2 Chronicles 15:7 Be Ye Strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak: for your work shall be rewarded.
Summers in Texas are unbearable for me; it takes all my strength to go outside and feed the chickens. I often say that I was not meant to live in Texas, but since my husband cannot stand cool weather, Texas is our home. Texas is a beautiful state, and I do appreciate it in the winter. However, I loathe the summers. So for me, farming in the summer isn’t always enjoyable, and my first experience farming in the summer was brutal. Okay, maybe it wasn’t that bad, but it sure felt like it when I was in it.
Gardening in the heat definitely made me think of the scripture in Genesis that states, “by the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until your return to the ground” (Gen 3: 19a). I would spend the first three hours of the day trying to clean out the weeds every morning that I was not too busy elsewhere. It was hard work and hot, but I did my best to get the garden cleaned up and fruitful. Some positives that helped me to keep on persisting with the garden was watching things grow and be able to cook with it that night. It was also enjoyable to watch Asher, nearly one and mobile, and Jazmyn, three, ‘help’ me by pulling weeds. I did make sure that they were safe, hydrated, and only in sections away from actual good plants.
I did find out that changing our lifestyle not only affected us, but it affected others that were used to us being readily available. We now lived closer to my grandparents, and they really liked having us over to help with things and to just hang out. It was hard to try to have a balance with being there to be with others and not feel guilty about neglecting the farm. Or feeling overwhelmed because you had so much to do. Or feeling guilty if you had to tell someone no, you couldn’t help them that day. It was a vicious cycle.
One day at the end of June, I realized that I had yet to spend an entire week on the farm. I became instantly frustrated because it felt impossible to just stay home and work. The place really needed TLC immediately. It wasn’t the most beautiful piece of land, in fact it needed, and still needs, a lot of work. There were piles of left over scrap metal and junk in various places on the farm. We had things scattered here and there in the shop. The list was never ending. On top of all this, Josh worked an hour from home, so the only day he was available were Sundays, since we are Sabbatarians, and if it so happened to rain that Sunday, the farm was put on hold.
I prayed for things to settle down and for the Father to bless the place, but what I really needed more importantly was strength to endure the changes and struggles. I needed to accept this new chapter in my life, and to realize it wasn’t going to be easy. God wasn’t going to just give us our dream farm. We weren’t going to have successes without working hard for them.
I wanted and still want a peaceful fruitful farm that our family takes adequate care of, and to see the Father’s hands upon us blessing us so that we can enjoy the fruit of our labor and share it with others. This prayer and dream isn’t a bad one, but I needed to learn that it would require a lot from me for it to happen. God wanted to see us work for it. I have learned over the years that God does give blessings, but he doesn’t just give you everything you want at one time. He likes to see us work hard for our goals and not to be slothful or neglectful with our talents. He wants us to be doers, and He is always there to help strengthen us along the way.
After a while things did somewhat slow down, and we were able to get to work. Luckily, our goats were finally doing well. We were researching and studying what worming methods to use. We like natural methods over chemicals, so I was doing a lot of reading. Farming, whether it is a small farm or not, is not just physically labor-intensive but very mental too.
On top of all the research, we also wanted a nice name for the place. It took us months to come up with a name. We wanted to bless the place with a good name that would also honor the Father and the Messiah. We feel names are very important, and we wanted something that spoke to us. We finally came up with Jehovah-Shalom Farm. It is from Judges 6: 24, Gideon names the altar in Ophrah this name after the Father calls him to deliver Israel from the Mideonites. It is only in the scriptures once, and it means “Yahweh is Peace”.
The name, Jehovah-Shalom Farm, fit everything because we didn’t just want peace with the choice of farming; we wanted peace everywhere on the farm, a peaceful garden, peaceful animals, peaceful family life, peaceful marriage, etc… I am sure my readers can understand this thought because I have yet to meet a person who didn’t want peace. And I not only needed peace with the fact that it was hot, but also with the understanding that even though we had downsized our house, we extremely upsized our responsibilities.
Willingness to sweat is required to reach one’s goals
I have found out in life that nothing comes easily, at least not for me. I must push myself to reach any goals. If I wanted to make a great grade in school, I not only had to study, but I had to rewrite my notes from the class to reinforce what I learned. I know that it seems that some people just think of an idea and become multi-millionaires, but don’t let the few who “appear” to have an easy life cause you to become frustrated with your own.
No one out there has an easy life and in fact one thing is for sure, our lives are easier than someone else out there in the world. There is always someone who at this particular moment in time is going through a lot more stress or pain or both than you are. With that said, I am not trying to belittle our trials because they are trials, and they are our individual struggles. What I am saying is do not let the trials win. If you want to go out there and become a farmer, don’t let sweating and heat and animal death knock you down.
Anyone who has started a business knows that for a while it is a struggle before they can even pay off the start-up costs. The successful businesses are the ones that are not afraid of a little sweat and determination to make it through. Reaching a goal is not easy, but with hard work and determination it can be enjoyable if you are willing to look at all the great things along the road of hard work. Don’t just look at the end result, pay attention when a “little green” starts poking through the soil. It is these little lights that can give you the boost to wipe the sweat from your brow, smile, and push forward.
Ecc 3:12-13 I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life. And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God.