Waiting Upon the Lord...A Young Man with a Big Dream
Philippians 1:6 ~ "For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus."
This verse refers to the completion, at the return of Christ, of the spiritual work that He began in us...we are, in this life on earth, a constant "work in progress." If we yield our lives to His will, and follow His path, He will carry on the work of the Master Potter upon our "lump of clay lives." Of course, our work and vocations are merely a part of the way that God molds and uses us to share the Gospel of Faith, and the Gospel of the Kingdom. He gives us a path to follow, if we have hearts attuned to His leading, and those paths are to satisfy His purposes. For Bryan, this seems - more and more each day - to be a path that includes farming and sheep.
We had a wonderful visit to the Harvest Home Farm in Whitehall, Wisconsin, the weekend of
October 9.
We left Chicagoland on Friday late morning, and arrived "Up North" in the beautiful hills of Mississippi River Country, southwestern Wisconsin, around dinnertime. Our accomodation for the weekend was a lovely little guest cottage called the "Granary Guesthouse." (That's our little station wagon...the guest quarters are upstairs, while the lower level is used for storage at this time.)
It has a bedroom with a queen bed, plus a double futon. We brought along a cot for Nathan to sleep on, as he and Bryan can no longer fit in a full size bed together! Here are the boys during our evening of "Settlers of Catan" playing...the best game in the world!
Part of the reason for our visit (the main part!) was to hopefully initiate a discussion with the folks who run Harvest Home Farm about the possibility of Bryan doing an old-fashioned apprenticeship there. We had met with our pastor, Gary, and his wife the week prior to our trip, to ask their counsel about it (they are old friends with one of the founders of the Farm), as they know of Bryan's desire to become a sheep farmer. Gary indicated that he had not mentioned anything to them about Bryan or us, so we knew that we would be "hitting them blind" with this idea. His advice was just to go and "feel the situation out, see how it goes."
I'm a pretty spontaneous person when the situation arises...spontaneously. But I do NOT like being "spontaneous" when I have to plan to be! I like to know things will procede in advance, to have a plan in mind. So this was not what I had hoped for. But, over the years, I have learned that God is wayyyy better at handling Bryan's life than I am! And so, I agreed with Him that I would trust, and wait.
I asked Him to show us when the time was right to discuss an apprenticeship, if it was right, by having THEM bring it up, by having THEM lead us into the conversation. Perhaps they would ask for some help with chores while we were there, and they'd see how capable Bryan is, and mention how nice it would be to have someone who could help with the work. We prayed, and asked many of you, our "bloggy-friends," to pray during the week before our trip that God would go before us, and prepare their hearts; that He would make them feel and sense a great need for help, and then see that Bryan would be just the right one to meet that need.
Upon arrival, we were greeted by 5 dogs (border collies plus one lab) and several sweet barn kitties. These two agreed to pose and smile for us when we promised they'd be famous in bloggy-land:
Mike and Becky, homeschooling parents of 4 children ages 14 down to 4, live on and "run" the farm. They have great hearts for ministry, and Becky has a lovely desire to exercise what seems to be a gift of hospitality...but the work of the farm keeps them so busy, it can be difficult. Harvest Home Farm is, first and foremost, a place of ministry. Visitors to the farm get to connect with the land, the animals, and farm-life, of course, but the primary goal is to connect them with their Creator and Savior, Jesus Christ, through the many Scriptural analogies to sheep, shepherds, and the agrarian life. It is a fantastic place, with a fantastic story to go with it. (Do take a moment to take the link I've provided on the right side of my blog and visit Harvest Home Farm after you finish here!)
Our first few moments with Mike made it clear that he had no idea what had brought us to the Farm for the weekend. We were, as far as he knew, just a family from Chicagoland, visiting the Farm for a nice weekend get-away. And that was true! His father-in-law, Larry Guthrie (remember him from Part 5 of this tale?), and his wife were both out of town. Larry had been our "connection" to Harvest Home Farm, and was one of the "founders" of the place and its ministry. Given this set of circumstances, the realization that we would, in all likelihood, not be discussing a possible apprenticeship for Bryan was a bit of a disappointment, but at least we knew it from the outset. OK, Lord...You know absolutely best! We will wait, and just have this wonderful weeknd of refreshment, and a chance to simply observe, be a blessing to them with our work, if they need help, and get to know one another better. Thank you for making it so clear right away! We do not need to wait and wonder!
The next day, Saturday, dawned clear and CRISP. That's COLD! At least the forecast snow had held off; we were expecting 2 inches of the stuff, and were NOT mentally prepared for it! We were physically prepared, with plenty of warm coats, hats, mittens, and boots. Mike has lots of mowed paths which guests can follow to take wonderful hikes up...up...UP to the top of the ridge for spectacular views of the valley and the farm! The first photo below is almost all the way up, but not quite! The last one is all the way up:
A turn to the left takes you around to the group camp area, complete with campfire ring and volleyball nets, and there is a path down to a lovely pond for fishing:
A turn to the right (from the top of the ridge) takes you around and back down...and along the way you pass a lovely bluff where they've set up a trap-shooting range,
and then you go down, down, DOWN to the lovely pastures area:
If you're getting the idea in your head that "this place is BEAUTIFUL!"...I want to tell you that the photos don't even tell it all. Harvest Home Farm is a place that displays the majesty of the Creator. It is just breathtaking!
