Pastor Mike Nodland of the Christian Fellowship Church in Vining, IA.

Someone once said, “Farming is an addiction!” I believe they’re right. There’s nothing like watching something you planted sprout or feeding an animal and watching it grow!

Growing up on a farm early in life, I had chores to do every day. As soon as I got off the school bus, I had to shell corn with numb fingers from the freezing cold of winter! I mixed the dry feed for the calves in ice-cold water by sticking my arm up nearly to the shoulder in the bucket and stirring the mix around until all the lumps were out. Then, I’d try to hang onto the bucket as the calves battled to eat their portion, a real challenge for an 8-year-old kid! Most of the time, lots of their mix got slopped onto the ground, or the bucket kicked over.

But the real oddity is that we had names for them all. One was “Bossy,” another “The Jersey,” and a few other unmentionable names characterizing their general, base-level intelligence or stubbornness. If any of these animals got too unmanageable, we ate ’em!

Sin is stubborn and unmanageable, too. But God’s got the best plan: Jesus died for you, paying the penalty for your sins. Trust Him today!

Mike Nodland, pastor

Christian Fellowship Church, Vining, IA