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President Trump caught my attention yesterday when I saw him giving tribute to the American Farmer.
He told the folks in Iowa that farmers were essential to the founding of this nation---and essential to feeding the nation today.
I know, I know---he's running for office and he was in Iowa, but he's right.
The great Paul Harvey would agree---he also knew the value of farmers.
I know it too.
If the term "farmers" includes ranchers and orchardists in general, and I believe it does, they instilled in me the beliefs and convictions I hold most deeply to this day.
Personal Note: I'm taking a week off. We will return to this Faith and Freedom Daily column on Monday, June 24. We will re-run programs on our daily program next week. I will also be returning live on the radio Monday, June 24.
The President noted that farmers were essential to the founding of the United States and provided the toughness necessary for the country to sustain itself.
He said,
"We know that our nation was founded by farmers. Our independence was won by farmers. Our continent was settled by farmers, our armies have been fed by farmers and made of farmers. Throughout our history, farmers have always led the way."
The President recalled visiting France earlier this month where he, along with others, commemorated the 75th Anniversary of the D-Day landing in WW II.
He said,
"In that great crusade, thousands of American farm boys sailed halfway around the world and gave their youth, gave their tears, their blood, and gave their lives, in many cases, for our country and for our freedom."
The President told the farmers present,
"America's farmers are not just the keepers of a cherished legacy. You are the guardians of a way of life---a great beautiful way of life. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you."
On this Father's Day weekend, I've been thinking about my dad.
He went to be with the Lord in 2001. Born in Idaho, raised along with his 7 siblings in Spokane, WA,---moving to the Yakima Valley as a young adult during the "Great Depression," he found work in the orchards, and would later even own a couple of modest orchards himself.
Born in Yakima, I spent my life, as a kid, in the Yakima Valley, and in Yakima, was shaped by the influence of "farmers"--ranchers, orchardists-row crop farmers.
They all practiced some of the things the far Left claims to be striving for:
Conservation.
They protected the nests of pheasants and quail in the orchards and fields so they could hunt them in the fall. They had their own species protection program. They never shot a hen pheasant or killed more than the limit of 2 roosters per day. Same with quail.
Only the people from "Seattle" did that. And "Seattle" meant anything west of the Cascades.
They treated animals with respect. Even the ones that would eventually end up in the freezer.
They conserved water. Used it wisely---and efficiently.
And even had a form of redistributing the wealth. When a family was in need, people always stepped up to help with nothing expected in return.
Diversity.
We didn't use the term, but we practiced it---I guess. Growing up in an agricultural environment with Blacks, Mexicans, Filipinos, Indians (Native Americans), Japanese and other ethnic groups, we didn't discriminate. Why would we? We didn't notice skin color.
For the most part, had someone asked the ethnic demographics of my school or our church--- I would have had no idea.
And the church was the center of it all. My dad taught Sunday School, served as a deacon and was treasurer of the church. And our family never headed out for church on Sunday without the car filled with kids from families who didn't go to church, but wanted their children to go.
My dad mirrored all of the above.
Idyllic? Maybe. I was blessed. I am grateful for the "farmers" in my life.
Paul Harvey, the greatest radio commentator of all time, in my opinion, also knew the value of the farmer:
In fact, his speech titled, "So God Made A Farmer" is a classic.
Here is the video of his speech:
The following is the text of his speech.
And on the 8th day God looked down on his planned paradise and said, “I need a caretaker!”. So, God made a farmer!
God said I need somebody to get up before dawn and milk cows and work all day in the fields, milk cows again, eat supper and then go to town and stay past midnight at a meeting of the school board. So, God made a farmer!
I need somebody with strong arms. Strong enough to rustle a calf, yet gentle enough to deliver his own grandchild. Somebody to call hogs, tame cantankerous machinery, come home hungry and have to wait for lunch until his wife is done feeding and visiting with the ladies and telling them to be sure to come back real soon…and mean it. So, God made a farmer!
God said “I need somebody that can shape an ax handle, shoe a horse with a hunk of car tire make a harness out of hay wire, feed sacks and shoe scraps. And…who, at planting time and harvest season, will finish his forty hour week by Tuesday noon. Then, pain’n from “tractor back”, put in another seventy-two hours. So, God made a farmer!
God had to have somebody willing to ride the ruts at double speed to get the hay in ahead of the rain clouds and yet stop on mid-field and race to help when he sees the first smoke from a neighbor’s place. So, God made a farmer!
God said, “I need somebody strong enough to clear trees, heave bails and yet gentle enough to tame lambs and wean pigs and tend the pink combed pullets…and who will stop his mower for an hour to mend the broken leg of a meadowlark. So, God made a farmer!
It had to be somebody who’d plow deep and straight…and not cut corners. Somebody to seed and weed, feed and breed…and rake and disc and plow and plant and tie the fleece and strain the milk. Somebody to replenish the self feeder and then finish a hard days work with a five-mile drive to church. Somebody who’d bale a family together with the soft strong bonds of sharing, who’d laugh and then sigh…and then respond with smiling eyes, when his son says he wants to spend his life “doing what dad does”. So, God made a farmer!
Happy Father's Day to all dads, wherever they work, whatever they do.
See you in a week.
Be Informed. Be Grateful. Be Prayerful. Be Vigilant. Be Blessed.