This summer has brought several changes to the farm – mostly grandchildren growing up.
Last week our older grandsons from the north rode their bikes to our house. It's about a three- to four-minute ride one way. They came to check out my garden. With the cucumbers growing like crazy, it's become a game to find the cucumbers hiding under the leaves. They came walking in with handfuls of cucumbers and yellow squash and a few green peppers. After the hide and seek game, the young men rode their bikes back home.
Yesterday, I was baking a goodie for a fair entry to take advantage of the cool mornings with which God has blessed us. I left the goodies on the cooling racks on the dining room table to cool. In the meantime, I ventured outside to watch our 6-year-old and 4-year-old grandchildren play.
After an hour or so, they needed a drink. Both came inside to get some water. My 6-year-old grandchild came back outside, but my 4-year-old grandchild was delayed. I surely should have remembered those goodies on the table, but I didn't.
A bit later, I came inside to see what was taking so long only to find little nibbles out of my baked goods. "That little stinker," I thought. I shooed him outside and proceeded to salvage four pieces that didn't get touched. I put those four into a container and froze them.
Yesterday, I headed outside to care for our hens. Our 6-year-old granddaughter and 4-year-old grandchild that was the baked goodie thief came along with me. They loved holding the hose to fill the watering containers. As I was putting the water container back into place, the granddaughter told me, "I don't know why, but it smells good in here."
"That's chicken manure," I told her.
I was honest and said "chicken poop."
It didn't make her flinch at all. She just repeated her statement of how good it smelled.
I thought to myself that she is a true farm girl.
This same girl continues to tell me that she wants to help on the farm. Maybe in a few years, Grandpa can show her how to run a tractor in the fields. But to be honest, whether she does fieldwork or not, her heart is in tune with the heart of this nine-generation farm. Ever since 1831, the farm passed from generation to generation in my husband's family. She is the future of this farm to keep it going instead of dying away.
Today I watched our western grandchildren who live on the farm run toward the playset which is near our house. But rather than playing on the swings or slide, they headed beyond those fun things and right to the newly planted garden. That garden was planted yesterday and it's a small plot between two guy wires for the electric pole. Our older grandson helped his little cousins plant leaf lettuce and radishes in their garden. What a joy to watch the gardening bug spread to the younger ones! Someday Grandma may not be able to garden anymore and these young ones will be able to take over my space.
These are just a few examples of the changes taking place on the farm as the grandchildren grow older each year. I can't wait to see what next year brings.
Gail loves the Lord most of all. She delights in her calling to be a wife to Ed Malick and a mother to seven children and grandmother of 19. Ed is the sixth generation on the homestead family farm in Ypsilanti Township, Michigan.
A sculptor was working on a large block of marble. A visitor asked, "What are you creating?" "A horse," came the reply. "How do you do that?" wondered the visitor. "By removing everything that does not look like a horse," he answered.
That is the plan that God has for each of us. He wants to remove everything in our lives that is not Christlike.
There may be times in our lives when we are at the end of our rope but not the end of our hope. There will be occasions when we are at our wit's end but never at faith's end. We may feel overcome by pressures around us, but we will never be forced into a corner where there is no way out. Wherever we are, God is present!
Whatever we face, Jesus has also faced and overcome. The Holy Spirit will always be our escape route to bring us His grace that is sufficient for the challenges of life and His strength that is available to overcome all obstacles.
The goal is not perfection in our own strength, but a growing likeness to Jesus. When the shaping is complete, the likeness will be clear. What remains will reflect the heart of Christ. Until that day, let him continue to do a good work in you.
Today's Prayer: Father, make us into the likeness of Christ, our Lord. Open our eyes and hearts to Your presence and the plans that You have for us. In Jesus' name, amen.
Today's Scripture: We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.
This article originally appeared on Farmers Advance: Growing up green: How a new generation is rooting itself in the farm