As many of you know I grew up on a farm in Iowa. The number one priority on a farm is work. There were 3 boys in our family, and we were close to the same age, by 3 years. My Dad made us work. There was no choice.
At 5:30 am every morning, Dad would call one of us to get out of bed to help milk the cows. Even when we were in school, we had to do this. We boys always argued among ourselves about whose turn it was to help.
There were many other jobs we had to do on the farm like planting crops, getting the hay out of the field and into the barn, and cleaning out the manure from the barn, etc. We had to do these things after we came home from school, on Saturday, and in the summer. At the same time, we loved sports and we thought we were pretty good athletes. But my dad would never let us take part in school sports because he thought it would interfere with farm work in the evening and on Saturday.
So as a result, we set up our own sports on the farm. We made a lighted football field in front of the house, made a baseball field in the pasture, set up a basketball hoop on the garage, put a ping pong table on the porch, and many other things. Then when the farm work was done, we played sports. It was always 2 on 1 and since I was the oldest, I was usually the 1.
One sport my dad let me take part in was “track”. My school just started the sport and we competed during school hours, so it did not interfere with farm work. We did not have a track at our school, so we did not have a place to practice.
I decided to design a 440-yard oval track which I did. I got some twine and some stakes to mark it out. As I was leaving the house with my equipment, my dad said, “Where are you going?”. I told him I was going to the park near the HS to set up a trac.
He said, “No, you are not” and he held me in the hallway so I couldn’t leave. I was so mad I punched him in the stomach which wasn’t hard to miss. Then I ran away to hide. I hid beneath the stairs in the basement. After about an hour I could hear my folks upstairs getting worried. My Mom was really upset wondering where I was. My folks called my grandpa down to tell him what had happened to help search to find me.
After another hour I was feeling very bad and guilty about all the grief and worry I was causing my folks, especially my mom. I came out of hiding and went to my dad and told him I was sorry for punching him in the stomach. He said, “I am sorry too for not letting you go”. It was a time of mutual forgiveness. I never felt closer to my dad, and we hugged one another.
And he let me go lay out the track!!
Usually when we get angry with people, we have a relationship with, both sides have contributed to the problem and so we need to forgive one another.
“Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you”. Ephesians 4:31-32.
Author: John Spence