He Wants To Be A Farmer

They are at the start of their life of adulthood. They have many roads to choose from when it comes to vocation. Some options I would not have imagined years ago … iOS developer, computer vision engineer, and so many medical specialist. Even in my field, church/ministry, it seems specialization fields are being defined regularly … sometimes borrowing from the business field, other times meeting niches. I’ve seen postings for church dancer, Parrish production director, and more. My son is a ‘project manager’ for a top 20 church.

But it is rare when I see someone from the city life choose the vocation of a farmer. I live in rural Virginia and there are many farmers and ranchers in this area. Many do it as a hobby or side job – since I am told it often doesn’t pay enough on its own. Yet some have been doing it for generations.

Yesterday, a friend shared that his older teenager son has chosen farming/ranching as a career. He is looking at a college in Virginia that his Ag teacher has recommended. Recently, the son helped birth a calf and inseminate a few cows. That sold him. Me? I would’ve been unsold. But not him.

So I shared what I knew so that his father could pass on from my great wealth of knowledge. After all, I pastor quite a few farmers.

So here I give what I know about farming to you. Buy Carhartt, especially overalls. Get some camo Crocs. They seem to be huge around here. Have a dirty, beat up, well worn John Deere hat. A pickup seems to be the norm. Maybe two … one old and beat up and the other a 4-wheel drive power house.

Now you may have noticed I haven’t really given any useful information. For that, I give two nuggets. 1. Expect to work hard. 2. Let me introduce you to real farmers. They will tell you what to really expect.

I recently read an article by an ‘expert’ share why they thought Christians were clueless, not understanding what life is really about, and all they do was hateful to certain parts of our society. Then they went on to share how Christians should be living.

Too many people get their information about Christianity from Google, Twitter quotes, Facebook memes, popular magazine ‘experts’, college professors that may be knowledgeable but never darken a church door. Know you might get some useful insights, or not. But if you want to really get to know what Christianity entails, get to know some people who have surrendered their all to follow Jesus, who have humbly studied the Bible, and who walk the talk.

Have a blessed day.