FARMING

Good day! I hope you are doing well. Do stay safe at this time of the year. Follow me as we enjoy this story together.

This was a memory I cherished when I attained adulthood, but then it felt tedious and tiring, sincerely. Looking back now, I wondered why I never loved farming, and my father will have to call us and tell us the benefits of sowing something and watching it grow before we heed his call and assist him in the farm.

So, one day, the sky was clear and the wet season was about to come to full bloom, the rain has watered the soil and made it soft and loamy in our hands and well, it was an answered prayer! Because anytime the ground is soft and wet, it is time to do some planting.

The rhythm of repeatedly weeding the ground with the cutlass, and afterward, packing and clearing the farm site before starting the process of raising the hoe high above one’s head to form a mound of rich dark soil was fun when done with my brothers. We divide the plots of land among ourselves in order to work with a set purpose in mind and it was fun. Why? When you see your brother moving at a faster pace than you, you are encouraged to work faster.

After spending the first quarter of the day preparing the ground and softening it for planting, we took our rest and when it was evening, we set out back to the farm located in front of the house and started planting. And living in an area where rearing of animals was a lucrative business, it was very easy to buy manure to spread and sprinkle on the surface of each of the mounds. So, after spreading the manure we had purchased earlier that day, we were contented with a job well done. All that remains was for a continuous heavy downpour as the days saunter pass, to quicken the growth of our cassavas and corns.

It was after all this that I looked at hands and realized that it was smelly and covered in droplets of manure! So disgusting, but it was a source of inspiration.

We look at our life sometimes and realized that we are at a point in our life where life might seem dark and bleak, but do not lose hope. We are in a season of our life and the stress, the smelly and droplets of manure are what God is going to using to prepare us for when the rain is going to come down heavily upon us. And what is the rain in this context? That opportunity, that destiny helper and whatever good result you can fit into it.

Don’t give up, be like the Sons of Issachar that knows the time and seasons because they prepared for it. Let us also prepare for our own times and seasons so that when the Lord turn again our captivity into moments of glorious happy-ever-after, we would be like them that dream.

In God’s Love,

Okunola Peace.