October Harvest Time

Harvest time in the Philippines during October is not very easy for the farmers. The weather is unpredictable. Yesterday I went to Laguna to see my friend's ricefield. The skies were dark and my friend was worried that her hired threshers might not be able to finish threshing on time. When we arrived at 8:00 a.m. it was drizzling, but the threshers were still doing their job. My friend called her agent and asked if he has found a buyer already. The agent said yes, but he said that the buyer would still be coming from Pagsanjan which is a 3-hour drive from where we were. My friend was okay with that for as long as he had a sure buyer.

While we were there waiting for the threshing to be done and for the hired hands to finish carrying the sacks of rice to the road. I took photos of the place. It was raining intermittently and the place was quite gloomy. All the time I spent there, Mr. Sun was nowhere to be found.

The place was beautiful and relaxing. I think I slept a couple of times inside the car because of the cool-bed weather. We thought everything will go smoothly in spite of the rain, then at 1:00 a.m. my friend received the bad news. The buyer backed out of the deal because he was told that the crops were not in good condition because they were wet. The news literally woke us up from our slumber. My friend told her agent to make plenty of phone calls, but buyers were hard to find. When it was 3:00 pm the hired hands were already done lining up the sacks on the road and covered them all with a tarpaulin. My friend's agent found a new buyer at 4:00 pm, but they were still coming from a faraway place and that they will be arriving at 7 in the evening. So my friend decided to start weighing the sacks and delegated the "waiting game" to her caretaker. We went home exhausted, but we were still thankful to God despite the uncertain circumstances because we came home safe and sound to our families. ♥

Yesterday's ordeal reminded me of Habakkuk 3:17-18: "Even though the fig tree does not blossom,
and there are no grapes on the vines; even if the olive harvest fails, and the fields produce nothing edible; even if the flock is snatched from the sheepfold, and there is no herd in the stalls—as for me, I will rejoice in the LORD.
I will find my joy in the God who delivers me." Even though things did not go as we planned, my friend and I are still joyful and thankful, knowing that God has a purpose for all the things that have happened to us back in the rice fields. We will just charge them all to experience♥