Excitement of Spring

Good morning. The sun isn't up yet but I do not hear the rain that was predicted. It feels like spring is really here. We are halfway through the month of April already so surely spring is here to stay. The garden centers are bursting with everything a gardener might need. Though I don't know what the temperature of our soil is, it is beginning to warm. And we received a wonderful rain this week and more is forecast for today.

Farming has been a profession since the beginning of time. Here in Iowa agriculture is our livelihood. I grew up on a farm, the true farm of the past that featured tilling the ground, raising a few of every livestock animal, chickens, and a big garden. Those farms made each family independent and self-sufficient.

Over the decades, farming has gone to huge fields with few livestock. However, of late, there has been a trend of more small farmers with a variety of produce and animals. Perhaps the family farm will again be common practice.

"Listen and hear my voice; pay attention and hear what I say. When a farmer plows for planting, does he plow continually? Does he keep on breaking up and harrowing the soil? When he has leveled the surface, does he not sow caraway and scatter cummin? Does he not plant wheat in its place, barley in its plot, and spelt in its field? His God instructs him and teaches him the right way," (Isaiah 28:23-26 NIV).

God is the farmer's guide. Even back in the time of the prophet Isaiah, the farmers depended on God's direction. Farmers still need the blessing of the Lord on their fields and crops. As they move to field work this spring may God be with them and bless them with safety and weather that allows them to plant in due time.

Lord God, be with us this spring and guide us in our preparation and our planting. Watch over us and our seeds. Make them grow and flourish with Your sun and rain. Help us care for Your plants to reap bountiful harvests, of field crops, of flowers, of vegetables and trees. We thank You for all good gifts You bestow. Amen.