About

Hey Ya'll!

I'm Dani, a photographer by trade and a horsewoman by heart. I am a sister-less sister and a suffering loyalist (where are my enneagram sixes at- you know what I mean). I'm an undeniable INFJ and you can assume on any given day that I've got a cold cup of half drunk coffee beside a to-do list on my kitchen table. My days tend to go based on how the weather has me feeling. I love a good melancholy rainy day, but 2 rainy days in a row, forget it. I can't stand being cooped up inside, something feels off in my day if I don't lay my eyes or hands on a horse. I dabble in leather work and start new creative hobbies until they clutter up my tiny home and I call it quits (who wants to live with clutter?) I'm a wanna-be minimalist and a sentimental pack-rat rolled up into one. I've got an inner fire like Beth Dutton (Yellowstone is my guilty pleasure show) but my southern church raisin' and inner peace-keeper convictions help me keep my mouth shut. I've my scars and vices and yet Jesus keeps being sovereign over it all and making beauty out of ashes. 

The Fam

A little fixer-upper single wide on a cattle farm in the foothills of North Carolina is where we call home- for now. Lord willing one day we'll own a little piece of property of our own to raise our littles and their colts on.

 

Luke, my real-deal cowboy husband, is a rock built upon The Rock. We married in May of 2018 just 3 weeks after my college graduation and 6 years of dating. We were just babies when we met and by the Grace of God not one day has he left my side in these many years. He has taken the brokenness bull by the horns and is answering the call of pastoral ministry all while being a life/ministry partner and full time farrier. He rides the buck out of a colt with the same tenderness of hand that swaddles a sleeping babe. I'm convinced there is no one in this world like him. His presence is unwavering and his love earth quaking,but don't ask him about theology unless you want to have an hour+ theological discussion. 

Levi William is our heart-stealing', blue-eyed, rainbow baby born in July of 2020. He is the music to our song and the spring in our step. It's hard to imagine what life was like before him. Each day we see a new piece of his personality as his smile lights up the room. I know that watching him grow into the man God has created him to be will be the joy of our lives.

He's got a herd of 4-legged creatures to grow up with: our 3 horses Deacon, Boomer, and Petite to show him the ropes, our 2 dogs Handy and Hitch as loyal friends, and his constant shadow, Presley, our "tiny" cat. 

The Story

From a young age I knew Jesus had put the desire in my heart to serve families through the ministry using horses. In pursuit of that, I attended Asbury University in central Kentucky for my undergrad in psychology.

My desire in starting this blog was to create a space to start vulnerable and real conversations. Growing up with two adopted siblings with Reactive Attachment Disorder I learned a lot about the the adoptive love of God the Father. In a home inflicted with brokenness, which no home is without, Jesus used horses in my life as agents of His work. 

If you haven't figured it out by now. . . I lay it all out there. I can't function without vulnerability. Vulnerability is hard, really hard. But Jesus calls us to press into HIS brokenness, and that's what I am trying to do. 

I pray that you will find this to be a safe place to read words of hope and real vulnerability for the adopted children of God. And I hope if you need to let your walls down, that you know I'm a listening ear. 

I pray that we and our horses, as vessels of His work, can encourage others as we pursue what is found within the words of our name, "The Homestead:" a steady home (family). Not without it's brokenness, but built on The Cornerstone, holding steady as a safe place until we are reunited in and with the family in His presence. 

From the homestead,

 Dani