A Holiday on the Farm

TROWEL & SWORD

Resources - Children's Pages

June 2000

Kids’ Page

A Holiday on the Farm

by Mrs. Anne Groenenboom

After the excitement of the family reunion, the children were looking forward to their holiday on the farm with Auntie Jill and Uncle Bob. The next morning Uncle Bill was taking them to the station to catch a train. They’d never been on a train before and it seemed to Chris and Amy that their lives were full of excitement at present.

Mum was in a flurry of last-minute packing when Uncle Bill arrived next morning. Soon everything was packed into the minibus and Uncle Bill took them all to the station. When everyone was settled into their seats, they waved to Grandma and Grandpa and Uncle Bill as the train started up again. They were on their way at last. As they travelled through the countryside, the children noticed that the grass was brown. All summer there had been lots of rain at home and everything was green and fresh, but here it was different. Dad told them that Auntie Jill and Uncle Bob were worried because there had been a drought for three years and it was getting harder for them to make a living. The further they travelled, the worse the drought seemed to be. They saw dead trees and empty dams and sometimes bare paddocks without any grass growing at all.

Uncle Bob was there waiting for them at the railway station and they were soon on their way to the farm. Joel, who had slept well for most of the trip, now decided to make a fuss and everyone was glad when they were there. Chris and Amy hugged Auntie Jill, but Carla stayed in the background, holding Dad’s hand firmly. She had never met Auntie Jill before and she was often shy with strangers. It wasn’t long before they were all sitting around the kitchen table, eating Auntie Jill’s delicious homemade scones and Carla soon felt at home.

After lunch Uncle Bob and Dad took the children around the farm. It was great fun going from place to place on the four-wheel motorbike, even if they had to wait their turn, because there was always plenty to see while they waited for the others to come. They stopped near the big dam that Chris and Amy could remember from when they were last at the farm.... but it wasn’t big any longer. There were still lots of water birds foraging for food around the dry, cracked edges of the dam, but there was very little water in it. Uncle Bob looked very worried.

“We’ll have to buy water at the end of the week, if it doesn’t rain,” he said gloomily.

“How can you buy water? Doesn’t it come out of the tap?” Amy exclaimed in surprise.

“It does, when you live in a town,” Uncle Bob replied, “but we have to rely on rain water to fill our dams and tanks.... and it hasn’t rained for weeks here.”

“Well, how do you buy it?” Chris asked and Uncle Bob replied that big tankers came with the water and filled the water tanks. “It costs a lot of money for each tanker load, but if the cows don’t have enough water to drink, they don’t give any milk,” he told them.

When they went back to the house, Auntie Jill gave the children a small dish of water to wash their hands in and then she tipped the water into a bucket, ready to water the garden.

“Most of the garden is dead, but I’m trying hard to keep the roses alive,” she explained to the children. “You can help me water them later this afternoon.” As they had afternoon tea, Mum spoke to the children. “You’ll have to be very careful to use as little water as possible while you’re here.... keep as clean as possible too, because there’s not much water for washing clothes, or having showers.”

“At least it’s easier to keep clean when it isn’t muddy,” Auntie Jill commented. “You’ll just have to make sure you don’t walk in any fresh cow pats or dog mess!” Amy wrinkled her nose in disgust. As if she’d do anything like that!

Chris, Amy and Carla were going with Uncle Bob to get the cows in for milking, so they sat one each side of him on the motorbike, with Carla in front. They went off down the track, rattling and bumping on the hard, dry surface. When the cows were at the dairy, Dad came out, dressed in a pair of overalls, to help with the milking. The three children stood well back from the fence as they watched the cows being milked, to make sure that they kept clean. When the milking was finished, Uncle Bob fed bales of hay to the cattle. He explained that the cattle needed lots of hay because there was no grass for them to eat.

By now it was quite dark and time for dinner. Amy and Chris raced off across the paddock toward the farmhouse, ahead of the men, but Dad carried Carla. They were almost to the gate, when suddenly Amy let out a squawk as she slipped over. Down she went with a funny kind of splattering noise and she realised that she had slipped in a big cow pat.
“Oh no!” she wailed. Now she was in big trouble because she knew her clothes would be filthy and her hands were all messy. What would Auntie Jill say? She felt very uncomfortable as she squished her way back to the farmhouse and it was even worse when Uncle Bob told her to wait outside the back door.

Mum came out with a plastic bag for her to put her dirty clothes into. Amy was horrified that Mum expected her to get undressed on the back verandah. She wailed miserably as she dropped her dirty clothes into the bag and stood shivering in her underwear. Next Mum brought a bucket with a little bit of water in it and Amy washed her face and hands, then she went into the laundry and had another wash in a bucket of clean water, which Mum then used to soak her dirty clothes. She was very embarrassed as she realised how much water she had used, but Auntie Jill didn’t make a fuss.

After dinner, Dad read the story of Elijah and wicked King Ahab and how God had withheld rain for a long time, because the people were so sinful. The children wanted to hear about the prophets of Baal too, because it was one of their favourite stories. Then Uncle Bob prayed and thanked God for his goodness; then he asked God to send some rain.

“Why doesn’t God send rain if everybody is praying for it so much?” Amy asked.

“Lots of farmers don’t want to be bothered with God, but when there’s a drought, they know in their hearts that God is the only one who can send the rain,” Uncle Bob replied. “God is teaching them a lesson and we have to suffer the drought too, even though we know God and love him.”

“Well, why did you thank God for being so good to you, if he doesn’t send any rain when you need it so badly?” was Amy’s next question.

“Because God is so good to us in so many other ways.... you know that already Amy!” Mum told her.

“Why don’t we take it in turns to think of all the things that God gives us,” Auntie Jill suggested and that’s what they did.... and the children were amazed at how many things there were to be thankful about.

SOME THINGS TO DO

You can read these stories for yourself in 1 Kings 17 and 18.... or get your parents to read them to you, from your bible story book.
Circle all the listed “farm” words in the puzzle and when you have finished you will have four letters left. These letters spell something that every farmer needs.

P I G T R U C K G D

H T R A C T O R O A

A H A B A R W I A M

Y E S U L H D A T N

G N S L F O A L D R

E M I L K R I D U O

E L A M B S R O C O

S H E E P E Y G K S

E C H I C K E N S T

F A R M H O U S E T

C A T A N K E R S R

BULL CALF CAT CHICKENS COW

DAIRY DAM DOG DUCK FARMHOUSE

FOAL GEESE GOAT GRASS HAY

HEN HORSE LAMB MILK PIG

SHEEP ROOSTER TANKERS TRACTOR TRUCK

All reports of problems and comments concerning this site: webmaster@trowelandsword.org.au

Privacy