From Broken Pieces to a Blessed Life

My Story, My Faith, and Why I’m Here

Hi friend 🤍 I’m Shelby.

If you were sitting with me right now, I’d probably be leaning on my kitchen counter with a warm cup of coffee, talking a little too much and laughing about the mess on the floor while my kids ran through the house yelling about who hit who first.

Because that’s real life here.

And this blog comes straight from that life—the hard parts, the healing parts, and the beautiful grace God gave me along the way.

“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” — Psalm 34:18

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🌵 Growing Up

I grew up in a small town in Arizona, which means country/ redneck living. I was always around horses, my step dad taught me to hunt, we seemed to have a lot more animals then I thought as I look back now…. from chickens and ducks and turkeys to rabbits, goats, and even a horse. As a young adult, I was either working on the ranch or tailgating at a bonfire.

Our home that wasn’t really centered on faith. We were somewhat atheist, and God just wasn’t part of everyday life. But my great Grandparents would pray over holiday meals, so I always had some sense of divinity.

I grew up with my stepdad and two younger siblings—a brother seven years younger than me and a sister thirteen years younger. I learned early how to help take care of others, how to be responsible, and how to grow up a little faster than some kids.

On the outside, life looked normal.
But on the inside, I always felt like something was missing.

“You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.” — Augustine (inspired by Psalm truths)

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🌑 A Turning Point

When I was 18, I went through a trauma that I’m not quite ready to share publicly yet.

But it shook me deeply.
It sent me down a dark path.
And for a while, I didn’t recognize the girl I had become.

I was hurting, lost, and searching for anything that would make the pain quieter.

At one point, just to run away from the pain, I had 4 jobs. I worked as a CNA Monday- Friday from 6AM-2PM. Then when I got off I went to work at a ranch until it was dark and the horses were fed. On Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings, after the ranch, I worked as a busser at a restaurant I grew up in. And on Sundays I would work the roping.

And that’s when God quietly started working.

“He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” — Psalm 147:3

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🤍 How I Found Faith

Not long after that season, I started dating the man who would become my husband.

He and his family invited me to church, and for the first time in my life, I saw something different. Real love. Real forgiveness. Real hope.

And one day it hit me:

If God could forgive me…
If He could love me…
Why would I want anything else but Him?

I struggled with this for awhile… He shouldn’t waste his time on me… I’ll accept him but I wont bother him. But something just kept tugging at my heart strings, until one day I realized… How silly is it that if God did all of that for me, why would I want to do anything else but listen to him and follow him? If I don’t go to him, I’m not trusting what he says. And he was the only person I could trust so why would I not believe him when he says he wants ME to follow?! I didn’t want to make a decision based off of what I thought He should have… I needed to empty my own thoughts and feelings and just listen to him. Because in my heart I knew he is right and he is perfect.

That’s when I gave my life to Christ.
That’s when I was baptized.

Not because I had it all together—but because I knew I needed Him.

“If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new is here.” — 2 Corinthians 5:17

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💍 Learning to Be a Wife

After we got married, I remember praying,
“Lord, teach me how to be a Godly wife.”

And wow… that was hard.

Marriage showed me my selfishness.
My impatience.
My pride.

We had to learn how to communicate, how to forgive, how to grow together instead of apart.

Some of this I thought meant submitting quietly and just letting my husband lead, feeling like my own voice didn’t matter. (Which later I found out was NOT the correct form of submitting).

“Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.” — Ephesians 4:2

Then after a few months into marriage, my husband was offered a job in Indiana with his uncle. So we packed our little 750-square-foot apartment into a tiny U-Haul and drove 1,800 miles away from everything we knew.

Just the two of us, chasing a new beginning.

And we landed near the heart of a bustling city… Louisville. (Well… just on the other side of the river).

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart… and He will make your paths straight.” — Proverbs 3:5–6

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🏡 Starting Over

We always knew I wanted to be a stay-at-home mom someday, but with one car and a brand-new move, I was trying to figure out what work looked like until we started having kdis.

