I’ve been wanting to write this post for a time now. However, every time I try to write it, let’s just say it lacked the loving tone. But I think I’ve now finally reached a point where I can write this, if at the very least, to show my husband that I’m on his side.
For anyone that doesn’t know, my husband (the Big Man) is what most would call today’s conventional farmer. He grows wheat, soybeans, sunflowers, and sugar beets. Yup, GMO, Round-Up Ready sugar beets. Together with his dad and grandpa, he farms 2,500-some acres (I forget the actual number).
Since most of my friends here on steemit are in the homesteading community, I’m guessing you have already done a big gasp from reading this. And I get it. When I first starting watching homesteading videos and getting really into it, I looked at what my husband was doing with disgust. This was bad, bad, bad on my part.
I noticed in the homesteading community that anything unnatural or anything involving chemicals is a big no-no. “Stay away from all that, that is the enemy,” seems to be the montra of the homestead world. And I picked up on this. We’ll just say my husband was very aware of this.
What I learned the hard way, was that there is a very fine line between relaying information and coming off as pushing my convictions onto another. You will not be able to change the “guilty party’s” mind by seeping bitterness in the form of finger-pointing and complaining. Now oftentimes, when I see others talk/complain about “the bad guy”, all I see is bitterness. However, I wonder how many have actually gotten to know “the bad guy?”
Yes, there are greedy farmers out there that are only in to make as much money as they can and don’t care what they are doing. But not all. Most farmers don’t see themselves as a bad guy. They don’t see themselves as poisoners. My husband sees himself as someone who provides food and is making a living to provide for his family. He takes care of his land the best he knows how because if he didn’t, it would cost him money. And most of all, he enjoys what he does.
My biblical takeaway
I think the biggest lesson I learned from all of this is that our Father is bigger than all of this, and it has a purpose. He takes care of His children, and He is bigger than GMO’s and chemicals and all the bad stuff. Truly, I don’t think it’s possible to get away from it all anyways. We live in a fallen, imperfect world, and everything is tainted, so to speak.
Now, if you are convicted to eat a certain way and live a certain way, then by all means, follow those convictions! But we also need to be understanding that other’s convictions are not the same as ours. And we also don’t know how the Father is working in their hearts or neccessarily what greater purposes these things serve. Nothing in this world happens without the Father allowing it to happen.
So the right response in my opinion? To be thankful to the Father that He has revealed to me what He has revealed to me. Thankful He has pricked my heart in such a way that brings me closer to Him, and to let go of any harboring bitterness.
So I don’t think the conventional farmer is the enemy, not even Monsanto, or the Grovernment meddling etc. No, we only have one enemy here in this life. Ephesians 6:12 comes to mind.
Thank you for reading.
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