Farming

I spent about 60 hours over the past couple of weeks drawing parallel lines across the fields as I pulled the harrow/packer back and forth, back and forth. When I first started doing this several years ago, my lines were far from straight and evenly spaced. In fact, the fields looked a bit like a drunk had worked them! Over time, however, I’ve learned to operate the 50 foot wide implement much more proficiently and I’m proud to say that this year’s fields look pretty awesome.

Of course, now that I’ve pretty much mastered making nice even lines, along comes GPS, the maker of absolutely perfect lines! I’m afraid that mine will never measure up to those. Richard seeded using a tractor with GPS for the first time this spring and loved it. All he had to do was turn the tractor at the end of the field. After that he let go of the wheel and GPS took over. I can’t imagine how strange that must have felt at first!

We finished today. For awhile we wondered if this day would ever come as we had more breakdowns and setbacks this spring than ever before. The seed is finally in the ground though and now we pray for just the right amount of rain and heat and hope for a bountiful harvest. I enjoy spring work, the solitary hours on the tractor making my parallel lines and the feeling of accomplishment when it’s done, but it’s harvest time that I really love!

In church on Sunday morning, Richard and I did a presentation about our upcoming missions trip to Saipan. When we were done, we invited the congregation to join us in singing two verses of an old chorus.

Love through me, love through me;
O Lord, love through me.
Somewhere somebody needs your love today.
O Lord, love through me.

Speak through me, speak through me;
O Lord, speak through me.
Make your Word upon my lips a flame today.
O Lord, speak through me.

There are other verses but these two could really be the theme of our mission. Ever since Sunday, they’ve been stuck in my head. I’m not much of a singer but I’ve been belting them out over and over again while I’ve been alone on the tractor! I guess I’m getting just a little bit excited about what the Lord has in store for us!

Richard just started seeding today but I’ve already put in lots of hours out at the farm. I spent two days cultivating fields that were in summer fallow last year. That was a new experience for me but an easy one as the cultivator is pulled by the same tractor that I’ve used for several springs to pull the harrow/packer. The cultivator is much easier to maneuver though as it’s only 35 feet wide instead of 50.

I don’t usually run the harrow/packer until after the seed is in the ground but because last year’s crop was so heavy, there’s a lot more straw in the fields than usual. I’ve been out with the harrow to break it up and scatter it before the seeding is done. I put in several hours today and would still be out there but we had a breakdown and some welding needs to be done before I can continue.

As much as I love being out at the farm, I’m not minding the extra time at home today as our annual ladies retreat begins tomorrow and I have a number of things to do to get ready. It’s always a wonderful weekend and this year my prayer is that God will use it to continue preparing me for his work in Saipan.

Here’s a few rustic scenes from the farm: