A mother from Oklahoma expressed that she has never regretted transitioning from the classroom to a homestead lifestyle on her family farm.
Laura Ressel, a 34-year-old mother, ditched her ten-year career as a preschool teacher to become a full-time mom and run her own small business making goat milk soap. She and her husband, Tony Ressel, a 35-year-old electrical engineer, have five beautiful children. They have embraced a parenting approach centered on faith, hard work, self-reliance, and traditional values.
But for this devout Catholic and founder of a goat milk soap company, things did not start out this way. “For the past ten years, I lived very humbly,” she told The Epoch Times. “Raising my first son, Joseph, as a single mother when I was young and very lost. I dabbled in drugs and partying, but after becoming pregnant with him, I somehow found my faith and sanity again.”
“My husband is the best man I’ve ever known. He is honest, loyal, and incredibly hardworking. He loves me, loves our children, and loves God… God has blessed me abundantly, and I want to pass on those blessings to others.”
Ressel said that modern culture has done immense “damage” to young women. She sympathizes with those “young moms drowning in promiscuity, loneliness, or the regret of abortion.”
“They have been misled. I believe that for most women, happiness lies in finding a good man and living a stable life,” she said.
When Joseph was one year old, Ressel met her current husband. She is forever grateful that her husband was able to provide a home for her first son. She had prayed to God to bring her “a good man, a good father,” and just when she was almost giving up, Mr. Ressel came into her life. Little Joseph was the ring bearer at their wedding.
In addition to her “honest, loyal, hardworking” husband, Ressel has always been particularly thankful for her father, who has been a constant support when she needed it.
Though the couple’s life of farming and homeschooling their children can be challenging at times, they find great joy in the life they have built with their own hands.
Ressel said, “Those fleeting moments of joy, like the sound of children giggling as they take their first steps, beautiful sunsets, educational conversations, and the feeling of true friendship, make all the sacrifices worthwhile.”
Some may scoff at their choices, but while many only dream of a sustainable, self-sufficient lifestyle, the Ressels have truly embraced a back-to-basics approach.
Ressel explained that they did not intentionally set out to be self-sufficient, but after buying 20 acres of land, the next natural step was to raise a few animals. Now, their home is filled with “dozens” of furry friends, a “massive” garden, and plenty of chores for the children to participate in.
“We love our homestead,” the busy mom said. “Because it has everything: pastures, a creek that flows year-round in the back, a mountain to explore, and some woods around the house.”
“After buying the land, we started with chickens and goats. Now we have ducks, geese, turkeys, a cow named Molly, and a large herd of Nigerian dwarf goats. We also have two beautiful Great Danes and several cats running around the barn.”
The Ressels embody the traditional virtues of hospitality and sharing. Mrs. Ressel enjoys cooking, baking, and preserving food, guiding her children to cultivate healthy lifestyle habits.
“We immerse our children in the natural world, teaching them to appreciate what is true, good, and beautiful, rather than being led astray by the superficial world around them,” she explained. She and her husband were not raised on farms; they are first-generation homesteaders.
“It has been a tremendous learning process, with many ups and downs,” she said.
Ressel believes in a philosophy of homeschooling for young children that is “not about perfection,” allowing them to learn and play flexibly.
Their daily routine involves waking up each morning, doing chores for over an hour before breakfast, and then completing their daily tasks, including studying reading, writing, math, history, science, and music. However, if the children spend a day building a treehouse in the backyard, she is completely fine with that.
“I believe as they get older and need more academic instruction, the situation will change,” she said.
Ressel believes her approach to education is “a balance between the two. I don’t micromanage every school day, but it’s also not entirely laissez-faire.”
Her favorite aspect of homeschooling is being able to be close to her children: “I love being so close with my kids. They talk to me about everything, and our relationship is very harmonious.”
“I love watching them chat at the breakfast table every morning, building bonds with each other, rather than randomly sitting beside kids at school who they won’t know in three years. This bond will last a lifetime, and I am glad to witness it.”
Despite being busy with household duties, this creative mother founded her own soap company in 2022. Ressel uses the abundant goat milk from their farm to create nourishing and gentle soap recipes blended with olive oil, coconut oil, hemp seed oil, castor oil, and cocoa butter. She adds clay and colloidal oats for skincare benefits, alkaline, colorants, and essential oils, shaping them into bars and decorating them with dried flowers and herbs for an aesthetic appeal.
All the soaps are made in a small cottage on the farm that has been transformed into a soap studio.
“The goat milk is straight from the goats, sometimes turned into soap the same day. It doesn’t get any fresher than that,” Ressel said.
Ressel enjoys being with her children and also loves spending time in her soap studio, but she is also thrilled to have the opportunity to step out on the weekends to craft fairs and farmers’ markets to sell her handcrafted soaps.
“We both enjoy market days, and Tony helps out as well. Sometimes we bring the kids along, and they always have a great time. It has become a family activity, and we all really enjoy our little home business.”
Although this former preschool teacher turned entrepreneur has received encouraging feedback from customers, she once thought people might reject her products because of her faith.
“I thought they would ridicule me, but it turned out quite the opposite,” she said. “I think today’s mainstream culture is craving healthy family culture. I feel the trend is shifting – the pendulum seems to be swinging in another direction.”
“People are waking up, realizing their lives are shallow and superficial, and they want more. They long for family and friendship… They are starting to realize that God loves them.”
“I want to tell everyone, step out, live in the real world, stop searching for what you will never find in your smartphone. Return to tradition, return to family life, put down the phone, pray with your family, love God, be kind to your neighbors, be true friends. These are the most important things in life.”