We have ushered in autumn with a couple of rainy days here at beautiful Sunnyside & we are more than thankful for each drop of rain this year. It's been a particularly hard summer for everyone on the land in this part of Australia, but as with every difficulty, we are so very blessed as well & need to choose to remember those blessings.
I first heard the term 'terrible good' in an Amish novel & I thought it just meant 'terribly good' which is in fact a conflict of words, but I assumed meant really, really good. It wasn't until I read a blog post by a German Baptist lady HERE that I realised that I had misunderstood this term. According to Rosanna "terrible good" means:
"For every unexpected disappointment we had an unexpected blessing".
And that describes perfectly our summer this year. Although there was a run of seemingly terrible things that happened, good things came about because of these occurrences. For every disappointment there was blessings.
This summer was the driest on record & we really struggled with the lack of water everywhere on the farm. It was also very, very hot with day after day of over 45 degrees C ( 113 F). Not good conditions for any kind of plants to grow.
It was terrible to not have any rain..... but it was good the summer weeds didn't grow at all .
It was terrible having such little feed on the ground for the stock......but it was good to be able to use the grain & hay in storage before it got too old to be of any use as feed.
It was terrible to have dams empty......but it was good that Dave & our Brother-in-law were able to build a pipeline from one of the full dams down to one of the lower paddocks & put in a trough thus rendering more of our farm useful no matter what kind of year.
It was terrible having to cart buckets of grain to the animals.....but it was good for my body, building up my strength & endurance naturally without having to find time to exercise!!!
It was terrible being so sick early in the summer .....but it was good because it sure makes me appreciate being healthy now.
It was terrible that the summer garden was (as I describe it) 'a comedy of errors'......but it was good to be able to find local ( & sometimes free) produce available.
It was terrible that our pigs disappeared....but it was good to meet some new neighbours who can give us sound advice on these pesky animals (who we were out chasing again this morning ~ if only little boys would learn how to shut gates properly!!)!.
It was terrible having our rainwater tanks run out of water......but it was good that a friend was able to bring us loads of town water in his water tanker. It certainly makes us appreciate how wonderful our church family is to us!
It was terrible to have the grass turn brown & die off .... but it meant the mower wasn't required for most of the time ( except in the patch where the washing machine water runs out :) which the chief mowerer ( is that a word??) thought was good!
Although this summer was the hardest & harshest we've had here, we are still so blessed to live in this place. I visited the city a few weeks ago & was reminded how much I love having space around me & the smell of the fresh, unpolluted air we have out here. I love having this opportunity to live on a farm & learn about the many aspects of country life. Sure hard times come & sometimes it isn't nice living away from family & friends. Sometimes crops don't grow, animals die & the rain doesn't come, but in all things we need to know that God is using these trials to produce in us a harvest of righteousness & peace ( Hebrews 12:11).
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| All photos from our rainy days :) |
I'm not sure what I learnt out of this past summer. I'm not sure how it has moulded me, but if I have come out a little closer to the Lord than it is worth the hard time was. I am slowly (ever so slowly) learning that God has a plan & although it is different from my own ( I'm an eldest child ~ it's hard for me to let go of my plans) it is so very much better.
And we know in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.
Romans 8:28 NIV
The summer of 2012/13 our 'terrible good summer', but not necessarily so terrible after all ~ in fact when you really look at it there's really a whole lot of good!
May we all look to our blessings today!
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