💥 THE BRIEFING
This might come as a shock to some of you, but when I was a kid I used to spend time during my summers with my grandparents in North Georgia working on a chicken farm. I have very vivid memories of riding up the dirt road from my grandparents' house either via go-kart or 4-wheeler to one of the two buildings. These buildings were unbelievably long in a kid's eyes. If I remember correctly, my older cousin was working part-time for the owner, but when I was in town I would tag along since he was the closest in age to me, and the other cousins lived farther away, he was simply right up the other driveway.
There was this whole process to collecting the eggs. When you entered the building, there was a whole system for cleaning and protecting your shoes so that you didn't track anything into the actual chicken houses. We would then walk the length of the chicken house with Mr. Jamie and collect any of the "residents" that had "expired" since the last walk-through, which was usually the day before, and this simply meant picking them up, or in some cases speeding along the process if you found one "close" to expiration.
During this walk-through you looked for any rogue hens that weren't using the boxes for laying, and any other issues. After the walk-through you would head back to the front and this comically long conveyor belt would be turned on. This belt was a long racetrack of sorts that ran the entire length of one side of the chicken house underneath each of the boxes the hens laid in and brought the eggs right to you, and here was my favorite part as a kid… wipe any poop off the eggs and put them in the tray to head to the refrigerator!
This process was repeated twice for each house. As a little kid, I probably only handled a couple hundred eggs, as there is a true science and skill to doing this fast and effectively. I remember Mr. Jamie turning the belt off on a regular basis as I worked as fast as I could. Looking back, I realized I was most definitely holding him back as the days I "worked" always ended up with me being ushered to a lunch of chicken ramen (hilarious in hindsight) made by his wife Beth, and then I would find myself back down the road at my grandparents'.
My boys are growing up in a residential suburb, and while watching chickens be dispatched sounds grim, I hope in their early teens they have some sort of experience like this. Maybe that's why I was so keen on my in-laws getting chickens on their property this past year.
I played such a tiny part during those summer excursions to the chicken farm. I didn't build the houses, I didn't order the chickens or the feed, or lay any of the groundwork for collecting, but I did get to harvest, and it was a memory that will live within me. We have an amazing opportunity as parents to not only prepare the field in our kids' hearts for harvest, but to potentially be there when the harvest is ready. So what are you going to plant in them today?
🎙️ THE CORNER TALK
“Don’t you say, ‘There are still four more months, and then comes the harvest’? Listen to what I’m telling you: Open your eyes and look at the fields, because they are ready for harvest. The reaper is already receiving pay and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that the sower and reaper can rejoice together. For in this case the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap what you didn’t labor for; others have labored, and you have benefited from their labor.”
- John 4:35-38 (CSB)
The word "ripe" here is leukos in Greek, it literally means "white" or "gleaming." Picture a wheat field ready for harvest, golden stalks swaying in the breeze, practically glowing in the sunlight. I’m not a farmer but I think even I could pick out when it's ready.
Obviously Jesus isn't talking about actual wheat. He's looking at the Samaritan villagers walking toward them, people the disciples would have written off as spiritually dead, and He's saying, "Look! They're ready RIGHT NOW."
The disciples are thinking in agricultural seasons: plant in spring, harvest in fall, everything has its proper time. But Jesus is saying, "Spiritual harvest doesn't follow your calendar. It follows readiness."
🥊 THE FIGHT PLAN
This week: Practice the discipline of recognizing harvest moments you're missing.
Every morning, ask yourself: "Where is the harvest ready in my house that I'm not seeing?"
Your teenager rolling their eyes might actually be wrestling with deeper questions about faith. Your eight-year-old's constant chatter during your quiet time might be their way of processing what they're learning about God. Your toddler's meltdown might be the moment they need to see how daddy handles hard things.
Stop waiting for the "right time" to have spiritual conversations with your kids. Stop thinking you need four more months of preparation before you can speak truth into their lives.
Jesus looked at rejected Samaritans and saw a harvest ready to be gathered.
What harvest is ready in your home right now that you're leaving on the vine too long?
🤝 THE HUDDLE
Your kids don't need you to be the hero of every story. They need you to be the man who knows how to let Jesus be the hero.
I've been thinking about Mr. Jamie and that conveyor belt. He could have easily told that annoying kid to go sit in the corner while the adults worked. Instead, he let me be part of the process, even when I slowed everything down.
Your patience with interruptions today might be the sermon your son remembers when he's thirty.
Your willingness to let Jesus work through the chaos might be the testimony your daughter shares when she's facing her own impossible situation.
The Samaritan woman's testimony wasn't, "Jesus gave me the perfect life." It was, "Jesus saw all of me - the good, the bad, the shameful - and still called me valuable."
That's the testimony your kids need to see lived out in your daily life. Not perfection, but transformation. Not having it all together, but knowing where to go when it all falls apart.
In your corner,
Chance