Saturday was the 73rd annual Lydnen, WA plowing match. It has been three years since we attended. We brought our horses, Tucker and Joc, out to plow. Joc is the older experienced horse and Tucker is the young newbie. We learned a good lesson on Saturday….. We had been driving the horses all week long on the sled and cart at home and they were doing pretty good. Unfortunately all of our fields were already worked up for planting; needless to say Tucker did not get any actual plow practice. P..o..o..r… l..a..z..y Tucker had no clue how to pull the plow and pretty much let Old Man Joc do all the work. (he got lots of extra carrots and kisses for all of his hard work).
Court was so determined to get the job done; however, he could have easily packed up the plow and the horses and said forget it; and even though this would have been the easy road, he chose to stick it out to the bitter end. By doing this Courtney reminded me of a verse from Luke when Jesus says, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the service in the kingdom of God.” Luke 9:62. Courtney encouraged his team to take one step at a time walking forward and he did not give up and look back. As follower of Jesus we must push forward in our walk with the lord. In this verse it seems that Jesus is expecting and calling for a commitment that goes beyond our fleshy comforts and normal human security. Anyone who has plowed knows that it is hard work and I’m pretty sure if you asked Courtney how he was feeling yesterday he would have told you “sore and tired.” Following Jesus is not easy especially in today’s society but he asks us to step out of our comfort zones and push ourselves, sometimes till it hurts.
Even though the day was hard (mostly for Court and Joc :0) It was rewarding and brought alive the history of our ancestors. Courtney’s Grandpa Fred was inducted into the plowing hall of fame. This was for all of his years and experience as a plow man. He truly is a legend to the draft horse community. I’m pretty sure we will hear stories about Grandpa Fred’s plowing for many more years. A great day had by all.
Dirty and Tired but finished!
