Family

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My wife Imelda and I have one foot in the city and another in the farm. It's inevitable for we fell in love in the city where I came from and wed in the farm where she was born. She holds dear the life of her father and mother who are farmers and cherishes them. This is the one portion that will remain with the woman I've come to love as long as she lives. And she shares that precious gift with me and our three children.

A few weeks ago, Imelda and I took a short vacation in the farm with our three kids. My father-in-law, now over 70, is a sturdy rice farmer for many decades. He remains stronger than what his age would suggest. Having been raised in the city, listening to him is like entering another world for me. He loves farming no matter what the difficulties. Thus, as a farmer, my father-in-law has also become a teacher to me. And should I forget the lessons of life I learned from the farm, I shall always be reminded as I listen and talk to him.

There was occasion that Imelda and I and our kids walked past a vast expanse of farm lands around us when nature strikes with rainfall. Muddy earth smeared my feet and I almost slipped as my kids laughed at me. It looked like I somehow lost my balance as their Dad! But the animals, insects, or whatever surrounding us did not truly seem to mind. They tolerated us. They seemed blessed by our having visited or spent time in their natural home.

The certainty of my own mortality on this earth makes me learn to treasure glimpses of life that a farmer offers. I've come to understand that we are mostly like the farmer. But we are at the same time profoundly different. We do things that perhaps other people would not choose to do. We could raise cows, plant vegetables, or work in the bank or factory. Most of us do something else too. But all of us are capable of seeing the "specialness" of the farmer's life in providing depth to our soul if we so desire.

The farmer's life, I believe, is one of God's most precious creations. For Imelda and I and our children, both now and in the future, I'm guessing the wonder of life felt will increase in different forms. For me, it's been a joy to discover my love in that natural setting. And perhaps, in the next 20 years or so, I will even be richer and more greatly blessed because of that.

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