Hope you wore yer long-sleeved shirts! We're marching out to the back-forty hay field. Cheryl's out there with a touch a humor and a load of fresh straw. Go fetch yer Bible too, cause she's bringing home another of God's truths! In case haven't met her yet, here's Cheryl!
Here at our farm, we depend on a huge stockpile of straw and
hay from summer to sustain all of our many animals during the winter
months. We normally cut hay three to
four times throughout the spring and summer. However, after an unusually wet
and cool spring, our hay fields were ready for harvest. Over-ready would be a more appropriate
description really. The hay had just
grown and grown, higher and thicker.
In order to harvest our hay crop, we use a haybine that cuts
the hay off at the ground level and then rolls it through a set of rollers that
also crimp the stems so the moisture can escape more quickly. Then it must lay on the ground for one to two
days to dry. After it is dry, then we
use a tractor and rake to combine two rows into one large windrow. Then we bale the hay into very large
sixty-six inch bales. Each bale weighs
around twelve hundred pounds.
This is a very tedious process which is all dependent upon
the weather. The equipment we use is precise,
and the baler is attached to a computer.
For this reason my husband, Darrel, and I are the only ones to operate
this equipment. We both have been raised
driving tractors and are accustomed to the uneven fields that may result from
such a wet spring. With all this unusual
rainfall, the local farmers have been forced to delay the wheat harvest as
well. Darrel was cutting hay and the
farmers were cutting wheat. Everything
was ripe for harvest all at once.
Luke 10:2 "He told them, 'The harvest is
plentiful, but the worker are few. Ask
the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.'" (NIV)
With all of the crops ready at once, the Lord gave me this
scripture. He showed me that so many
people are willing and ready to follow Him, but the leaders (workers) are few.
We must step up and be the example of Christ to this crazy and lost world.
Since Darrel was cutting the hay and the farmers were
harvesting the wheat all at the same time, then it became my job to bale the
straw. We bale the wheat straw right behind
the farmer’s combines. It was nothing
but, go, go, go!
For many who do not
know me, I am quite short. I will not
mention that I am pretty stocky as well.
Okay, I am sort-of sort and plump!
Anyway, at barely 5’2” tall, it is a stretch for me to operate our
baling tractor. Our tractors are older
and designed for taller men, not short-legged women.
To bale the straw or hay, the machine is pulled over the
windrow with a tractor. Each bale is
accumulated until it reaches the proper size. Then the operator must depress
the tractor’s clutch while the baler wraps the bale with net wrap. Next, the operator must eject the bale out of
the baler. This is where I have to twist
to my right and look backwards in the seat while holding the clutch in with my
left foot. I have to watch that the bale
is ejected properly then pull another lever to close the baler and start this
process all over again.This is a very difficult position to hold for someone so
short. So as I am baling, praying, and
stretching, Prov. 4:27 pops into my head.
“Do not turn from the right or the left: Keep your foot from evil.” (NIV)
I was barely keeping my foot on the clutch, how, I wondered,
could I possibly step on evil? Obviously God has a sense of humor while trying
to teach me to follow directly behind Him, step for step. Okay. Lesson learned!
This baling process goes on and on all day long. Did I mention that our Indiana weather had
turned off hot? And I mean it was hot!
We had three days of 105 degree heat index. I can usually bale ninety to one hundred round bales of
straw a day. So you can imagine how
contorted I am after baling four-hundred and fifty bales! I was stiff in the neck and my back was
suffering from muscle spasms. After ten
days straight of baling, except for church on Sunday, I was worn out. Our tractor’s air conditioner could not keep
up either, so I was blowing lukewarm air to boot. Guess some air was better than none.
We were, as a team, able to get all of the straw and the hay
baled. I am a firm believer that, as Darrel’s wife, I was designed to be his
helpmate. After this harvest I am
confident that I have fulfilled this obligation.
I’m thanking God we are finished for now and all of the hay
and straw was harvested with no rain. We
finally go all of the bales out of the field and stacked in rows for
winter. And God said, “Be still and know
that I am God.” Psalms 46:10
I can honestly say: 2 Timothy 4:7
“I have fought the good
fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” (NIV)
Love and Smiles,
Cheryl
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