Fast-rising waters

Have you ever faced a myriad of circumstances that caused you to ask the question, “What do I do?” I heard that very question at our kitchen table this week when my husband considered his list of tasks.

The weather has dropped abundant rains on us and our hay fields.  The hay is ready for cutting.  Yet if there is not enough dry weather in the future, a cut field of hay made today, could be a rotten bunch of hay when rain soaks it.

At this time of the season, the corn is growing and so are the weeds. While the corn is still short, cultivating is still possible.  On days that baling hay is not possible, cultivating is in order.  But all the while the cultivating must be done, the weather is preventing the much needed hay cutting and baling.

Just when he decided to cultivate, the large rear tire of the tractor went flat.  Our tire had to be ordered, delivered and changed. This all takes time and delayed the cultivating.  Time, precious time, slipped by.

The farmer has many circumstances to face which he cannot control.  You may think that farming is and easy job where farmers almost have nothing to do or sit under a tree with a piece of grass in their mouths, but not so.  Farming is an occupation of risk.  Put another way, farming takes trust in God who does control the circumstances.  Without faith in the goodness of the Lord, a farmer can lose heart or become bitter.

Now, you may not be a farmer, but you have a set of circumstances that  linked together can be just as frustrating.  If so, remember, “Let us not grow weary in well doing, for in due season we shall reap if we faint not.”~Galatians 6:9

Filled hay wagon

My husband has made the machinery ready for haying. The tractors are being repaired. The baler is being checked out and greased up. After sitting in the machine shed all winter, it needs a going-over. He fixed the flat tire on a hay wagon.  Getting ready takes work.

The alfalfa is nice and thick.  It did not suffer winter kill in spite of the harsh winter.  The snow-cover of winter protected it.

The hay was cut five days ago.  It has been lying in the field to dry.  Three days ago my husband crimped the hay to accelerate the drying process.  Yesterday he raked it and we tried to bale it.  Alas, the clouds hung in the sky and the sun did not fully make the hay dry enough to bale.  Even today, the dew is heavy and there is no breeze.  The sun is shining, however, so later in the day we hope that we can actually bale the whole field.

We bale small bales.  Many farmers have upgraded to the large round bales or large square bales.  We are using the old machinery we bought from my husband’s dad. It is old and needs repair, but since our farming operation is set up for this type of baling, we are sticking with it.  Our hay wagons hold about 80 bales.  We have to master loading bales neatly.

Hurray! We got the hay baled and stored just in time.  Just after finishing the job the rain began to fall.  We seem to have to race with the weather.  How nice that we have it under shelter and the hay will stay dry.

Photo credit: Wenda Grabau