It’s almost harvest time, here on the farm, the Farmer watching the sky, the weather, waiting every day for a dry stretch with no rain, so the wheat might dry down enough to gather in. And seeing our wheat harvest through the eyes of our Mountain Girl, American daughter-in-law? Has been a bit of epiphany for us all. So it’s a wild delight to welcome our oldest son Caleb and his lovely wife Melba, of The Keeping Company, to the farm’s wide front porch today!

Guest post by Caleb and Melba Voskamp of The Keeping Company

It was just a couple of weeks ago when I finally got it. 

I was all of 28 years old when I finally understood “amber waves of grain.” 

As a Colorado mountain girl, I am deeply familiar with “purple mountain’s majesty.” But it took a drive through the rich farmland of my transplant-home to understand the other imagery of the song. 

Just a few days prior, those fields had been lush, dark green in the summer heat. And just a few months prior, they had been tiny, pale green shoots that had somehow weathered the cold, unfriendly Canadian winter. Now, those same fields flowed from citrine to amber to butter-yellow, billowing and rolling like a sea of molten gold.  

But, the story actually begins almost a year ago – 300 days ago, in late September, summer soybeans were harvested and the ground prepped for planting wheat carefully saved from last year’s harvest. The wheat was planted where soybeans had grown because crop rotation minimizes disease and cultivates nutrients and better soil for the crop.

As soon as the soybeans are harvested, every hour matters to then turn around and plant the wheat crop in that same soil. The rule of thumb is every day the planting of the wheat is delayed means a potential 1% decrease in yield. 

So there, in the last week of September, as summer waned and the crispness of early morning fall air hinted at the coming chill of Canadian winter, the Farmer planted field upon field of wheat into soybean stubble. The sprouts shot up, and the hills were colored spring-green, and – honestly? – this mountain girl was confused by how such tiny, delicate sprouts could weather the harsh, gray, winter days and the biting, blinding snow of the Canadian winter.

But, this is what a farmer does.

A farmer carefully chooses seeds, carefully prepares soil, carefully rotates crops, carefully times planting, and carefully tends fields, carefully trusting that God will faithfully protect the tiny shoots and graciously provide a rich harvest many months – even seasons – away.

Reflecting on the Farmer’s journey, I was struck by a connection – God calls us all to be farmers, as demonstrated by the many parables He uses throughout the Bible, likening the Kingdom of Heaven to a field ripe for harvest. Each one of us is tasked with preparing for harvest, nurturing the seeds of faith and goodness in our own lives and the lives of those around us.

The world is often rocky soil, choked by thorns, not predisposed to yield a bountiful harvest. These images are not just a physical reality but a spiritual one. Ever since the fall of man, the words “By the sweat of your brow you will eat your bread” (Genesis 3:19) have become a constant reminder of the toil it takes to cultivate both a physical – and a spiritual –  harvest.

What if we embraced, wholeheartedly, the challenge to nurture faith in a world characterized by strife and discord?

Creating fertile ground for faith is no easy task. It requires thoughtful labor, dedicated patience, careful tending, and the trust that though hardship is assured, God’s goodness will prevail. Whether you are walking this season of life alone, raising a family, an empty nester nurturing hearts through your faith community, or in any other season of life, cultivating a rich environment for faith to grow is a constant and vital calling. 

What if we all cultivated faith-filled traditions that glorify God and invite us to commune with Him daily, traditions that act as fertilizer to enrich the soil of our hearts, homes, and communities, making them conducive to the growth of faith?

What if we embraced, wholeheartedly, the challenge to nurture faith in a world characterized by strife and discord? What if each of us, every individual, every family, and every community had the potential to blossom in faith when provided with the right nurturing environment?

Nurturing faith looks different for each of us; some of us are called to the mission field, some of us are missionaries in our own workplace. Some of us nurture families within our own humble homes, and some of us are called to nurture in Christ-focused ways throughout our communities. 

