Original Entry:
September 20, 2011
McMinnville, OR
Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring
wealth. He who gathers crops in summer
is a wise son, but he who sleeps during harvest is a disgraceful son. Proverbs 10:4-5
I have known Ben, a.k.a.
Farmer Ben by the youth group, for almost ten years at the writing of this
entry. I haven’t known many real farmers prior to Ben and he has taught me many
things about his profession. One of them
being from about July 1 to August 30 we all say goodbye to Ben as he says goodbye
to sleep and hello to 15 to 20 hour days.
This year was no
different. Ben began harvest and we did not see him until mid August at our
annual river baptism that takes place on his farm. He showed up with sunglasses, which was weird
since Ben wears sunglasses about as often as he drinks coffee, never. Jokingly
I took off his glasses and sure enough, his eyes were bloodshot and clearly
burning from over two months of sleep depravation.
“Wow!” I exclaimed, “You have July Eyes in mid
August!”
Just like the seasons
in a farmer’s life we go through seasons as well. One season similar to July Eyes, is the
stress bubble years of parenting from the mid twenties to early fifties..
During this season a
man must work to support his family, raise his children, love his wife, and
find moments of time to renew his spirit. Often these times come few and far
between.
A man is tempted
during this season to get “lazy hands” instead of July Eyes.
But he cannot.
Fatigue often tempts a man to revert to boyish behavior reducing a life of
responsibility to the choice of passivity.
Vince Howard once
said, “Fatigue makes cowards of us all.” A man must fight to maintain diligence
during those seasons when fatigue desires to conquer him.
