The Cracked Acorn: The Cotton Hoe

It can happen again. Before you can turn around, the year is half gone. We’ve braved the snows of a different winter and survived the abundance of God-blessed rains. When you think there’s nothing new, along comes windy, gusty days that test the roof shingles and shake the trees. I finally gave up the thought of roto-tilling a muddy garden and went to my Claude Davis cotton hoe to set out the tomato plants. Brother Claude was in his nineties when I last saw him at the family garage sale – they were moving farther south. He could still be called on at a minute’s notice to pray and draw us closer to God. He had served as an elder.  I may have to call on the cotton hoe with its homemade cedar handle to finish the rest of my backyard flower bed.

Upon first examination, I found that my hoe is not the most attractive implement in my outdoor tool shed. Yet, it has faithfully served a basic function for many years. Its early life helped to provide food and clothing for Brother Davis’s family. It is well-balanced and easy on the hands and arms. Its narrow width easily finds and strikes weeds and grass around your precious vegetables. I have bought an imitation in a local hardware store, but I always go back to my time-tested servant with its sweat-stained wooden handle. The new hardware model only likes well-tilled soil and is very good at raising a blister on your hand.

We hear so much about  “What the world needs…!!”. Well, maybe it needs more of these excellent little hoes I found on a hot summer day at a fellow brethren’s garage sale and someone to say, “Let’s go work in the garden till dark.”

“The Lord bless thee (Brother Claude), and keep thee: The Lord make his face to shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace” (Number 6:24-26)

Song: I come to the garden alone
While the dew is still on the roses
And the voice I hear falling on my ear
The Son of God discloses.
And He walks with me, and He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own.
He speaks, and the sound of His voice
Is so sweet the birds
hush their singing,
And the melody that He gave to me
Within my heart is ringing.

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.” (Isaiah 43:18)

Our world moves very fast, and gardens have mostly disappeared. Shopping at grocery stores and avoiding sweat and strain on the back seems easy. Farms have changed, and those who know animals and grains are very few. Industrial farming uses big machines. Through prayer and spiritual growth, we can more easily put our past behind us and move forward to achieve the great things God has planned for us. ANON