It's raining again. The clouds are rallying with their spring-storm war cry to test our patience. The creeks are rising and little rivers trickle through the fields as I watch the relentless patter against the window.It's been a tough spring. Though we are not farmers, our neighbors and friends are, and we've watched as the April freeze damaged their wheat and the torrential rains flooded roads and fields.
Our pastor spoke at church about the faith of a farmer. He said that it is one of the only occupations where your livelihood depends completely on nature's mercy. And it's true. The farmer sows his seeds believing they will grow into a crop that will be the source to feed his family. He has faith that there will be enough - but not too much - rain and sun. He trusts that the tractors and combines will make it through the planting and harvesting, and that the gas prices will fall and the crop prices rise to meet his needs. And whether the season is a success or failure, he rises each morning with new hope to do it all over again with the faith that only a farmer has.
When you shop for your groceries this week, stop and pray for the farmer. They request the least accolades, but in their quiet work, deserve it most.
8 comments:
very good stuff. I have heard this sermon before....Catholic style!
:-)
So many have lost crops this spring...all the fruit in the Southeast...most people never think about it anymore!
Warm thoughts during our cold rainy night!
alan
Aaah. So very true....and so not often thought of.
Thanks for reminding me. :)
:-) pt2
The farmers do have to have a special kind of 'faith'.
And I think we often forget while grocery shopping just how much farmers have to pay for fuel for their equipment and the other costs involved with growing food for us to eat and tend to complain about the cost of the food. We should be thankful that it is there for us to purchase when we need or want it!
Thanks for the reminder! Hugs
My relatives farm in southern Illinois. Farmers indeed are the unsung heroes of the country. They do have the advantage of the wide open spaces and simple pleasures of nature that city dwellers have to search to find.
Lori, this is a beautiful, thoughtful post. Pray for the farmers...AND the truckers who deliver from farm to market. Farmers rely on God's favor, and truckers rely on gas prices to not cripple them. What a dilemma.
Your writing still pulls me back. I love how you look at life.
Thank you for this timely reminder. Here in southwestern Ontario, I live a five-minute walk away from the edge of the city, and from a very rich agricultural region.
I often take long bike rides into the hinterland, and stop and watch the farmers do their important work. I'll say an extra prayer for them when I tuck in tonight.
BTW, I followed your link home from Roxanne's (SRP/Melange) site, and I look forward to reading more. I hope you'll pop by my site and say hi as well.
All the best,
Carmi
http://writteninc.blogspot.com/
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