Trusting my Daddy Deere-est

Last Saturday I left the boys with Greg for an hour or so and headed out with my mom to their land in the country, adjacent to my grandparents.

We went to visit my grandparents and check my dad's progress on some dirt-work he's been doing.

After visiting for a little while, we decided it was time to head on down to where my dad's been working. He was at the house working on the tractor and said he'd meet us down there, so "we" ("we" being mostly me) decided to take a four-wheeler.

It is important to tell you at this point that I haven't ridden a four-wheeler in...oh...lemme see...forever. Much less driven one. But something so trivial shouldn't stop a person, right?

So Mom and I headed out, she very bravely hanging on behind me as I began to putter across the pasture, experimenting with the gears as I went.

I think I managed to bump over pretty much all the biggest hills and dips. Just to keep things interesting.

By the way the cows stared at us as we went past I'm certain it was obvious to them we had little idea what we were doing. I would have taken a picture, if I hadn't been so busy hanging on and avoiding livestock.

I felt just like Pioneer Woman I tell ya.

It only took us twice as long as someone who knew what they were doing would have taken to get there. I thought that was pretty good.

About the time we parked and kissed the ground began to look around, my grandad showed up on the other four wheeler. I felt pretty sure he was worried about his transmission, especially if he had watched the first leg of my driving. But he said he was just making sure we didn't run out of gas, since after we'd left he had started to wonder just exactly when was the last time he'd filled up.

I thought that was awfully nice of him.

It was about this time my dad showed up on the tractor. We watched him go round and round and back and forth, getting deeper and deeper into a place he's emptying out for a small pond.

This is him working on another pond (known as a 'pool' around these parts) last year. This picture was taken early on, and as the days went by, the incline of the sides got steeper and steeper, so that the tractor leaned more to the side as he made his passes through.

Daddy was well into the steep part of pool #2 as we watched him Saturday.

Which was something I had noticed but not thought much about, until he swung by (can you really 'swing by' on something as mammoth-ish as a tractor?) and invited mom and me up.

We were apparently feeling awfully adventurous Saturday, because we hopped right up didn't hesitate before carefully climbing up the hot, greasy beast.

We perched ourselves on top of the fenders of the huge back tires, one on each side.

And off we went into the now very large, very steep-sided hole.

One particular pass seemed incredibly steep. As I hung on for all I was worth, and looked at what seemed to be way UP towards my mom on her side I suddenly realized I had two choices:
Panic, or trust my Daddy.

While panicking seemed to be a reasonable and possibly satisfying option, I just as quickly realized it wasn't necessary.

Because option number two meant relying on the one who has safely carried me through all sorts of hills and valleys. He's been there for the bumpy rides of skinned knees, bad school days, bad hair days (living with 3 women makes you very understanding of things like this), scary weather and scary dreams.. He loves me more than life itself and would never put me in harm's way.

My daddy knew exactly what he was doing on that tractor, and had full control over it. All I had to was sit in the place he had for me, hang on, and trust him.

What a beautiful picture of our Heavenly Father. He too loves us more than life itself, and proved it by dying for us on Calvary. Once we have accepted that gift and trusted our present life and our eternity to Him, we are safely His forever. He has an abundant life laid out for us, blessings and adventures, ours for the taking, if we will just trust Him.

And He is trustworthy. What are the bumps he has safely carried you through? I know I can count many. He knows exactly what He is doing with our life, and has full control over it. All we have to do is serve him in the place he has for us, and trust Him. It's our choice. And I can tell you, the ride is a lot more enjoyable when we choose to trust rather than panic.

By the way, the return trip on the four-wheeler was much smoother than the ride out. My driving and shifting was much better, but what really made a difference was following our guide home. Following my grandad, the owner of the pasture, and who is familiar with every bump and trail and knew where he was going was completely different than blazing our own trail had been. But that's a whole other post.... ;)