Good news for the countryside: A milestone worth celebrating!

​As the years roll by, I increasingly realise that milestones are worth celebrating. This year, to mark our 30th wedding anniversary, Freda and I, along with our daughter, Rebekah, and son, Matthew, swapped the mountains of Mourne, where we live, for the rather more dramatic peaks of Austria, as we wanted this special moment to be enjoyed in a spectacular location.

Now, our 30th anniversary is meaningful to only a handful of loved ones, but today, this column celebrates a milestone of its own, which (I hope) matters to many more people: it’s our 200th edition.

Such milestones are achieved with the help of a caring and committed team. A regular column requires regular writers, and year-by-year, God has blessed us with a team of faithful and creative contributors, many of whom began the journey with us in January 2017.

Writers greatly benefit from the help of skilled editors, working away behind the scenes and I give thanks for them as well. But no matter who writes or edits, if no one reads what is written, then it is a huge waste of time and effort. That makes you, and all our readers, a vital part of our column, and over the years, I have been delighted when people across our community share with me - and other contributors - that they read the pieces and what it meant to them.

My heartfelt thanks must also go to Ruth Rodgers, Farming Life’s editor. Without her enthusiastic agreement, over eight years ago, there would not be a column. Most of all, however, I want to give God all the glory, for anything that has been accomplished. As the Apostle Paul says of God’s Son, Jesus: “For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever...” (Romans 11:36).

Now milestones also matter to busy farmers – such as the shifting of the seasons, or the first cut of silage. But there is no milestone more important than the history-changing fact that Jesus rose again from the dead on the third day – just as He said that He would.

How does Jesus rising from the dead help busy farmers multi-tasking with late crops, needy livestock, unpredictable weather, administration and accounting, mental health pressures…and that’s all before we’ve had breakfast?

Well, 2,000 years ago, Jesus’ followers set aside a day of the week, Sunday, the day Jesus rose from the dead. It became a blessed day to worship God with others, spend time with family, and rest. They called it, “the Lord’s Day” (Revelation 1:10). How kind of God to have so thoughtfully arranged life, that we can enjoy one day in seven away from non-essential farm chores.

Coming back to this column, there is a deeper importance still to this milestone. For it ultimately points us to God’s Son Jesus, who died to forgive our straying from God, our sin, and who rose again to beat death for His followers.

Jesus works graciously in these great events in history, showing us love we don’t deserve, so that we will no longer put our faith in ourselves, or anyone else, or anything else. Instead, if we will trust in Jesus alone, then we will enjoy “salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that…we might live with Him” (1 Thessalonians 5:9-10). So, will you put your trust in Jesus? Salvation, through Jesus, now that is a milestone Jesus’ followers will give thanks for - eternally!

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Rev Kenny Hanna is the Presbyterian Church in Ireland’s first Rural Chaplain. Growing up on the family farm in the Kingdom of Mourne, he began serving in parish ministry in 2001 in Glenwherry. Prior to his appointment as Rural Chaplain, he was minister of Second Dromara Presbyterian Church for 10 years. He continues to farm part-time.

If you would like to talk to someone about any of the issues raised in this article, please email Kenny at [email protected] or call him on 07938 488 372.