Same Job - Different Crop

For different reasons it was easy to role out of bed back then.  Knowing that I had a job to do was good motivation.  I would slip on my boots; sometimes a pair of gloves as well.  If I could see my breath in the morning air I knew I would need gloves.  Sometimes the walk was long, other times it would be short.  There was always a walk; it gave me time to fix my music on my cheap mp3 player that only held a handful of CD's.  The music would kick in.  Songs I had listened to since the summer began.  Consistency made things easier at the time.  I was headed in a new direction in my life after this summer.  Control over the little things was welcomed.  "Not a clue where I am headed but I'm smiling".  That tune always made me smile; it almost summed up what I was going through.

Fresh, damp air met me every morning.  Taking a deep breath and filling my lungs with that air is indescribable.  In a sense, a baptism, a rebirth, every morning as I started off my day.  Moving sprinkler pipes in a hay field is not a job where one can stay dry.  It didn't take long to get used to the cold water though.  On hot afternoons it was a welcome relief.
I took pride in what I was doing. I was good at it.  My lines were straight.  My grandfather had nothing to worry about when I was out in the field.  He did though.  Checking up on me and helping me whenever he could.  Sometimes I enjoyed the help.  Other times I just wanted to do things my way.
The weight of the pipes.  Their feel in my hands as I carried them in daily rotation.  Remembering ever once in a while to do a few "curls for the girls" as I walked along with a pipe.  I knew that field and each of those pipes.  I had the control and the crop grew.

I thought of all this as I was jogging today.  One of the songs from my past came on and my mind went right to that summer after my first year of college before I was to head off to a new college, in a new state, where I knew no one.  Somehow, all that hard work prepared me for what I am doing today.  I had such hope for the future and excitement.
The future is still exciting but not like it was back then.  I am in charge of a new crop today.  Again, I am not the harvester, just a co-worker in the field.  My job is more important now.  Like my grandfather watching over me back then, God is watching over me now as I tend his field.
God is an awesome boss to have!  (Though he is more demanding then my grandfather... we had a lot of snack breaks and long lunch breaks)

Peace all