The Farm Wife's Prayer

The Farm Wife’s Prayer

Lord, I am ready to start my day 

And I have just a few  requests.

Please let me get through my daily tasks 

Without a lot of trying tests.

Please let the cows stay in their yards 

Where they know they do belong

I don’t want to see them anywhere 

Around my house or on my lawn!

Keep the machinery running smoothly

So I don’t have to run for parts--

My husband gets almighty cranky 

When planting goes in stops and starts!

I must say it has been a big help 

With images that are digital

To show the parts guy when he scoffs,

And gets a little critical

Because I don’t seem to know for sure 

What I’m after or even why.

The condescending looks I get 

Often make me just want to cry!

It’s not my fault I’m not well versed 

In mechanical terms like these men,

But to hear the way they talk to me

They seem to think I’m less than them.

Please let the vet not roll his eyes 

When it's me and him to check the herd.

I know he thinks I don’t know a thing

But I vow I won’t say a word

About how I can do just fine 

Without my husband by my side.

His attitude will roll off my back 

And I will take it all in stride.

If I have to help pull a tractor 

Out of the mud or goo or slime,

Please don’t let it get so bad 

That I get hollered at this time,

For going too slow or too fast 

Or just not going the right way.

I don’t think it’s too much to ask 

To let me have an easy day.

Please let my children help so nice 

With whatever they might be told.

Don’t let them tell me once again 

They won’t be like me when they’re old!

That heifer calf that has been sick 

And seems to want to lay down and die,

Please give her just a little boost

That makes her more perky and spry.

I know I seem to ask a lot

And I’m sorry if I seem rude

But please keep my washer going 

So we are not all in the nude!

Please keep the markets going strong

With prices that are just and fair

So our profit does not get spent

On nothing but fuel and repairs.

Please help me have the words to say 

To help my husband truly see

That all the troubles that we have 

Aren't limited to him and me.

Help me be the uplifting voice 

He needs to hear from time to time,

When this business gets him so down 

That he’d quit for just one thin dime.

Lord remind me to hold my tongue 

When someone tell me with a sneer

“You're just a farm wife, after all,” 

Like I am less than all my peers.

When I forget that other folks

Can't know what happens in my life,

Let me stand, with head high, to say, 

“I'm proud to be a farmer’s wife!”

But most of all, dear Lord, I ask

Keep me mindful that I am blessed.

With days of sunshine when we work

And starry skies for when we rest 

Remind me that I have my family 

Close at hand and in my heart.

So, whatever You have planned for me, 

Lord, please help me to do my part.

~~Jude Brogan, 2009