Wheat Harvest 2011

In Enid the wheat harvest is wrapping up for 2011. Though yields were a little higher than expected they were still well below normal. The good news is that the price of wheat is at record levels so it still should be a decent year.

Harvest was especially fun this year. Zachary is now getting old enough to experience it first hand. He enjoyed his first combine ride and got to watch the tractor and wheat trucks that our custom harvesters brought. He also walked around in the unharvested wheat. He seemed to have a ball. Zachary represents the 6th generation of Miller to participate in a harvest on our farm land near Enid. 

It took just over a week for the harvesters to complete the job. We were only able to go over for one day but as always harvest was memorable. The wheat harvest of 2011 is over but the process of preparing for the next harvest begins.

Zachary's first baseball game.

With a new child there are many "firsts". The first step and the first word are but a couple of examples. As a parent it is a joy to get to share these "firsts" with your child. This past weekend I got to enjoy a "first" that I have waited a long time to experience. We took Zachary to his first baseball game. Jessica and I took him to Stillwater to see an OSU play. His Grandma, Granddad and uncle joined us for the game as well.

During the game, Zachary watched the crowd, ran up and down the benches, played with his toys and generally did everything but watch the game. He danced whenever music was played over the loud speakers, entertained the crowd and cheered whenever he heard someone else cheering, including fans of the other team. He rarely sat still but the experience was thoroughly enjoyed by all of us.

Over the years I intend to take Zachary to many baseball games and other sporting events but there will only be one "first" I didn't get to watch all of the game as I was busy helping entertain him but I don't care. I had an incredible time. He won't likely remember the game but I soon won't forget it.

Not every harvest is bountiful.

I have been visiting with dad about the upcoming wheat harvest. It is but a few weeks away and it doesn't look very good. The lingering drought in parts of Oklahoma has taken its toll. The area around Enid has received little moisture for the past six months. All of the wheat crop has suffered, some of it has been virtually destroyed. Dad expects yields to be well below normal. If there isn't decent rain in the next couple of weeks the entire crop could be lost.

As bad as it is near Enid, the conditions further south are much worse. In Southern Oklahoma and much of Texas they have received virtually no rain in the last eight or nine months. In these parts the wheat crop has already been ruled a total loss.

Nothing will teach patience and endurance like farming. Drought, hail, wind and calamity can happen at any time. You can do everything right and the crop still may not come in. It is a reality that every farmer faces.

No matter how bad the harvest is this year it won't be the end of the farm. It will be difficult, but the farm will continue. This isn't the first storm that the Millers have had to weather. This in no way detours my desire to return to the farm. If anything it hardens my resolve to return and continue the family legacy...feast or famine.

Mother's Day

For first time parents the term "expecting" doesn't make much sense as you really don't know what to expect. On Mother's Day two years ago we didn't know what to expect. Jessica was pregnant but we had not yet met our son Zachary. We didn't know what he would look like or what his personality would be. What color would his hair or his eyes be?  As he got older would he be shy, precocious, independent, head-strong or something else entirely?

Also we didn't know what kind of parents that we would be. Would we be patient, demanding, compassionate, difficult or all of the above? Would we instantly love this little life or would it take time to fall in love with him? How would it affect our lives? Would it be stressful, fulfilling, and/or rewarding? A myriad of thoughts filled our heads as we approached the due date.

I remember's my mother's prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life.

Abraham Lincoln 

Mother's Day two years later, Zachary is now over a year and half old. Many of those questions have been answered. He has blond hair and blue eyes. He is head-strong but very loving. He is independent, very curious, and full of life. We are discovering his budding personality. Each day is a new experience.

As for our parenting, well I just do my best but Jessica has more than risen to the challenge. Nights with little sleep are the norm. There is a never ending supply of dirty diapers to change. Food flying across the kitchen floor at dinner time tries anyones patience but she takes it all in stride. Zachary has taken an early start on the "terrible twos" but she continues to love and adore him. She rocks him to sleep each night and encourages him to eat when he refuses. As Mother's Day approaches again Jessica may not be a "perfect" mother but she gives it her all. As far as I am concerned she is close enough to perfect for me and I think Zachary agrees!

Spiritual Harvest

2009 Dominican Republic Mission Trip 

When I chose the name "Bringing in the Harvest" for my blog I was not only talking about my impending return to the farm but of a spiritual harvest, one of an eternal nature. God has given me a passion for missions and reaching the lost for Christ. He has blessed me with two opportunities to participate in missions trips and they were very unique and challenging trips.

In 2009, I along with four men from my church traveled to the Dominican Republic. While there we helped to construct and paint an addition to the Neuva Luz (New Light) Church of the Nazarene. This church is a partner with Concern International and they provide food, education, and spiritual training for local children. The assistance that we provided helped them more than double their capacity. It was an incredible experience and I pray that the children that they help will be fed physically and spiritually, yielding a great harvest.

I also had a second chance to serve in missions. During the summer of 2010 a group of seven adults and six youth from our church made the long drive to Arizona where we served on the Navajo and Hopi Reservations. We did a project with Encounter Missions International an organization that assists the Navajo and Hopi peoples. We completed several projects on and around the facility that serves at the mission base and the attached church and we spent one day in a Hopi village working on a woman's home. On the way home we took a detour to the Grand Canyon and enjoyed the wonderful scenery that God created. It to was a wonderful trip and I know that the youth that went along grew tremendously.

Paul is quoted in the Bible saying, "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do no give up" (Galatians 6:9).  I have thoroughly enjoyed my trips and it is my hope and prayer that God will open more doors for me to participate in missions and ultimately in "bringing in a spiritual harvest."

2010 Youth Mission Trip to the Navajo Reservation in Arizona

Returning to the farm

Every year when I was a kid before the wheat harvest my dad would start to get antsy. He would wonder if the custom harvesters that we hire to cut our wheat would arrive on time or if a massive hail storm was going to destroy the crop. There was always an uncertainty about the quality of the wheat and how the harvest would go that would keep him set on edge. He would remain "amped up" until after the harvest was brought in.

I also remember riding in the combine. The combine had a large window in front. The combine driver had placed a small chair on the floor in front of it. I would set there for hours with wonder in my eyes watching all of the action as the combines harvested the wheat. From my vantage point I could see not only everything that was going on in the combine I was in but the other combines, tractors and trucks that were busily working as well. It was a magical experience.

One might wonder why I want to return to the farm and spend the rest of my life farming. The hours are long, the work is hard and the pay isn't that good. The answer is simple. I want to continue the legacy that my father, his father and many generations before that created. I want to feel those bugs in my stomach when the harvest approaches and want to look up in the cab of a combine and see that same starry eyed look in Zachary that I once had. I want to feel the pure joy of "bringing in the harvest."