For five long years they made do with a split life, August working away from home during the week while Laurie and their sons "held down the fort" — homesteading and homeschooling. It was challenging, but much easier than some families have it, such as those with family members deployed overseas.

Laurie's momma passed, leading to an epic mess with Laurie's step-sisters. You learn a lot about some people's true colors when money is involved — and sometimes none of it is good.

August was in a car accident in the city when he was t-boned by an inattentive driver. The accident left him with a permanent but thankfully not life-threatening injury to his neck and shoulder.

August kept watch for jobs closer to home. Finally, he applied for a position with a local municipality and was hired. The news of the new job arrived just in time, as he had been asked to train his replacement at the long-distance job. The organization wanted to change from outside contractors to in-house staff for the position.

Things were chaotic as they settled back into living together full time. In a way, it was almost like being newlyweds again, as they had to establish new routines for their new schedule.

Sometimes strange things happen to a person's body when they feel "safe" again. In Laurie's case, after years of pent-up stress and emotions, about a third of her body erupted in plaque psoriasis.

It was a miserable time. Her skin was so bad that it would crack and bleed. She saw a dermatologist, who said she would likely have to "live with it." But with lifestyle changes and help from friends and family, she worked through the emotional baggage and eventually cleared her skin.

This is Part 4 of Letters from the Homestead, a special six-part series leading up to the Resilient Living Summit.

(You can read more about my psoriasis situation in Psoriasis Healing.)

For years, I had focused on doing what needed to be done. There were boys to raise and homeschool, a homestead to manage, work to do, family problems to deal with, and a husband who was only home on weekends.

You keep going because that's what you do.

What I didn't fully appreciate at the time was that getting through a difficult season and recovering from it aren't necessarily the same thing.

Sometimes we're so busy handling what's immediately in front of us that there isn't much time or energy left to process what we're carrying. Then the crisis passes, life settles down a little — and our bodies have something to say about it.

That's one reason my conversation with Suzanne Tabert of Cedar Mountain Herb School felt so familiar.

Stories of Resilience: Suzanne Tabert

Suzanne recently went through an intense period of writing and teaching while also helping care for a dear friend who was dying of cancer. She held everything together until she didn't have to anymore. Then, as she puts it in our interview, her body essentially said, "Watch this." She broke out in hives that lasted seven miserable weeks.

Her experience led us into a much bigger conversation about resilience — not simply our ability to endure difficult things, but the importance of rest, boundaries, grief, self-care, and giving ourselves permission to process what we've been through.

​

Because sometimes "getting through it" is only the first part of getting through it.

Resilience Is More Than Getting Through the Crisis

One theme keeps coming up as I've recorded these interviews and looked back at our own family's experiences:

Resilience isn't just about preparing for emergencies. It's about having the knowledge, skills, resources, and people around you to help you navigate whatever life brings.

Sometimes that means knowing how to keep your family warm when the power goes out or how to grow and preserve more of your own food.

Sometimes it means recognizing when you've pushed yourself too far, giving yourself permission to grieve, setting better boundaries, or simply asking for help.

That's why Amber and I put together the Resilient Living Summit. Over six days, you'll hear from people with decades of real-world experience in preparedness, gardening, food preservation, herbal medicine, homesteading, resilient homes, family, community, and more.

You don't have to master everything.

Come away with a few new skills, a few new ideas, and perhaps a different way of looking at a problem you're facing. That's progress.

The Summit is completely FREE to attend September 14–19, with each day's presentations available free for 48 hours.

​Reserve your FREE Resilient Living Summit pass → https://resilientlivingsummit.com/summit-registration/​

Want to Keep Everything?

If you already know you'd rather learn at your own pace, the Resilient Living Toolkit gives you lifetime access to the Summit presentations, plus a large collection of additional classes, guides, ebooks, and other resources contributed by our presenters.

And here's a particularly good example of the value tucked inside.

Suzanne contributed her Medicine Making Fundamentals: Phytochemistry & Plant Potency Bundle. It teaches both the fundamentals behind making effective herbal remedies and how harvest timing affects plant potency. Suzanne currently sells that bundle for $90 by itself.

​See Suzanne's Medicine Making bundle →​

Right now, the Early Bird price for the entire Resilient Living Toolkit is less than the regular price of Suzanne's contribution alone.

And that's just one of the resources included.

If you've been thinking about getting the Toolkit, this is a good time to do it. Early Bird pricing is available before the Summit begins, and the price goes up once we get underway.

Get the Resilient Living Toolkit at the Early Bird price → https://resilientlivingsummit.com/all-access/​

Whether you join us for free or choose the Toolkit, I hope you'll come spend the week with us.

None of us knows exactly what life has waiting around the corner. But we can keep learning, keep building useful skills, take better care of ourselves and each other — and be a little better prepared for whatever comes next.

Talk soon,

Laurie