Less of That & More of This

Work never stops on the farm. There is always something that needs to be done. A lot of those things are unexpected! You think you have a list of things to get done that day and then something breaks or happens to change all of your plans.

Cows have to be fed daily. Chickens have to be fed and watered; we are currently feeding a large group for slaughter in a couple of weeks. Grass has to be cut, hay has to be baled, the garden has to be tended and picked and the list goes on and on. Young calves need to be weighed and weaned and that leads to loading cattle to be moved to other pastures. Then the unexpected heifer gets sick and needs shots and you find your plans totally changed.

Here lately, we have been getting some major items checked off the list though. (You can go here to read about the site prep that was done.) When we first purchased our property it was covered in trees. It had been owned by paper mill companies prior and as we began to clear land for home and pasture, trees had to come down and stumps had to be removed.

As time went on, stump holes and such have left the pastures bumpy, uneven and that makes a pretty rough ride in a tractor, not to mention dangerous for cattle when holes are all over a field to step in. So the plan for the last two months has included many days of disking fields and trying to smooth out the ruts in preparation for planting permanent pasture grass.

That may not seem like too much work, seems like just riding on a tractor is easy right? But in the south Mississippi heat and with our very dry conditions, it has been hot, dusty, rough work. It has also been work that has taken everyone to do.

Here is where we have to give some credit to our kids. We couldn’t do what we do, and by that I mean Dad couldn’t do what he does without help. It takes a lot of work on this farm, most days, and one person just can’t do it all. I am for certain that our kids would most definitely prefer to be other places doing other things. But when needed, they are here and they make it happen.

With their help, we have gotten it done. The fields have been plowed, disked, smoothed and flattened with the drag and most importantly, planted! The have driven tractors, dozers, and everything else that was needed.

This work and those skills didn’t just happen. They have been taught to work and given these skills over the length of their childhood and now into their young adulthood. I can remember my oldest telling the boy next door that he would be out to play in a little while, after he finished vacuuming! He was 6 years old.

Now you may think that’s sad or extreme. But I don’t. Today, I’m proud of the fact that there isn’t much my kids, ages 20, 17, & 16 (at the moment), cannot do inside or outside the home. There isn’t hardly a piece of equipment that they can’t run or a job that they can’t do and do well.

I’m sure a lot of people, and sometimes them and yes, even their mother, have thought that we were too hard on them, expected too much of them, or didn’t allow them enough time to be children. But looking back, I know that we have raised them the best that we knew how. Looking ahead, I know we need more of this.

Our world is in a state of meltdown. My opinion may not be a popular one, but we need a lot less of that and more of this. More children should be taught work skills and work ethic and we would see a lot less of what we are seeing now. More children need chores and responsibilities than they do “time to just be a kid.” Allowing our children to do whatever they want and have less responsibility is why we are where we are.

We have got to remember “We aren’t raising kids, we are raising adults.”

If you raise kids, you will have kids. Raise adults. Raise them with skills and responsibilities and raise them to be leaders and not followers. Raise them to work and not be entitled. Raise them to earn and not expect.

“Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6. That scripture is so much more than salvation. It’s the key to raising our children to be adults. What do you want them to be? Teach them that! You want children with work ethics, let them work. You want kids that know how to handle money, pay them for work and show them how to tithe and save.

Whoever said being a parent wasn’t for sissies wasn’t lying. Parenting is hard. But we need less of that and more of this. More of saying no. More of assigning chores and more of hard work. We need more of staying home and more of making the difficult decisions.

Will they always get it right? Absolutely not! But more often than not, they will make the right decisions and will be more likely to be found in places we will be proud of rather than finding themselves in trouble and in harm’s way.

1 Timothy 4:10-11 This is why we work hard and continue to struggle, for our hope is in the living God, who is the Savior of all people and particularly of all believers. Teach these things and insist that everyone learn them.

It’s not too late. We can’t fall into the trap that it’s too late. We have to start somewhere. Start now. We have got to have less of that and more of this. We must have less hate and selfishness and more love, prayer, work, and more of training and teaching our children, grandchildren and everyone around us to be like the Father.

“The greatest legacy one can pass on to one’s children and grandchildren is not money or other material things accumulated in one’s life, but rather a legacy of character and faith.”

— Billy Graham