drgregorygordon

Sep. 2, 2022

THE HEAVIEST HAY

I put up a lot of hay back in my day. It would cause great excitement when a farmer would come into town looking for help in the hayfield. We would all take off for home to ask our parents for permission to do this. I remember working all day for $1:50 an hour. At the end of the day , I would come home tired and dirty but filthy rich and that made it worth the while.

Some of the farmers were harder to work for than others. Some had pretty daughters that went to the field with us and now I realize they knew how to market long before I knew what that was. Some of them had their wives prepare such large food amounts and samples after we were done that we probably would have worked for free.

I look back on those days and cherish those memories. Often I will tell a tale or two as I am about to do with you now.

It was getting late in the day and we all were wore out. We had just one more trip out into the field. As the wagon filed up , our spirits seem to rise because we knew the cash and the vittles were getting closer. The farmer we were working with was an elder in our church. His name was Cecil and his wife was Ruth and he called her Ruthie. We had just a few more bales to go and we would be heading back to the barn. Ruth was driving the tractor and she turned too sharply going down a hill and the hay shifted and we lost more than half of the loaded wagon. It was the first time and the only time I ever saw this gentle man of God lose his cool . He was hot and he forgot for just a minute he was an elder and that young boys were with him. He started yelling at her in frustration. Her sharp turn caused him to speak sharply to her. He never said a cuss word but he stopped almost mid sentence when he realized both. I remembered that he calmed down very quickly and he apologized to her. I learned that even the best of us can have a off moment. It allowed us to see what we should do when we have blown out stack. We were taught what we should do when things do not turn out as we would like.

About a week or so ago , I did a blog about our house called' TILL THE COWS COME HOME'. I liked the story and was pleased with how it turned out. It is hard for me to type and it takes a long time. I am not good with this kind of stuff and to be honest, do not care for it . Why do I do it then? I feel that this is what God wants me do and how I am to share my thoughts at this time.

Someone contacted me and said the story was missing. My heart sunk when I was told this. To my dismay , I found that indeed the words were lost. In my haste to get done, I lost the entire load! I have found

that many times we will have to do ... do overs. Sometime we get mulligans and other times not the case. May lord give us the strength we need to persevere even on heavy hay days when we can. May the Lord comfort us in those situations when we cannot.

If you life is empty , fill it with Christ.

Woodrow Kroll

Mistakes are their own instructors.

You can preach a better sermon with your life than your lips.

Oliver Goldsmith

                        As you come up our drive and after you cross the small creek,you pass between two field stone 

                         pillars that match the stones on our home. There is a light atop both of them . Right now, one is green and the                           the side is white. The green light is to show support for all the people who serve our military as well

                         as those who have done so in the past.

                         At Christmas i hang white lights along the 4 rail horse fence. We change the white one to red and

                         The entryway is good to go. The placement of the red and green has a reason behind it as well. 

                          It may seem to be be random but Iassure you is not the case.

                         On a plane the red light is always on the left side and the green is on the right side. green and right both

                          have 5 letters and this was how I was taught to remember as a boy.  This applies to boats as well.

                         Our oldest son, Josh, is a navel aviator. He and his wonderful wife , Christina, are a week or two from going

                          to Japan. They have lived in several places over the last few years. They lived in Fallon Nevada

                          most recently and we were blessed to have all of our boys and their girls under our roof and together 

                          the holidays. 

                         Since they aproached our farm from the west the right light was green and the left one was on the left 

                         came home. When they were out east in Va it was the reversed. Japan is on the other side of the world

                         so I am not sure what I will do. I have not stepped it off but am told it is about as far east to west as it is 

                         west to east.

                         God is a concerned loving Father who loves you so much! He has made a way for you to come 

                         home through his son Jesus. The porch light of heaven is on . You have a green light my friend.

                         Because of the red blood of Jesus ,your sins are forgiven . Your approach is cleared as well as all your sins.

                          As far as the east is from the west,so far has removed our transgressions from us.

                                                                                                                                                             Psalm 103:12

 ENTRY

                            Yesterday I went out to check on the horses. It has again been vey hot here of late and a daily chore

                             to top off the water troughs will cool clear water.As I make my rounds the horses ususlly get excited when                                    they hear the sound of our old red ATV.  Because this vehicle usally has horse feeds as well as carrots, we c                                  call  it  "Chuck" short for chuck wagon .

                             There is a mare and two young ones in the south pasture. I whistled and they did not come. I banged on the

                              red tubes on the gate with the scooper. It makes a sound that sounds like a hillbilly dinner bell. I had seen                                    them the evening before and knew they were ok. I surmised they had found a place with a breeze and had it                                made in the shade.

                            I set the bright orange bucket filled with feed and carrots in front of the gate. This bucket was a physical                                   reminder for me to "lets  do this later". I had some mowing to do and that filled several hours of the                                               afternoon. I  kept   looking down at the water tank seeing they had not yet drank from it and for the first                                     time  became a  little  concerned.

                           I went down to the gate and did the two tone whistle my dad taught me. I do this in honor of him and have                                  taught my sons to do the same. They all would turn and prick up their earsand know it was me  if I did this                                  even in a crowd.

                           I banged again on the gate and in no time flat heard the three of them flat out running as hard as they could 

                           go. They seemed happy to see me and even more to see Chuck .They were breathing heavy as they devoured                                their snacks.

                          My friend I believe God is calling all of us. As we read Scripture, we learn he calls us all differently .  Many                                    people tell me after I speak that I missed my calling. I would quite my practice and enroll in seminary school                                 tomorrow if I felt in my heart that is what God wanted for me. I answered  my "call to the see" many years                                  ago.  I love  the interaction I have with patients for the most part. I never would have believed God would and                            could could use me to write  these stories for his glory.

                          He has blended  and used the very things I love and hold dear such as horses, hunting , and rivers . I am often                            very  surprised at how stories and lessons come together in such a way that I know it is not me but him                                          working  through me. Here is the exciting part, he wants to do the same with you. You may not be called to                                  write or do  eyes but you are being called . What do you do that gives you joy and satisfaction? There is your                               best clue in  regard to what God is calling you to do.

                          I  pray  that at times this website feeds you. I write for all God's people and not just those who gather under                               the steeple. All I know is when I do this with the hope of pleasing my Savior, it just feels so "write"!

                                                 Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things 

                                                 you do not know.                                                                                       Jeremiah 33:3

                                                   When you empty yourself, God rushes in.  

                                                                                                                                  A.W. Tozer

                                                    For the man who prays in his heart ,the whole world is a church.

                                                                                                                                   Sylvain of Athos