Future Farmers

Growing up, I was the oldest of 3 girls on a dairy farm that also raised sheep and pigs. I was a tomboy, but farming was not my thing. It was work, usually hard work in not the greatest environment...baling hay on hot, humid summer days or scooping silage on freezing, windy days. Just two of the jobs I didn't enjoy. It could also be messy and often it didn't smell the best. There was also the stress...animals getting sick, the weather being out of your control, prices changing and the list could go on. 

I was the sister who often said and I quote, "I'm NOT marrying a farmer!" Well, you can guess what God did!! I left my parent's farm and now live on the Beran family farm. As we raise our family, I'm grateful for the location...sometimes it's still stressful, but I do have a new appreciation for life on the farm and the lessons God teaches me here. 

Farm work is never done!

Recently, I was asked if I thought our boys would be farmers and I simply responded, "I don't know." They're 2, 4 and 10, so only God knows where He will lead them. But I've started to pray He will make them who I never wanted to be...I pray I have 3 future farmers, well, actually 5 - my little ladies can "farm" too.  

This past year, God has really used the farm to speak to me. (Isn't it amazing how He takes what we want to avoid and speaks through it?!) He's given me a picture of cultivating a heart of prayer, a glimpse of Himself as a shepherd and me as His sheep. On the farm, I'm constantly reminded God is in control and He's the One I must trust. Every spring, I see what it means to plant and how the process works and then in the Fall, we remember the harvest is His. 

As I've thought about the possibility of my boys being "farmers" I truly have started to pray, that regardless of where life leads, they are farmers in a spiritual sense. The parable of the four soils (Luke 8:4-21) has many lessons, but lately my eyes have been open to a new point...regardless of the soil condition, the farmer planted the seed!

I pray my boys (and my girls and me) will always plant the seed. Life on the farm will teach them that they don't always grow, but as they grow up surrounded by combines and corn they'll also learn we don't do the growing! Every spring their dad puts seed in the ground, not because he's guaranteed a harvest, but simply because it's a job he's called to do. I pray my future farmers will spiritually do the same!

You really don't farm alone!

Hosea 10:12 are words that come to life for this farm girl. It says, "Sow righteousness for yourselves, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the LORD, until He comes and showers his righteousness on you." As my little farm boys grow, I pray this verse will become a reality in their life. And friend, whether you're a city girl or a farmer's wife yourself, I pray you are encouraged to do what a farmer does - plant seeds, work diligently, trust the Creator who's in control, pray for rain, endure the storm, enjoy the journey and thank Him for the harvest.

Farming is Fun!

Have you ever thought of yourself as a "Farmer"? Like me is it a job you wanted to avoid? Spiritually, what can do to be a "Farmer" today?