Christmas time once again. Being a dry land, winter cropping business, Christmas for us coincides with the end of one farming cycle and the beginning of the next. Everything changes over the summer months. The sky has a different look about it. We can become nocturnal in our work days in the heat, starting way before dawn and finishing our day by mid morning. Summer is a different pattern and pace.
But also for me as a farmer, Christmas can be funny time – a time of widely varying emotions which colour the holiday time.
If you have had a good farming year, its a time of satisfaction in the reflection of a job well done. You are grateful for the blessings of kind seasons and, for another year at least, paying bills and making plans are much easier. You can afford to buy Crown Lager for christmas drinks. Perhaps even a holiday somewhere in the mix. It can be a great feeling of satisfaction.
However, if its been a tough year, Christmas can be bittersweet. On a farm – lack of rain, frosts, missed opportunities, hardwork gone unrewarded, the unknown of how you will cope with too many bills and not enough money for the next year – it can change the colour of Christmas to quiet grey despair. And thats just farming part of who we are.
So my prayers are with all those for whom the year was not what they hoped for. For those for whom finances are causing anxiety. Or for those for whom the loss or sickness of a loved one overshadows all else. Or for those who are just plain worn out from struggling too long and too hard.
And when I think of the birth of Jesus and the life that was to follow – Joy and sadness would mark his life’s journey as well. I guess its a part of being human. So for me in the end – Christmas is many things. But at its foundation is hope and peace in Gods plan, in the midst of the disappointments in life.
As I said, Christmas can be a funny time….
For us however, this has been a good year. Most importantly, the family is well. Its great to see each of our children as young adults, each growing in their own spaces. Jenny and I are very grateful for our family.
On the farm – maintenance jobs, soil improvement projects and keeping our paddocks clean will occupy the next few months. Fertiliser has been ordered for next year, lime and gypsum soil spreading programs for the farm have been organised for January. Deep ripping jobs to be done where needed. We will also have to find buyers for our feed barley – which is a good problem to have. And then there is spraying…. always spraying.
Anyway, thats about it for christmas on our farm. So all the best to you and your families for the holiday season.
God Bless
Neil Kingham