Windmills of Life

It was one of the many we saw on our recent trip. I have a hankering for a windmill at the farm but haven’t gotten the farmer to believe in my dream. Last year, however, I found a piece of iron sticking out of the ground. It wasn’t unusual for us to find interesting things sticking out of the ground, but then comes the remove it moment. It wouldn’t budge. That’s when the farmer looked at the surroundings, the well, and said, “here is a piece of the old windmill.” After digging down several inches trying to get it to move, and it firmly planted in place, it was decided to cut it off, with a blow torch kind of thingee, and replace the dirt and the sod. I really didn’t want to hit it with the lawnmower, and the farmer definitely didn’t want me hitting it with the lawn mower. It, the heavy piece of steel would have won. So, windmills: I think they are beautiful. They reflect the sun, they bring beauty to a forsaken landscape and they bring water up to the surface. It’s a visual of the past, a reminder that wind is energy and a challenge to find a windmill to put up at the farm. Windmills remind me of what God does. Wind can be damaging and wind can be calming. A cool breeze on a hot day is refreshing. The wind during a blizzard in Minnesota stops the world from it’s normal schedule. And yet, the wind catches the paddles of a windmill and turns them which in turn rotates gears and shafts and brings up water from the earth. Windmills are high in the breeze and bring those needing water from afar. Cattle figure out pretty quick the windmills aren’t there just to look cute in a picture. Cattle find their way to the water.

I look at the windmills and wonder how many stories could it tell, it it were able to? It doesn’t do much but go with the wind. The wind though harmful can be, is needed to draw water. I sometimes feel the wind on my face in life and deny it’s valuable assets to my heart. I want the water, but don’t want the wind to blow. I want the cool breeze, but I don’t want the gusts that shake the trees. I can’t have it one way or the other. I will take what God gives and enjoy for the moment the breeze or the shutters flapping. For in each, I can learn to be content and see what God is doing in my life. Drawing water or shaking out dead branches!