More on food, land, and the creation that we are a part of...Ryan and I took another trip to the farm and we took Isaac. there are some more pics at the end of this post. Here is a reflection from my dad (Kevin Maddock) who spent much of his life as a farmer...Before I lived in the city and visited the prisons, I was a farmer. My dad and mum were farmers and I was blessed with a country childhood. After I had done my schooling and some extra subjects in Agriculture I came back home to the life and work of a farmer.(there's more) As I grew in my faith and worked the land (even with the curse of the weeds and the thistles and thorns) and got to know the scriptures, I came to understand how much God in grace had spoken to the people of old through the powerful messages of creation.
As I came to love the land and the animals I was blessed with the wisdom and experience passed on to me from my dad and grand-dad who had both lived all their lives in the local area as farmers. They knew the seasons, the droughts and the floods, the richness of the soil in different parts of the property, how different paddocks would respond in different seasons and what type and breed of cattle were best for those conditions.
I thank God that I had the privilege of farming for about 26 years, long enough to grow a deep love for the land. This deep respect for the creator and His creation meant a task like killing an animal for meat was a sacred ritual and never done lightly.
I lived on the land long enough to experience and learn of the wonderful rhythms of the seasons and learn to see it as creation breathing as the season of heat and dry turned into the cool and wet, the joy of the little calves and caring for the mothers well, the season and celebration (and hard work) of harvest.
It was a wonderful life of living and working with creation while having a profound sense of cooperating with the creator.
To see the chickens run under the hen (Luke 13:34) and remember what Jesus said - to daily watch God feed the birds (Matthew 6:26) and, in turn, my own slow learning to trust God’s provision. And all of the other ways see a loving and gracious Creator expressing His goodness and being continually reminded of lessons about the Lord.
I now live in the city, in a world of concrete and bricks, and have been learning to recognise God's provision in different ways. Recently I noticed God feeding the birds in a small concrete yard in a high security prison where a prisoner had thrown some scraps for the sparrows. I sat and chatted with him as he enjoyed watching his “pets” eat the crumbs. I shared with him how I used to enjoy watching God feed the birds along the creeks and in the paddocks on our farm.
isaac calms a savage beast (baby goat/kid)
ryan, farmer david, and isaac tend to the tomato plants.
isaac says hi to the chickens
...and for a few kind words, this is what the chickens gave us.
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