Okay y’all! I am so excited to share with you, Faith Hanan, a Colorado native now living in Oklahoma with her husband, two kids, horses, and a really fat goat! She’s into fitness, fun and horses and most of all encouraging others! Faith has inspired me countless times through her authenticity, humor, and constant encouragement on social media and through her blog. I’m telling you, if you need one of those half laugh, half cry, but your world just got flipped upside down because of the Jesus break through you just had moments, go follow Faith!
I asked Faith several questions about life, horses, Jesus, and growing up in Colorado. Here is what she had to say…
What does homestead mean to you?
Well gosh, before you told me YOUR definition of homesteading (which I LOVE btw) I thought of it as raising your own food and growing things other than tiny humans and puppies, lol! But the more I think about it, I think that homesteading is about flourishing where you are planted. Psalms 92 talks about those who are PLANTED in the house of the Lord will flourish in the courts of their God. That’s truly where I want to be- planted in the house of the Lord and doing what He created me to do.
Where do you live and how long have you lived there? Where did you grow up?I grew up in Colorado at the foothills of the Rockies-right outside of Colorado Springs. When I graduated high school, all I wanted to do was get OUT of CO. I looked at lots of schools in Texas (every rodeo kid’s dream, right?) and eventually enrolled in WTAMU. However, on my trip down to register for classes some good friends of ours from Rolla, KS- a tiny town just across the state line from OK- convinced me to take a tour of OPSU in Goodwell, OK which I had previously referred to as “the butthole of the earth”. While I was taking the tour, I got offered a job on the spot. I did the math, and OPSU was going to be half the price of WT, so I thought “ok, I’ll stay here for a year, and then I’m GONE.” But then something happened while I was there… I got PLANTED in my local church, Victory Center. I had just started going there because our good pals from Rolla all went there, but the second I started going there, I knew it was home. I never even “tried” another church. I had always been in church. My Mama made sure of that. We had even been in really great churches growing up. But this was the first time that I had ever really been planted in a local church and it made a world of difference.
After I graduated from OPSU, I went to Bible College in Tulsa, always with the intention of coming back to help at my church. While at Bible college I met this “really focused” guy who loved/loves Jesus with everything that he has and wasn’t just another “sissy, useless, city guy”. We got to be absolutely best friends, began courting, and got married. It was a whirlwind, but amazing. And God was/is all over it. After we graduated from Bible college, we both heard God say to move back to Guymon and serve at Victory Center. And here we still are, serving and loving it.
What are some of your favorite things about living a western lifestyle (on a ranch or in the country, small town living, with horses, farming, the community, etc.)?
I love how God teaches us so many lessons through agriculture, whether you’re a farmer, rancher, or just a barrel racer like me. I tell ya, I’ve learned more spiritual lessons from a little sorrel Fols Native/cutting bred mare than I care to admit. I also really, really love the people in the ag world. I know that there are good people everywhere, but I feel like there is the highest concentration the closer you are to living off the land and working with livestock. (Amen to that! I agree there is something so special about the people who so closely steward the land God has given us - SS).
In what ways do you see God in your homestead?
Oh man. I just continually feel God drawing us deeper and deeper into His presence. To know Him more, to trust Him more, to be more bold in how we step out and believe Him. To truly trust Him with our calling. It's in the seemingly little things: learning to listen to the Holy Spirit in taking care of my children, riding my barrel horse, tending to my own heart. But He is always here, beckoning us onward, championing our callings, and multiplying His grace on our lives.
Who did you learn the most about life from?
I would have to say my Mama. She’s an amazingly Godly woman who continually pointed my brother and I to Jesus in less than ideal circumstances. Her faithfulness to the Lord and devotion to her family continues to inspire me.
What is a life challenge you have faced and how did you overcome it?