But all of us are called to nurture the seeds of faith, because every seed contains the promise of a beautiful harvest – a harvest not measured in bushels but in the richness of faith-filled lives and the joy that comes from glorifying God.

All of us are called to nurture the seeds of faith, because every seed contains the promise of a beautiful harvest – a harvest not measured in bushels but in the richness of faith-filled lives and the joy that comes from glorifying God.

What might it look like to cultivate a place where faith can flourish in your own lives – to plant, nurture, and celebrate each tendril of hope, turning the rocky soil into a fertile field, ripe for a bountiful spiritual harvest?

What might it mean to prepare – to prepare by cultivating space for faith to grow, to prepare by nurturing faith as it grows, and to prepare in anticipation of the harvest of glory that springs from a faithful life well-lived?

The imagery of preparing seasons in advance for a crop to grow and produce a yield is evident even in the lives of those who are not farmers. So often, all things of beauty, grace, and faith take time, and careful planning and attention. 

When Caleb prepares wooden wreaths for the Advent and Lenten season, he begins the process in the spring, sourcing wood to ensure enough cherry wood can be acquired during the summer months to support the process of creating the wreaths for the Christmas season.

The process takes weeks, even months…once the wood is sourced, it must be treated and prepared, then wreaths are carved, and then they must be sanded and stained before they can be packed. The process begins in the spring and carries on through the summer and early fall, months of planning and preparing to ensure an adequate supply, to prepare for a harvest ultimately shared in December for Advent, and again in the spring for Lent – a harvest that will last for all eternity as we keep company with Christ. 

In the end, we trust God will use our work to reap a harvest of faith and glory, for the good of His own kingdom – and for our own sanctification and growth.

In a similar manner, when I write – whether it is the accompanying Advent and Lenten devotionals, or another project – I know that I am investing in a project that could take months, or even years, to see the light of day. Like the Farmer, I know that in order for my work to provide a rich and bountiful harvest, I must invest a certain amount of time, preparation, and planning.

I learned as a young scholar – perhaps through the influence of C.S.Lewis, who spoke of his own writing in a similar way – that I write best when I can let my writing sit and marinate in my brain, subconsciously, for several months, and then come back to it to polish it. Often I will do weeks of research before even beginning the writing process, taking notes, learning, processing new information and simulating it in different ways, just as a farmer prepares for a crop sometimes even with the choices he makes with the previous plantings. 

Some of my bigger writing projects have been downright painful… But in the end, I trust God will use the writing I share with the world to reap a harvest of faith and glory, for the good of His own kingdom – and for my own sanctification and growth.

Just as a seedling needs daily care to flourish, or as a project needs time, planning, and attention, so too our individual faith needs to be prepared for, cared for, nurtured, and attended to regularly. 

How might it be possible to more deeply care for your faith? How are you setting aside time and space to nurture your own heart and relationship with Christ? How might you do the same to support those you love  – spouse, children, friends, coworkers, faith community – in their own faith?

The spaces we inhabit, the rhythms we work through, and the atmospheres we create in our homes and lives have a profound influence on our mindset and behaviors, and on the lives of those around us. 

Everything we do contributes to the ways we faithfully prepare a space for a relationship with God to grow. 

Just as the Canadian Farmer trusts in God’s provision for a bountiful harvest, we must trust that our work will, in some way, lead to a truly abundant harvest of faith. 

Just as the Farmer trusts that God will reward his hard work, attention to detail, planning, and faithful stewardship, so too must we trust that God will reward all of that in our own lives and walks with Him. 

The wheat harvest is about to begin just this week here on the Voskamp farm. 

And it’s true: all the careful planning, intentional preparation, and prayerful anticipation of  all the ways in which our lives can cultivate the grounds for faith to grow, together, lets harvest the richness of a life spent keeping company with Christ in each and every daily rhythm. 

---

Wanting to Prepare for a Great Harvest in Your Home this Year?