As a rule, we try not to do anything before dark. That’s not just a rule at our place in particular; it’s family-wide. Therefore, a couple of Novembers ago, after a month of trying to get a load of hay from my brother, we finally rendezvoused and got some hay loaded. The sun had been down for at least five hours when we finally fired up the loaders, but that’s just par for the course. I remember one time, Mandi was so excited we had gotten started on a project in the daylight, but one thing led to another, and by the time we finished, it was pitch black. I’ve always claimed that we have the advantage once it gets dark. Call me an optimist. We can be roofing, building fence, unloading hay, welding, or drenching calves, and I guarantee you it will be dark outside. That’s the rule. That night, when I got to Tygh’s shop, he and his hired man were working on a couple of loaders. The hired man was changing the oil in one, and Tygh was reattaching lights that a truck driver had pulled off of the other. After a half hour of finishing that project, my brother fired that baby up, and he headed out to the stack yard. He began to stack big bales three high on the trailer, which created a pretty heavy load. No matter, I was in a toot to get things set up before I was to leave for two weeks to Las Vegas. If bales were not set up for easy loading for Mandi, I would be in some hot water, to say the least. Once I was loaded, Tygh pointed out the flattish tire on the back of the trailer, so that took another fifteen minutes of crawling back to the shop and filling the tire with air. Finally, I hit the road around 9:45 p.m., well after dark. I got home about 10:20, and I fired the tractor up to start unloading some of the hay. Once I got somewhat organized, I headed out into the pasture to feed the cows the next morning’s grub. It was after 11:00, after all. I figured I was close enough. I finally got into the house around midnight, or so, and I tried to sleep the rest of the night. A full night’s work makes it to where it doesn’t take long to stay all night at our place. The problem with working in the dark is not only the chuck holes we step in; it’s also the fact that we cannot see much of anything most of the time. When we live our lives in the dark, we are keeping ourselves from the best, most abundant life. Jesus calls us to be light. He’s not talking about one of those flashlights you stick on your hat bill. He’s talking about having a source of light that transcends the darkness. He’s talking about letting our life shine. That’s the hard part. However, the easiest way to shine light out in front of us, to where we can see the path down which we are walking, is to seek God first and foremost. Psalm 119:105 tells us, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. If we are continually looking to God’s word, knowing what it says, and most importantly, doing what it says, our path will be lit up, no matter how dark the world is. Working in the darkness is scary, it’s hard, and it ends up with a lot of headbutting and kicking one another while we’re down. I don’t think that’s what God called us to, so let’s stay in the light and be the
Posted on: Tue, 18 Nov 2014 06:24:49 +0000
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