Faith, Farming, and Family: Cultivating Hope and Harvesting Joy Wherever You Are

Henderson delivers an entertaining take on how she fell in love with a farmer and struggled to adjust to life on a farm. Leaving her small-town home for a rural Kansas farm, Henderson writes that she learned to find joy in the hard-nose farming culture (forged by “depressions, droughts, dust bowls, insects, fire, hail, low commodity prices, and Mother Nature’s fury”), simple things like watching the sunrise from her front porch, and even the prolonged periods of absence from her husband during the harvest season. Henderson relied on scripture to embrace an uncertain future and find strength through suffering during her first few years on the farm, which coincided with a drought. Reminding readers to “keep on plowing,” Henderson suggests that making the right choice doesn’t guarantee a path without challenges: “every one of us has the opportunity to be used by God to bring Him glory and to show Christ to others.” Christians interested in the pastoral life will appreciate Henderson’s insightful anecdotes and encouragements. (Jan.)