Lessons from the Farm

Many of the TGNs derive from my memories of growing up on my dad’s rice farm in Hamburg, Arkansas. He too was the son of a rice farmer in Carlisle, Arkansas. Farming during his lifetime changed from mules & horses and huge thrashing machines, to tractors & combines. What did not change was that farming is high risk, hard work, and long hours with Principles that have not changed over the years.

My dad was an incredible farmer. While he never finished high school, I remember highly educated people in agriculture coming out to the farm seeking his wisdom. His fields & his yields always seemed to be better than our neighbors. He had the touch. I remember so many times him walking across the field much like a proud grandfather with his grandchildren in his lap. He loved to farm…It was in his blood.  

 Farming is a lonely profession. This was the reason I told my dad I could not farm. Years later I surprisinglydiscovered I had been using many of the farming principles that he taught me, in leading & supervising people.

The Bible begins with Adam & Eve on God’s Farm. Throughout the Bible there are many references to farming. Jesus in particular, illustrated the Principle of Seedtime & Harvest. The unavoidable truth in everything is, we will harvest what we plant in our life. “Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant.” Galatians 6:7

Law of the Farm: Are You Planting?

When I think about all the life lessons I learned on my dad’s farm, the question he asked me late in the day 60 years ago still lingers in my heart. Although I have written about this in a previous TGN’s, God brought it back to me this morning. Today it’s hard to have a…

Law of the Farm: What’s In Your Field?

If you don’t know what to look for, you will probably notice it. You may even ignore it but not my dad. It was an enemy…a cancer to be eliminated at first sighting. Dad was a shepherd to his crops. From the time the field was planted until harvest he watched over it. I remember…

God School: The Standard

Do you trust the tape measure in your drawer to be the same 12 inches as the one at Home Depot? What if you learned that a renowned school of engineering had studied the “foot rule” and “the scholars” had determined a foot was now going to be 10 inches, would you change? When the…