Northern Farmer

The week and the month are coming to an end around here, doesn’t make all to much difference to me though. The weather is warm, but on Wednesday we received two inches of rain, badly needed rain and that snapped the corn back in shape in a hurry! The cobs are getting huge, fast, and things are looking up, much better than a few days ago. This summer we had us two dry spells. One in June till the middle of July and one from the end of July to the end of August. The only difference between the last couple of years and this year is that two separate times this summer we had a two inch rain and that’s what carried the corn through. The grass is burned down to nothing in the pastures, but things are basically in great shape here this year! This next week we butcher three more steers and a couple weeks after that, three more. This past week 145 of our chickens got butchered, the White Rock pullets laid the first three eggs of the year way ahead of schedule and in a couple weeks I’ll move em to the hen house, a cow got butchered and all the usual work got done including green chopping a load of corn silage every day. Rumor has it after the next three days or so there’s going to be a big cool down in these parts and the moment that happens I gotta get myself out in the woods and cut some dead dry stuff to take the chill out of the house that’s coming. I just ain’t in the mood to cut it now when the temps are in the eighties. Then later this fall we got to cut up the thirty cord of firewood logs we have stacked near the cow yard, cut em with the tractor buzz saw. It’ll take a few days but its easier on the back then a chain saw. Quite the rig we have here! I wished I could find our two digital cameras that we own, funny how they get misplaced when there’s two teenage daughters here! Just when I figure I could supply photos of things we do, the cameras turn up missing in action, oh well, could be allot worse I guess!

All in all its just on the downhill side of getting ready for winter here. I welcome the cooler weather that’s to come, never was any good at hot days, and I like working in long sleeves and a vest. Allot of church stuff coming up, some I’ll miss in September but that can be made up after the main harvest is in, first things first. Church stuff is becoming an adventure to say the least, always something exciting to do in the Lord’s service! One of my many favorite verses is this: Jeremiah 20:9

But if I say, “I will not mention him
or speak any more in his name,”
his word is in my heart like a fire,
a fire shut up in my bones.
I am weary of holding it in;
indeed, I cannot.

I always think of this verse when blogging. It seems that no matter what I talk about when it comes to farming or whatever I cannot contain the fire shut up in my bones. And the subject will have at least a little about faith in Jesus. I cannot see how a person could separate the two, farming and faith. Because we are so at mercy to the weather and a thousand other things. I know many farmers have their faith in big ag, faith in man made corporations, but I could never do that. Because quite simply any faith in that system leads to destruction. Nope, I’ll take that good old fashioned, Bible believing faith any day of the week over what’s considered the norm nowadays. Folks can have their man made wisdom, which always fails, but give me the Word and I’ll just believe it, simple as that! That simple faith they had in the Book of Acts, in the epistles, not to mention the Gospels. Believing we are saved by grace, not by works, not by anything we ever done to deserve one bit of it. A gift. The old fashioned preaching, preaching about the Blood, the Cross, the Resurrection. Sure doesn’t seem to be much of that anymore. I’m so thankful that our little church preaches that. It a far from perfect church but when a person gets sermons that literally shakes the listener you know your getting right down to the real thing!

This Fall should be a Fall of many changes on the farm and in our lives here in the family. Many things happening from different directions. The good year we’ve had on the farm will be a change from the last several. And there might be some huge changes coming in our little family as far as church matters go also. I trust the Lord that the right decisions be made in all of this, from farm to faith. That fire shut up in my bones can’t be contained too much longer!

This entry was posted on Saturday, August 30th, 2008 at 8:01 pm and is filed under Northern Farmer. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.