Father Days, 2007
I had the privilege this past weekend to spend a few days on the Croft, Spring Hill farm near Mount Morris, IL, for a family reunion on my wife's side of the family. There were so many enjoyable moments while we were there, but the highlight for me was the Farmall Tractors.
John Croft (my mother-in-law's cousin) has spent many hours repairing and caring for the Super M and Super H tractors that his father and grandfather used when he was a kid; he hopes to someday get the F-20 tractor (pictured above) moving under its own power too. He isn't restoring them to make them museum quality pieces that will stay in a barn, but he is making them useful around the farm.
As I helped John around the farm to get ready for the incoming family, he spent alot of time telling me about his father and grandfather. Everything around the farm held a memory of them. It was a vivid picture of the 5th Commandment in action. He never spoke derogatively of them. Any of the improvements he is making on the farm he described as "building on what granddad and father began."
I've been around so many people who talk about the mistakes their grandfathers and fathers have made. It was such a blessing to be in the presence of a man who may have seen those things but never used those things against them. He is spending his life honoring the sacrafice and memory of those men who made the farm what it was and he will someday pass it on to his son who will undoubtely make further improvements, but I know they will be motivated by blessing and humility.
From Leviticus 19
You shall rise before the gray headed and honor the presence of an old man, and fear your God: I am the LORD.
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Jul. 13, 2007 - Tractors