Everything I Need to Know I Learned from a Farmer

It has been an awfully long time since I've written anything, but my heart has been longing to write again for several weeks. Not only has the longing come back, but ideas have been swirling in my brain like never before -- it's as if I had the world's longest case of writer's block.

The last year was hard and exciting all at once. My family had several pretty significant life changes that I thought I took completely in stride, but looking back there was a lot of isolation and an insensate need to "have it all together" despite my circumstances. That said -- nothing was terrible, just hard. Life is allowed to be hard sometimes and I know other periods of hard life are ahead.

In processing things that I feel the Lord is trying to teach me, I can sum it up with "Everything I need to know, I learned from a farmer." Many of you know that there is one particular farmer near and dear to my heart, who yes, I learned everything from basic life skills to core values, but I challenge you to go with me because I think everyone can learn the lessons of a farmer.

Today, on Father's Day, I want to kick off the series with the lesson of faith. Farmers are some of the most faithful of the land. Although they have proper tools,  skills, and varying levels of experience there are SO MANY elements of their job, and livelihood, that are completely out of their control. They plant seeds at the beginning of their season and trust that the Lord will provide the right elements from planting to harvest. One day they are praying for rain and the next they are asking the rain to hold off. Each season begins full of optimism and hope in what they can't see. Every season is different, yet year after year the farmer faithfully steps out and plants.

As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, 

day and night will never cease. -- Genesis 8:22

Despite the previous year's harvest the farmer plants in faith, just as we should be doing. Regardless of previous experiences, disappointments, moments of elation and pure joy we are called to plant, tend, and harvest on behalf of the Lord. Each of us are given different gifts and calls and those are to be used to continually sow on His behalf. Through faith, regardless of our gifts and jobs here on Earth, our seeds should be those of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, hope, endurance, compassion, and humility (Gal 5:22 plus some).



I pray to have the faith of a farmer. One who completely trusts what they can't see, commits to what they begin, sows the seeds I've been asked to, and regularly puts their livelihood at the whim of the elements only the Lord can control.

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. 

Hebrews 11:1