I like playing Farmville. It’s relaxing for me. Gets my mind off of things and allows me to disengage for a while. My wife Millie says you can tell a lot about a person by the way they keep their “farm”. Like me for instance, I like things in order, understated but with just a touch of flair. If you were to look at my farm you would see that I have my trees all grouped together by vegetation type and all are separated by a small space. I go one step further and place them in chronological order based on when I will be able to harvest them. I know, borderline O.C.D. Animals are kept the same way…Okay, so maybe it’s not borderline but full-blown. The “flair” manifests itself in how I plant my crops. I plant them in geometric shapes by color and height and what-not. The other thing I do on my farm is FARM. Some who farm in Farmville have all kinds of stuff like ponds, fences, wheelbarrows, bales of hay, etc. I don’t, I have a tractor, a harvester and a seeder. I do what you are supposed to do on a farm, FARM. You grow things, you produce and reproduce a harvest, you get a plan – you work the plan, you tend to your farm.
I know, I know, I sound just like my dad… I am so my dad.
Back to what my wife says. It’s true, at least for me. I like having all of my ducks in a row, in Farmville and in real life, although, in real life they may not always be. I am easily distracted and I wonder at times if my O.C.D. has A.D.D.
I like tending to my farm. There is a sense of accomplishment when I plow and sow seed and of course there is a reward for harvesting. In Farmville, your crops and everything else grow over hours or days depending on the item and you have to harvest them before they go bad so there is a bit of attentiveness that one must pay when “farming”. It’s relatively easy to tend to your farm in Farmville.
You might be asking yourself, “Why am I wasting time reading something someone wrote about a farming game?” Good question. I’ll explain.
I was “farming” a few nights ago and a thought came to me.
“Do I have a farm in real life and if I do, what does it consist of?
“If I have a farm in real life, do I tend to it as well as I tend to things in Farmville?”
Hmmf. Tend, Tending, Tend to … the word TEND kept rolling around in my head. What was it about this word that kept rattling around in my brain like a marble in a bucket making all kinds of racket? This is usually how He does it with me….He puts something in my head and I can’t stop thinking about it until I realize, “OH, I need to look into that.” Sometimes I go for days thinking of someone then it finally hits me, “Pray for them, you dork! God’s only been bring him to mind for four days, you’d think you’d get a clue or something.” I’m not very polite when I talk to myself sometimes.
But this time I took the clue early and decided to look ‘Tend’ up in the dictionary and this is what I found.
Tend:
Function : verb
Etymology: Middle English, short for attenden to attend
Date: 14th century
Intransitive verb
- Archaic : listen (to pay attention to)
- : to pay attention: apply oneself <tend to your own affairs> <tend to our correspondence>
- : to act as an attendant : Serve (to be a servant) <tended to his wife>
- : obsolete : await (to lie in wait for)
Transitive verb
- Archaic: to attend as a servant
- A : to apply oneself to the care of : watch over <tended her sick father.
B : to have or take charge of as a caretaker or overseer <tend the sheep>
C : Cultivate (to foster the growth of), Foster (affording, receiving, or sharing nurture or parental care though not related by blood or legal ties)
D : to manage the operations of : Mind (to attend to closely)<tend the store><tend the fire>
- : to stand by (as a rope) in readiness to prevent mischance (as fouling).
WOW…look at all those words… tend, tending, listen, attention, pay attention, serve, to serve, apply oneself, watch over, caretaker, overseer, cultivate and foster, to stand by….
“OK God, what are you saying?” I had to ask. I immediately thought of Adam and Eve in the garden and how God gave them instructions to “tend” the garden and take care of it (Gen. 2:15). They were not to just sit back and enjoy the fruits of nature. While in the garden (before sin) they were given the charge to take care of it, nurture it, foster it, cultivate it, pay attention to it, be the overseers of it, to apply themselves to it, to watch over it, to manage it, to stand by it, and well, TEND to it and make it GROW.
The questions came back to me on my drive into work this morning.
“Do I have a farm in real life and if I do, what does it consist of?
“If I have a farm in real life, do I tend to it as well as I tend to things in Farmville?”
Well, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure this one out folks. My “farm” consists of the things that God has given me, my wife, children, friends, job, house, pets, vehicles, my life, this body, etc…. What the Garden of Eden was to Adam and Eve, these are to me; these gifts from God are my Garden of Eden. And as they were charged with the nurturing and overseeing and serving of the garden, I too am charged concerning my wife, children and all possessions that god has entrusted to me.
I am to tend to my garden, take charge of it, take care of it, nurture it, foster it, cultivate it, pay attention to it, be the overseer of it, to apply my hand to it, to watch over it, to manage it, to stand by it, and to grow it.
So again, back to the questions,
“Do I have a farm in real life and if I do, what does it consist of? Yes I do and we just went over that.
“If I have a farm in real life, do I tend to it as well as I tend to things in Farmville?” “Sure I do”, “No problem”, “Of course I do” are the immediate thoughts I have but upon further inspection of my heart, I must admit, I am lacking. I could do better on all accounts. Just take a look at my yard for instance, it’s been the hottest summer on record with the least amount of rain and I haven’t watered it since my neighbor starting reeling up his hose at night. 😉 It’s brown and patchy with what is apparently a super weed that has the ability to suck the last remaining bit of moisture out of the air and stay green and if you’re quiet, you can hear my trees whistling for my dogs. It’s a simple task to water ones yard but yet…
So what is God saying to me? I think there are two things here, one being more about the physical and the other being more spiritual.
- I need to pick it up a notch or two and who cares as to the “why” (excuse) I am not tending as I should. “Waaa, work was horrible today” or “I hate my commute!” or the ever popular, “I’m just too tired”. Whatever the excuse…it’s just that, an excuse. Get over it, it is what it is and you are where you are, get up and move on (speaking to myself of course). Given enough time I (as well as you) can justify any action we take or lack thereof. So in the end, I need to tend to my garden with a little more care and attentiveness. Apply my hand a little harder to the task at hand. I must throw off the sorrows of yesterday, lay down the burdens of today and step over the worries of tomorrow and be about the business of God in my life.
- I need to grow, which means I need to read His word more. It’s not enough to just tend the garden, I must make it grow. It’s like the three servants who were given five, three and one talents (money) by their master. It was expected for them to go and multiply what they were given. For those who did more was given and for that one who buried the money and didn’t do anything with it, everything was taken from him and given to those who did something (Matthew 25:14-30). I don’t know about you but I don’t like having things taken from me and I certainly don’t want to be guilty of not doing and not growing. I grow when I feed myself the Word of God and associate myself with the things and people of God. I need to read His Word more and let it roll through my thoughts and fill my heart. I need to plow up the hard ground in my life and make room for God. This reminds me of the prayer of Jabez, which is found in 1 Chronicles 4:10. “Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” (Emphasis added). In Farmville you have the option to increase the size of your farm and as a result? When you increase the size of your farm, it allows you to plant more and reap a bigger harvest (grow more). This holds true with God in my life. The more room I give God, the more I will benefit from it and reap from it and the harvest spills over to others as well which leads to…you guessed it…tending the garden!
So to summarize,
1. I need to get off my butt
2. Study God’s word more.
Hmmf. Who knew playing a game would lead to this? I serve a gracious God who by His choice has instructed me through a silly game. I will strive to be a good student and apply what I have been shown.
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