One thing you can count on around late summer and fall is seeing bales of hay scattered across the countryside. Some stacked neatly in barns, others rolled up in those giant round bales sitting out in the fields.
When I was a kid, our church had an annual hayride. All the kids would pile onto a trailer filled with hay, and somebody with a tractor would pull us around the fields. Someone would bring a guitar, and we’d sing songs until we eventually ended up around a bonfire roasting hot dogs and making s’mores.
Those are some of my favorite childhood memories. Simple stuff. And I don’t remember anybody needing a cell phone to enjoy themselves.
This week, I passed a field full of hay, and it got me thinking about something I’d never really considered.
That hay had been growing all summer. Through the heat, the rain, and those long days when nobody paid much attention to it. Eventually, somebody cut it, rolled it up, and hauled it off to be stored.
And for a while, it would just sit there.
That’s the interesting part to me. The farmer was spending time and money putting away something he didn’t even need yet. The cattle had plenty to eat. The fields were green. There was no shortage of anything.
But he knew better than to assume it would stay that way.
I think we sometimes get a little too comfortable when life is going well. We let certain things slide. Our relationships, our faith, even the habits that helped us get where we are. We figure we’ll get serious about those things when we need to.
I’ve done it.
And I’ve lived long enough to know that when a difficult season arrives, you don’t always have the luxury of getting ready for it.
Proverbs 6:8 speaks of the ant, which “Provides her supplies in the summer, And gathers her food in the harvest.” (NKJV)
I wonder how much of what we call preparation is really just the ordinary stuff we choose to do every day. The conversations we make time for. The prayers nobody hears. The things we learn when we aren’t being forced to learn them.
Funny how a field full of hay can make you think about all that.
Especially when, as a kid, I thought its greatest purpose was keeping me from falling off the back of a tractor.
First Light
www.firstlightblog.org
A daily reflection on faith, leadership, and life. One honest thought each morning to help start grounded, focused, and full of grace before the world even wakes up.
By Nathan Clark
#FirstLight #TheHayRide #FaithAndLife #Preparation #DailyReflection