(Excerpt from Tales From Heritage Farm)

Farmer’s wife opened Rainbow, the little umbrella, up and held her over her head as she hurried down the walk to the driveway.  She crossed the road to the mailbox and placed her letters inside.  Presently, she turned and marched right back to the farmhouse.  Rainbow was all wet, but, boy, did she feel good!  The walk had been short and sweet, but she had gotten her chance to fulfill her purpose at the hand of her Mistress.

Rainbow and Shadow, the sunbonnet,  were both important to the Farmer’s wife.  Neither was able to do the other’s job.  They were each made for  a different function or purpose.

Dear reader, are you pondering why you are not used by the hand of your Heavenly Master in the same way as He uses others?

Avoid being indignant and indulging in self-pity like Rainbow was at first.  Shake of that old temptation to feel sorry for yourself.  Rather, like Rainbow, be available to be used at the right time.  Your Master, the Lord Jesus, has placed you where you are for a purpose,  He is using you as He wants to if  you yield yourself humbly to Him…

…Take heart, you may be a sunbonnet-type that gets used every day.   Or you may be a “set aside ” one, like Rainbow, waiting for use on an “as needed” basis.  Rest assured that whether on active duty or “on-call” God is using you according to His uniquely designated purpose.

Like King David, by faith, your testimony can be, “The Lord will fulfill His  purpose for me;  Thy steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. . .” Psalm 138:8 (RSV)

(Excerpt from Tales From Heritage Farm)

Usually, when the little sunbonnet came in, she beamed warmly.  To lonely Rainbow she declared, “It feels so good to have Mistress use me.”  She continued with satisfaction, “I feel so special and important.”

Every once in a while a soft sigh came from the umbrella stand.  And, occasionally, a little whimper or sniffling could be heard.  “I’ve waited all winter to be taken out of storage just to be stuck  in this old umbrella stand,” moaned Rainbow.

Following the blue mood, anger would set in.  “Shadow gets to go out most every day. ” After the anger subsided Rainbow would say in a pitiful tone, “Farmer’s wife mustn’t like me as well as she likes Shadow.  What did I ever do to her?  Oh, why can’t I be as well-loved and important as the sunbonnet?  I don’t think anyone likes me.  At this rate, I’ll never know what it is like to do important work or to know fulfillment in life.”

One day there came a sharp thunderclap and the gray clouds began to dribble down droplets of rain.  PLINK, PLANK, PLINK!  In a short while the rains came down more steadily.  Plump raindrops slammed  into the window panes on the kitchen window.  Farmer’s wife  could see the world through the watery blur they left behind.

“All right!”  perked up the little umbrella.  With a broad grin she said, I’m going for a walk at last.  Hooray!”

Sketch by Wenda Grabau

(Excerpt from Tales from Heritage Farm)

Squeak, creak went the old door.  A flash of light split through the deep darkness of the storage closet.  Many items had been set aside in the closet to hibernate while snow boots and mittens, stocking caps and parkas had their hey day.

Shadow awaits going outdoors with Farmer's Wife

The frigid winter waned, and signs of spring began to pop out all over.  Spring and summer equipment which had been laid away in storage were being jostled around and pulled out where they would be ready for use later on.  Among them were Shadow, the sunbonnet, and Rainbow, the umbrella.

After Farmer’s wife dusted them off, she hung shadow on a peg beside the porch door.  Rainbow was nestled inside a nearby umbrella stand.  Now they were both handy, ready for use.

As the days grew longer, the sun shone brighter and hotter.  Farmer’s wife liked to work in her vegetable garden.  But before she started each day she reached up for Shadow.  She needed her for protection from the sun and to keep her cool in the summer’s heat.

Farmer’s wife worked very hard in the garden.  She busied herself by pulling up any stray plants that tried to take root there.  She cultivated the soil to give her seedlings plenty of chance to stretch out their roots and grow strong.  When she finished with the vegetable garden, she turned her attention to sprucing up the flower beds.

It seemed that Shadow was out and about almost daily.  She went out at 6:00 A.M.  and stayed there perched onFarmer’s Wife until breakkast.  At other times she travelled with Farmer’s wife to mow the lawn or to watch the kids’ softball game or to pick strawberries.  You could say that Shadow, the sunbonnet, had a well-rounded life.  She got do and see a lot of things.

See the book, Tales From Heritage Farm in our store.