Thinking about you today. Right now, life seems pretty messed up. Do you feel like throwing in the towel?

Just quitting? Perhaps it seems that all your efforts are worthless? Jobs are lost. School may be open-virtually-but it’s not the same. We are ordered to stay at home. Nothing is normal, right? Why try? Do you feel like that? If you are feeling like this, it is understandable.

Would you be willing to take some advice from an old guy? There is no cost, no test at the end. Just some advice. My two fathers taught me this life lesson. You read that right, my TWO fathers. The first is my earthly father. He taught me this truth about life-even when life seems all messed up. My earthly father learned this lesson from my Heavenly Father, the Creator of all things.

I grew up on a farm, because my earthly father was a farmer. He taught me how to work. I messed up a lot. There were many, many times that I did not care how my work looked-or if I even did the chores, he assigned to me. He was patient. He kept me accountable, “David, have you fed the calves yet?” This would come after I had spent the last half hour playing with the cats. My father had to supervise my work many times. But he taught me how to work.

Looking back over the years, the most significant way my father taught me was by his example. He lived the words written in Colossians 3:23 “In all the work you are doing, work the best you can. Work as if you were working for the Lord, not for men.” Chores needed to be done a certain way. The silage for the cows cut a forkful at a time from the frozen pile outside was done in a row by row method. Little was wasted. The barn was kept immaculately clean, and it was filled with cows! My father operated a Grade A dairy, and the milk produced from his cows was always first quality. He inspected my work cleaning the bulk tank where the milk was stored before transport. The tank had to be spotless. The barn was regularly whitewashed, lime daily applied to the floors, and every day my father cleaned the gutters. I helped sometimes. He did have a barn cleaner which made the task easier. It pulled the manure out of the gutters up a chute to fill the waiting manure spreader.

My Dad never made a manure pile, in winter, to be hauled out in the spring. He hauled the manure-every day…ALL winter long. (I had to stop a moment my eyes were watering.) He did not have a modern tractor with a cab. He had a “Heat-Houser.” That was a canvas housing which fit over the outside of the tractor and trapped the heat of the engine making the tractor seat only slightly warmer than the air temperature. It helped…some. Even so, the tractor driver’s head was above the top of the device. Some days my dad had to haul the manure in a winter storm. Other days the wind chill was minus 20 degrees…or colder.  Still, dad hauled the manure-everyday. He had a small dairy herd, only 21-22 cows. But they filled they manure spreader every day. Every day the spreader went into the field. Often, he had to move snow which drifted his field road shut. Once in the field, he spread the manure evenly, even if he had to drive further in the cold. It was fertilizer for the the next year’s crop.

I could tell you about dad lifting the milk filled and heavy cow milking machine off the strap which held it in place under the cow while she was milked. I could describe how he wrestled the same milk filled machine to a waiting carry-can, and then poured the milk in. Dad’s cows gave a lot of milk. He took pride in their production. I could tell you about the care he took in raising young cows to be high producers. There are daily details from my entire childhood which could be shared. But it is time to tell you the character trait about my father which remains with me until this day.

My Dad had polio after I was born. (Had to stop again, water in my eyes.) Polio is a highly contagious disease caused by the polio-virus. It attacks the nervous system and the brain stem. It weakens muscles. Dad spent many days in the hospital and rehab. When he came home, he slowly resumed his life work-Dairy Farmer. Imagine, milking cows for more than two decades with your muscles weakened by polio. Even normal farmer’s jobs were difficult for him. He lowered the steps to get onto his tractor. He used both arms to trip the loader bucket. He did not have a hydraulic loader bucket. And it did not seem unusual to me, that was the way my dad did it.  

Dad never complained. He never said, “this is too hard.” He found a way. Most people never knew he was disabled. Most of the time, I forgot. Dad lived life, and enjoyed it. Up at 5 AM to do morning milking, he got tired more than most. After lunch, he would lie down for a nap. Milking cows, morning and evening 7 days a week, every day of the month, dad did his best in all his work. Mostly, without saying a word, he taught me…in all your work, do your best…as if you work for the Lord not men.

Dad is a good example for us in this time of world-wide virus. He may have felt like throwing in the towel. Certainly, he had more reason than most of us. He never did. It would be honest to say a virus messed up his life. But he went on, the life of my earthly father blessed me. He taught a truth from my Heavenly Father: Do your best.

No complaints, in all your work, do your best. It is God we work for. He is still Creator.