Regression

Sunday, 14 November 2010

• Regression

  Regression - the act of going back to a previous place or state.  That is exactly what we did yesterday - regressed!  In this day in age, farmers have a huge selection of equipment to choose from.  It is amazing how life has changed over the years for the farmers because of the continual improvement in the equipment to make their jobs easier.  It just was not so for the farmers many years ago, and yesterday we were able to sympathize with them better.
  We had purchased a very simple baler so we can bale our own hay and not depend on someone else coming in and doing it for us.  We wanted a baler that bales small bales and not these big square or round bales and we were able to find one that was in good condition.  It works great....once it gets started.  I have named this baler the "pray over baler", for there were quite a few times we were all ready to bale and it just seemed hesitant to get going.  I would plead with God (to myself) to please let the baler start, for Dave does not need to deal with mechanical problems.  It would start puttering and off we would go, having a good time baling slow and easy.  Well, yesterday, they were ready to bale.  The hay was in nice neat rows ready to be picked up.  Mr. Pray Over Baler decided he was not going to start on such a beautiful day and after many hours of searching for the problem, Dave gave up.  No, I did not pray over it this time, for I was away at an appointment and then was busy in the house, not even thinking of praying for that fella, and Dave was unaware of my previous habit of pleading with God for it to start.  I am sure he whispered a prayer in his frustration, but with that baler, you have to plead!   Well, we had one option....pick up the hay by hand.....and that is exactly what we did.  After some of us raked the rows into piles, others came along and picked them up and threw them on the wagon.
  
  
  
  The 2 munchkins would keep trampling down and we would keep piling it on..
  Miss Carrie did an excellent job of driving...
  
  and we were done in no time ......
  
  Poor Dave...he was having a hard time working through the guilt of making his family work like this, even though not one of us complained.  We took it as a challenge and we met it head on!   But, in Dave's mind, this just added to what happened last Saturday.  They were dehorning heifers, not thinking anything was wrong, until one died in the process.  Here there was an electrical problem in the receptacle box and the heifers were being shocked through the dehorner.  Dave, holding it, could not feel the electrical current.  Plus, on top of all of this, there are big, bad things happening in agriculture, just because the government has it's fingers in it.  The future of our farming career is questionable, but it will not be the end of our lives.  We have learned so very much in our years of farming and maybe some day we will share that journey on here, but not today.  Today, we march forward, forgetting those things which are behind and looking forward to those things which are before us.  From the bottom of my heart, I can still praise the Lord!  The trials have been necessary for our spiritual growth and I look forward to the future and what He will do in our lives, even if it is through more trials.  "Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings: that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy".
  Until next time..........