Challenges

Challenges                     6-18-2014

By John W. Vander Velden

I finally finished planting Wednesday.  I would like to say I beat the afternoon’s rain, but that would not be true.  The rumbles heard as I loaded the last seed warned me the storm was on its way.  No real surprise.  Late last week rain had been predicted for Monday and Tuesday, yet by God’s grace no real rain materialized.  Only a light sprinkle as I finished Tuesday evening.  So today was what I call bonus time.  I had nearly finished when the first round of rain came, pelting me as I sat on the open tractor.  I kept going.  With the first drops the monitor told me that row four ceased functioning.  That row sensor has been troublesome all season.  It has been particularly sensitive to the low angle of sunlight when planting westward in the late afternoon.  I checked the row, once, in the rain, and felt confident the screaming electronics of no real concern as I moved back and forth across the field.  The wind came so strong I had to remove my hat.  Rain on dusty glasses did not make the task easier.

But the events of the afternoon reminded me of all the struggles this spring gave.  Each year there are different difficulties that rear their head, attempting to undue plans which in truth are always in flux.  The end desire is known -- to get the crop planted.  But each day -- what I am able to accomplish in order to move toward that goal remains a question, a question that rarely has an easy solution.

Yes, this spring has been a long hard battle.  And I would rather it wasn’t.   But in the end it was a battle I won -- or at least I think I have won.  Harvest will tell the truth of this victory.  Tilling the soil, preparing the seedbed, and planting have been a challenge.  But isn’t life in general a challenge?  It is our nature to wish that all things move along easily.  That we pass through days – weeks -- even years with things going “our way”.  Not to be friends -- not to be.  Challenges are part of life -- period!

A friend of mine understands this concept too well.  She has been at the brunt of challenges for more than half a year.  Perhaps facing a series of the most difficult times of her life.  I am certain she would have rather not have been forced to face this maelstrom.  I am certain that there have been moments when she considered throwing her hands in the air and fleeing the storm.  But the tempest came upon her and her family suddenly.  They may have felt unprepared for that storm.  But she has faced it and shown that deep within, she was made of metal -- tougher stuff than any knew.  Has it made enduring easy?  No!  But to this point, it has made enduring possible. 

I understand that I too will one day face a turbulent time.  I only hope that having faced these challenges -- all the years of planting and harvest -- of torrential rains and times of intense drought -- are training me -- strengthening me -- preparing me.  For each will likely be “cast into the tempest” -- and there we will find just what kind of material God has provided.  I do not look forward to the possibility, but trust that God has made me tough enough.

For now the seed is in the ground.  I have done my best but from this point onward, the bulk of what the crop becomes is out of my hands.  It will grow, be healthy, stand tall, and yield -- or it will not.  I can not will a soybean to sprout.  I can not order a stalk of corn to give an ear.  Preparation helps, the better the preparation the more likely the success.  But farming’s challenges do not cease with planting’s completion.  Nor do life’s with any set birth date.  Rather I face the days ahead, scratch my head as I find a new problem that needs solving, know that each day offers grand wonders, but also its own challenges.  That is the adventure of it.  Isn’t life grand?

(707 Words)