Sarah Merfeld Stabler is Tending the Spring

Springhouse just completed our 12th school year, and it was my 10th year being a part of this learning community. This year, my daughter, Aurora, came to school with my husband, Ian, and me every day. She was joined by our colleague Juan Pablo’s son, Daragh. These two were born just two weeks apart. This year, they spent their days at Springhouse reading, playing, going on adventures in the woods, and weaving in and out of the larger happenings at school. They learned to walk and talk and began roaming the building, interacting more and more with the other children, teenagers, and adults. They came on school trips with us and were joined in the spring by baby Liam, who was born this February. I love seeing how they are being influenced by having such a diverse community of support around them at this stage of life, and how they, in turn, are spreading joy to those they encounter.

Every year, we hope to become truer to who we are and a clearer example of what the world needs right now - truth, love, connection, integrity, and so much more. Our mission is to envision, practice, and share ways of living that contribute to a world where all life thrives.

One way of living that matters deeply to me is cultivating a reciprocal relationship with the Earth. This can be challenging when our material needs can be met with a single click on Amazon. We’ve become disconnected from where our resources come from, myself included. One practice that has been grounding for me, and a helpful way of remembering that all my material needs are ultimately met by the Earth, has been farming and growing food.

Starting this past spring, we began revitalizing the gardens and greenhouses that we inherited on the Springhouse campus. We’ve decided that we are going to grow food together using regenerative practices. I am so excited for this. I love the grounding rhythm of farming, shoulder to shoulder with community. I know how much learning can happen through the repetitive motions, the creative problem-solving, and watching a garden change through the four seasons.

Springhouse remains accessible to all, regardless of what people can afford to contribute financially. In order to make this possible, we need people to help support our work, not just for those benefitting locally, but to continue to be an example for others hoping to build a new world rooted in love.

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