale barn, or anywhere the dusty trail leads.
karina@youragnetwork.com or visit facebook.com/ranchraisedwithkarinajones