And then I found out I was pregnant with our first baby 🤍

The amount of research I did… the amount of books I read.. It just got to a point where I was just relearning the same things over and over. I was so ready to be a mom and to try to be the best parent I could be.

After he was born, we realized something we didn’t expect… we were lonely.

No friends.
No close family nearby.
No community.

We told ourselves, If we don’t find real friendships within two years, we’ll move back.

We felt starved for connection.

So we found a church.
We joined home groups.
And slowly, God gave us friends who became family.

I was not a socially outgoing person. But thankfully my husband is and we made friends rather quickly!

“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together.” — Hebrews 10:24–25

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🛠️ When Marriage Needed Work

After a few years, we thought we were doing really well.

But we started noticing cracks in our marriage—things that weren’t quite right.

So we worked.
We prayed.
We learned.
We cried.
We grew.

And honestly, that season made us stronger than anything else could have. Through all this prayer and through a little bit of counseling (highly recommend!), we started to heal parts of ourselves that we didn’t even know was hurt, even from before our marriage.

Before counseling, we have read books and taken marriage classes and tried implementing tactics (future post on that!), and although they helped with understanding, there were a lot of areas we were both just stuck on… But we pushed through it. And now having those tactics helps more now that we’re healing then they ever have before.

Strong marriages don’t happen by accident.
They’re built with work, humility and grace.

“Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.” — 1 Peter 4:8

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💰 Learning Stewardship

When we came to a point where we could expand our view, we took a hard look at our finances.

We were comfortable, he made good money, and I knew how to ‘Ramsey’ our budget. But we just weren’t feeling free…

We realized we didn’t just want comfort—we wanted purpose, and not when were in our 60’s.

We wanted to leave a legacy.
We wanted to help people.
We wanted our children to grow up seeing faith, wisdom, and stewardship OUTSIDE of the rat race (future post!).

Little by little, a another form of peace came into our home. (Future Post on finances soon!)

“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much.” — Luke 16:10

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🌾 My Slow Dream of Homesteading

All while these other growths were taking place, I kept holding onto this dream in my heart.

Homesteading.
Self-sustainability.
Simple living.

But I didn’t have land.
Or experience.
Or confidence.

And while learning to parent and eventually homeschooling 3 kids, I started having less and less time.

So I started small.

Learning one skill at a time.
Stocking a pantry jar by jar.
Cooking from scratch. (Yogurt!)
Trying… failing… trying again.

Very, very slowly.

But right now as I sit here typing this, I can look at my life and be taken back, really seeing how much I have actually learned and implemented! Between the little home made things I make (yogurt, bread, sour cream ect.), to the animals that we have (1 rabbit and 7 chickens), the skills I’ve learned to make things (crocheting, sewing, building), and of course the small experimental gardening I’ve been doing.

I didnt think I had time before… but adding one little thing at a time, I have some how added so many daily things to my list without even realizing I was finding time to do it!

“Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin.” — Zechariah 4:10

And I realized this journey isn’t about perfection. It’s about perseverance and faithfulness.

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🤍 Why I’m Sharing All of This

Because my life has been more blessed than I ever deserved.

It’s had trauma.
It’s had hardships.
It’s had lonely seasons.

But it’s also had beauty.
Healing.
Love.
And a whole lot of grace.

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” — 2 Corinthians 12:9

I know there are women out there sitting at their kitchen tables right now, or on their couches or even in the bathroom getting their quiet time, wondering how to build a better life for their families that isn’t just going through the motions every day, but building a family life that has purpose and meaning and yes even hard work!

This blog is for you.

I’m here to share my experiences, my mistakes, and everything I’ve learned about faith, finances, marriage, parenting, and building a more self-sufficient home—even in suburbia.

Not because I’m perfect or that I even remotely have anything close to a perfect life!

But because God has been faithful.

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🌿 Welcome

From my home to yours, I’m so glad you’re here.

Let’s build strong homes.
Let’s live with intention.
Let’s follow God together.

“As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” — Joshua 24:15

With love,
Shelby 🤍

Thank you for reading my story.