30 Days of Thankfulness, What is Amazing Grace, Day #27

I stand in that country church.
The strains of the hymn surround me.
“Amazing Grace, How Sweet the Sound”

The song sung at our sons funeral. 

I can’t sing.
I close my eyes and let the music hold my soul.
I lean into the ache.
I lean into the strength that is beyond me.

Amazing Grace.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We woke in the early hours to find a mess at the barn.
Ok, there was already a mess with barns torn down.
This was an unexpected, never happened before mess.

 

 

Grain.
Everywhere.
The auger must have stuck open and dumped 10 tons of grain on the ground.
This was not a good thing.
It spilled outside onto the ground.
We began filling 5 gallon buckets and dumping it in to barrels and then into the truck.
My farmer started milking on one side.
The other, is full of grain.

I worked for about an hour and couldn’t do any more.
I woke that youngest farm girl and beautiful college girl.

They worked so hard,

Everyone was in great spirits.
One bucket at a time.

We were grateful for snow.
Rain would have ruined the entire load.
Amazing Grace. 

We were grateful for tarps our farm boy had just bought.
They were large enough to cover the entire truck load.
Amazing Grace.

There is still grain on one side of the milking parlor, so milking is just happening on one side.
There is still no barn for the cows to get shelter.

Despite this my farmer gave me a gift last night.
He came in at 5 pm.
I immediately thought something was wrong.
(I am defaulting to that)

He had just left chores with our new worker and Joseph.
He was done.
Amazing Grace. 

He came in and looked at pictures;
read a story with the youngest farm girl.
They sat in the parlor in front of the Christmas Tree.

It’s been months since he has had time like that.
It was a gift.
Amazing Grace.

~~~~~

I continue to listen to the words of that Hymn.
The whole situation could have been so much worse.
It wasn’t.

Through many dangers, toils and snares,
I have already come;
’Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.

I continue to stand with my eyes closed as the faithful saints around me sing.
I will never tire of listening to the harmony in voices raised to Praise our Living God.

When we’ve been there ten thousand years,
Bright shining as the sun,
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
Than when we’d first begun.

We have been given a gift of Amazing Grace , in the midst of the ache, the things going wrong and everything else.
It is by Grace that we have been saved.
It is by Grace that we walk each day.

This Grace is free and given for all.
What a Gift.
God is working His plan.

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
The sun forbear to shine;
But God, who called me here below,
Will be forever mine.

No matter how difficult there is always Grace.
There is always a plan.

We are digging in and living  to watch with hope as that plan unfolds. 

The Lord has promised good to me,
His Word my hope secures;
He will my Shield and Portion be,
As long as life endures.