Ramblings...

 Ramblings

(Part I)

Theology in the Trenches

by Kathleen Kjolhaug

 

Rambling into the farmyard the empty cattle trailer did roll. Backing up to the gates came easy enough as thunder taunted in the distance. Another tease it was as the drought droned on into mid-August forcing the decision to sell the cattle.

They loaded easily enough, I suppose…even if it sounded a bit obnoxious as they bellowed, and stomped as the trailer moved to the shifting weight of the herd within.

Once done…own the road it went kicking up dust as it made its way to the sales barn. “God bless the sale, Lord. May my farmer-man fair better than the weather.”

Round two was in full swing once the trucker returned, and as the trailer rambled back into the yard, the grief of letting go came flooding in like the rain I’d been praying for. The tears fell.

Farmer-man had worked hard building his herd. With six kiddos needing this or that along life’s journey, the extra income helped. Graduations, college, weddings, and now traveling to see the grands were just a few areas where the cash flow had been poured.

The fruit of his labor was well used by a larger family and although all appreciated it, no one had a bird’s eye view quite like I.

Washing the well-worn clothes through the years had been a privilege. At least that’s how I saw it now. He’d recycled anything and everything that had worn out its welcome for daily use. Old shirts and tattered pants were recycled for chores time and again as he rarely spent any hard earned cash on himself. Today, as I watched the metal gates and heard the clanging as he closed them, the gray dust kicked up by the few remaining animals was tell-tale of the dissipating moisture on many a level.

There’s nothing new under the sun and under the Son we are as Amos reminds. “I also withheld rain from you when the harvest was still three months away. I sent rain on one town, but withheld it from another. One field had rain: another had none and dried up.”

And that’s…when I heard it! May you join me next week to find out…what it was I heard.

(To be continued…)

Ramblings

(Part 2)

 

It’s awfully quiet. The midnight mooing has ceased as the window remains open allowing minimal movement of cool air.

Last night it wasn’t so. Bellowing persisted as cow-calf pairs had been strategically separated. My farmer-man knows what he’s doing, but there’s been no mention of this wisdom employed until now. “When I opened the gates this morning, the mamas and babies reunited as one. This way, I could more easily check that the numbers matched correctly before shipping.”

The drought ushered in this day sooner than later, and to market the cattle were going. Once the trucker had backed the trailer up to the gate, in they went…for the most part. “There’s a reason the non-cooperative ones are last,” he revealed as I questioned him intently when all-was-said-and-done.

Throughout the process of loading the cattle for shipping, I’d been perched on the porch…positioned so as not to distract nor startle the cows. I prayed. That’s when I heard it. As the final four or more were moving in as one, they began pushing on the gate of which my farmer-man was standing behind…carefully…or so he thought. Just when the herd mentality peeked, they pushed and when they did…he went down for the count.

“Are you okay?” hollered the trucker once.

“Are you okay?” hollered the trucker a second time.

“Are you okay!” she hollered more emphatically for the third and final time.

I poked my head from around the corner of the house just in time to hear his voice.

“Yeah…I’m okay!

Ear marked he was as the red ran down upon neck and shirt. Later I learned he’d not only been knocked down but the wind knocked right on out of him…making it impossible to respond sooner than he had.

Yes, all is quiet upon the farm tonight. Many a thought can run through one’s mind between the “are you okay’s” in life. There was hope within when, on the third count, my farmer-man arose from the dust. For this I am grateful.

There was another who arose on the third count...on the third day. Perhaps you know He who arose and because He did, many will rise even when it looks as though the final blow has the final say. For this I am most grateful.

You can read about  this man in 1 Cor. 15:4. “And He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.” To God be the glory both now and forever.  Amen.