I can’t think of one specific challenge that really defined me as a person. Let’s get real here, I’ve overcome a lot of challenges- though MUCH smaller than what so many of my friends face. And honestly, I think that resilience to just keep truckin’ has been instrumental in developing my faith. I can have a tendency to get overwhelmed and discouraged pretty easily (can you say multi-passionate and super goal driven). So I’ve really gotten pretty darn good at kicking overwhelmed in the teeth and guarding against staying discouraged for very long. I think a lot of times people think “man, if I can just get over (insert negative situation/hangup) then I’ll be good. But I really think that the truth of the matter is that we are all in process. We want our life to look like a remodel from HGTV, where there is a distinct starting place and ending. When really, when we walk with Christ, we are constantly being renewed, transformed into one increasing degree of glory to the next. When we approach it like that I think it's a lot easier to not get discouraged.
What is the biggest lesson you have learned from horses or from living in a rural place?
So this one is pretty recent….
The last few times we were faced with a really traumatic/crisis situation I almost hit the panic button right at the beginning. But then once I get my bearings and realize that I just have to stand on the word and outlast the punk devil, I remember that no weapon formed against me shall prosper, then I can fight from a place of rest. The Holy Spirit just gave me this picture of how some days I just have to outlast that sorrel mare of mine. She’s not broncy, never has been. She is not going to hurt me. I just have to outlast her and lope circles on her until her eyeballs sweat, lol. Just like I can have that attitude on my horse, I can have that same attitude and relaxed posture in the middle of spiritual warfare. (I’m probably going to write more about this revelation on my blog sometime soon.) Faith’s blog can be found here.
Tell us one or two of your favorite stories about ranching, horses, or life in general.
So my favorite horse ever was this gelding we called Bear. He was a Snazzy Man/ Booger Bear horse that my parents bought as a 4 year old. They “fought” over him until finally he became my Dad’s head horse. When I was about 5 or so, my Dad stuck me on him to cool him off after a team roping practice and Bear wasn’t quite ready to cool off yet. He took off at a run and made lap after lap around the arena while little bitty Faith had her arms straight up to try and stop him, but it wasn’t working cuz my arms were too short and his reins were too long. My parents were freaking out trying to grab him as he ran by or make him stop, and all I could think was “don’t scream, don’t scream, don’t scream”. Eventually he stopped and one of my parents climbed on with me while we rode around at a walk for a bit.
Fast forward a few years. Bear was a bit old to be my Dad’s main head horse and I needed a pole bending horse. So I stole him, trained him to run poles and goats. He was a trusty, handy sucker but man he was ALWAYS a little crow-hoppy. But he was TOUGHER than nails. One summer he completely bowed a flexor tendon (an injury that would sideline or potentially retire most horses) and he NEVER TOOK A LAME STEP. He never ever quit me. He was amazing. We all loved him so so much.
Another one was when my Trail Course pony, Black Jack, took an entire tray of BBQ beef sandwiches in his teeth, shook it, spilled it, and then proceeded to eat it. I was just so in shock that a horse would eat that! He was always a little turd, but when you could make him work he was absolutely unbeatable. That little guy won a TON of stuff for me and really gave me the confidence to be a winner in the arena.
What is your favorite recipe?
Well… I honestly don’t cook. I actually hate it. My husband cooks and I do the dishes. It's a great arrangement. But I DO bake. And I’ve got an Einkorn Cinnamon Roll recipe that's pretty dang legit!
Who has inspired you?
My husband, My parents, my brother, my Pastor- Charlie Mendenhall, my Grandma.
All of my friends really. I think the more I have learned to appreciate the gift of God on different people’s lives, the easier it is to be inspired by them and to champion their callings. I really could write a book on how so many different people inspire me and their stories.
Is she amazing?! Yall I can’t think Faith enough for being a part of The Wandering Homesteader. I hope this blog inspired and refreshed you as much as it did me! No to mention, make you giggle a few times. Can you imagine a horse eating an entire tray of BBQ sandwiches?! Too hysterical!
Be sure to check out Faith on Instagram and on her blog: www.faithhanan.com.
Love you friends,
xo, Sara
P.S. Does Faith not have such an infectious smile?! She has such a great sense of humor! Be sure to follow her on social media for a daily mood boost.
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