After the wonderful hiking, we helped Mike and Becky unload some hay bales into the barn. Becky and I had a little time to chat about the Farm and her life on it, and what they love about it. I bit my tongue as she told me about the dreams that she had to serve their future guests (once they get guest cabins built) and the lovely hospitality touches she'd like to put in practice (once they get a commercial kitchen built, but they have to move the barn first) and the yarn she'd love to spin from the wool they shear (once she has time, which seems as though it's years away)...these things that God has gifted her to do and laid upon her heart, but that they just can't because it's all they can do to keep the farm-work up and keep the grounds cleared and the sheep fed and the dogs trained all while homeschooling the kids...
I'll tell you what, I was about to bust right out of my skin, I wanted to cry out, "We can help! We can help! Our son wants to work with you! To work the farm with you!" But, as I said, I bit my tongue. My mind was carrying on a second conversation, though, along with my heart..."Oh, Lord, THANK YOU! THANK YOU! I know we need to wait until YOU direct us to talk apprenticing Bryan here, but You have answered our prayers by showing us that they DO have a need for the kind of help that Bryan can give them!" I was so grateful and excited, because now, even though we were to wait, we were waiting with great hope!
All too soon, it was time to pack up most of our things on Saturday night, since we would be leaving Sunday, right after attending church with Mike and Becky. Mike stopped by just before dinner and told us that his father-in-law had called, and was back in town, and really wanted to have a chance to chat with us before we left. He'd join us at church, and perhaps we could have coffee afterward...that sounded just wonderful to us (who wouldn't want a latte after church??!). We packed up everything that we wouldn't need the next morning, and snuggled in for a good night's rest.
Worship was warm and intimate at the small Wisconsin church. Afterward, Larry found us, and we headed off to the coffee shop. We talked about the history of the Farm, their search for it, their plans for the ministry there. We talked about our pastor, Larry's good friend, and how we came to attend the church here in Chicagoland. We talked about homeschooling. And then, he looked at Bryan, and said something like, "you know, by your age a young man should have a direction in his life...he should set a goal. Do you know what you'd like to do?" "Well, yes...I want to be a farmer." "Ah-hah! What kind of farmer?" "A sheep-farmer. I want to raise grassfed lamb." "And where would you like to do this? Do you know where you want to live?" Bryan, the grin he had tried to suppress taking over his face, replied, "well, HERE!! Southwestern Wisconsin!" "Really? Well, that's terrific!"
He turned to me and Kevin..."So, what are your plans to help Bryan with all of this?" Stunned, we gave him the VERY-condensed version of Bryan's story, from the visit to the County Fair, the 4-H Club, the Montessori-farm in Amish Ohio, to Kline Creek Farm and the sheep-shearing school.
"Very good," he said. And then, the real stunner..."So, what now? WHAT'S THE NEXT STEP?" I had to pick my jaw up off the floor as Kevin finally spoke that which had literally been coaxed out of him: "well, we're thinking an apprenticeship would be the best thing." It was as though he had been expecting it all along! Had our pastor back home made a phone call to his friend, and given him a "head's up?" Had he remembered, from our first meeting at our church when he was a guest-preacher, Bryan's interest in sheep-farming, and put 2-and-2 together? God's provision, however it happened, in answer to prayer, was unmistakable. We had asked Him to direct the timing of the conversation by having the HHF people bring it up if we were to even mention it. Our pastor back home was not aware of that prayer we had prayed. So if he had spoken to his friend, it was by God's leading, rather than ours! What a wonderful answer to that prayer!
We chatted for a while about the things that they were praying for the opportunity to do at the Farm, their need for help (volunteer help, not paid help), the obstacles they were facing in terms of funding and building codes and where to house an apprentice (another obstacle). Then, he looked up at Bryan. "Bryan, I think I see a match here. It's a ways off yet [because of the aforementioned obstacles], but let's be in prayer about the timing, and we'll keep in touch. You have some skills that we could really use, and I want to hear more about the place you volunteer, and the programs you're doing out there."
And so, here we are. Wow. What a surprise, what a blessing, what a confirmation! We are just today putting together a packet of information to send them...a "resume" of sorts, of Bryan's experience, so they can see what he's done that would be helpful to them in terms of skills he already has; a letter of intent on our part of what we are hoping for in terms of the apprenticeship, and our financial intentions (we will pay them to apprentice Bryan); and a copy of parts 1-5 of "I Wish I Could Go To A Farm," so they can read for themselves the wonderful journey that God has ordained for us to be on in all of this. We'll also be sending along a list of the remaining studies and experiences that we have been led to seek for Bryan before he strikes out on his own (things like taking some mechanics/engine-repair classes at the community college...a furniture-making course in Texas that teaches the skill using only hand tools, not expensive power tools that cost a fortune and lead to debt...and, Lord-willing, an Associates degree in Agriculture from a nearby junior college). Some of these things may begin to happen this spring, if an apprenticeship needs to wait for a while. It may be that he will learn skills very useful to HHF, so God wants him to do these things first. Larry, Mike, and the Lord will direct our steps from here.
Bryan, Kevin, and I will continue to wait, to wait upon the Lord, who knows the plans He has for Bryan. We wait in joyful expectation, and rest in the knowledge that, even if nothing comes of this in the end, He is in complete control, and will accomplish His will in the life of our son. "My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from Him." ~ Psalm 62:5
God Bless you,
Lori ...  |
