Grazing Grace

woke up one November morning at 5:30 a.m. to

Igo on an early morning walk. Since sunrise was over an hour away, it was still very dark outside. Everyone in my house was asleep, so I was doing my best to be quiet and respectful. I didn’t turn on any lights, so I had to cautiously grope through the darkness, down the hallway to the front of the house. When I reached the end of the hall, I saw a light shining in my office that I had never noticed before. A beam of blue light was shining on the wall. The light was coming from my desk. The door to the cabinet that houses my cable modem was slightly ajar. The blue power light on the modem was burning with such brilliance that it escaped through the crack in the door and shone brightly on the wall.

It’s unfortunate that my modem light stays closed inside a cabinet all day long. It’s rarely ever seen. I thought about that saying of Jesus, “Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel” (Matthew 5:15). Light was created to be seen. It was the very first thing that God created when He made the Earth. I almost felt sorry for the little blue light on my modem. So, I opened the cabinet door, letting it illuminate more than just the small, cramped space inside the cabinet. That tiny, blue light shone with such radiance that it illuminated my entire office. So much so that I was able to find my keys and wallet without turning on any other overhead lights. I gave that tiny light a chance to do the thing it was created to do ... I gave it a chance to shine!

Let me tell you about another little light I sometimes feel sorry for ... the refrigerator light. Talk about “hiding your light under a bushel!” That poor little light is constantly hidden. No one ever gives it any thought at all ... that is, until they want a glass of milk, or slice of cheese. Just think about that little light for a moment. Its whole purpose in life is to shine only for a moment ... when the refrigerator door is opened. For the rest of its life, it hides in isolation behind the closed doors of the refrigerator. It doesn’t stay on all the time. If it did, perhaps it would feel a little less insignificant. The only time it gets a chance to shine is when we get hungry. But, aren’t you glad, that it’s there?

My refrigerator light burnt out last year and it took me a week to get a new bulb. So, there were several days that we had no light in our refrigerator. I’d open the door and couldn’t see what I was reaching for. I was making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich one day and reached into the dark refrigerator to pull out the grape jelly. When I got to the counter to make my sandwich, it was then that I discovered I had picked up a jar of dill

This Little Light of Mine

pickles instead! I didn’t realize how much I appreciated that little light until it was no longer shining.

When I was a kid, we used to sing a song in church that said, “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine.” Perhaps you’ve heard it before. The saying “Let your little light shine” is a motivational theme that has its roots in Christianity, but has widespread applications even in the secular realm. I’d be remiss not to mention one instance when I saw this saying exemplified at its absolute finest.

It was the Christmas season of 1998. My wife and I, along with our two preschool children, went to a Christmas candlelight service at a very large church. More than 1,000 people were in attendance that evening. The sanctuary had no windows to let light in. When the entire congregation was safely seated, the pastor took a match and lit a small white candle as he stood behind the pulpit. He then asked for all the sanctuary lights to be turned off, slowly, so that people’s eyes could adjust to the darkness. One by one, the overhead lights clicked off. When the last overhead light went out, there wasn’t any light in the entire sanctuary except for the flickering flame of the candle the pastor held in his hand. Even though that flame was very small, everyone in the congregation could see the pastor’s full form illuminated by the tiny light.

The pastor then called three of his associate pastors to come forward, guided only by the light of that small, flickering flame. Each associate pastor held out a small white candle and the pastor lit all three candles from the one candle in his hand. The platform was illuminated now by the aid of four tiny candle flames. From there, the three associates went to six ushers each, lighting each one of their candles. There were now 22 candle flames flickering inside the once-darkened sanctuary. It was a beautiful sight to behold as one by one those ushers lit the candles of each person who sat in the congregation on the end of each row of pews.

Each person on the end row lit the candle of the person next to them, and so on and so on. In so doing, it took less than five minutes for the entire sanctuary to become beautifully illuminated with the flickering flames of over 1,000 candles. It was the most beautiful candlelight service I have ever participated in. It was amazing to think about. One thousand candles burned brightly in that room, but it all started from one tiny flame.

You and I have a flame, a light, that burns inside of us. Proverbs 20:27 says, “The spirit of man is the candle of the LORD.” The human spirit, when touched by the Spirit of God, becomes a light that shines in the midst of our cold, dark world. It doesn’t matter the size of the light. It doesn’t matter if it’s only a flickering flame. What matters is the source of the light. Even

56 Cooperative Farming News

the smallest light, like the light of my cable modem, has the ability to bring light to a darkened room … and a darkened world. Remember the refrigerator light I mentioned? People are hungry for love, joy, peace and hope. They’re groping in the darkness, searching for something that will fill that empty hunger within them. Those who have the light of God within them are just like the refrigerator light. They may only shine for a brief moment, but the light they emit lets others see that hope, joy and peace are still available in this dark world.

We’re about to enter the holiday season of 2021. Many are fearful and depressed because of the darkness of the past two years. Oh, how we need a little light shed into our lives to bring hope, joy and peace. What better time to experience a hopeful spirit than during the holiday season … when we celebrate the LIGHT that came into the world on the very first Christmas morning. Yes, Jesus came into this world as a baby … a tiny, little light. But, the flame that burned in Jesus was passed on to His disciples, and to their disciples, and to each successive generation. Now, it’s up to you and me to continue passing the flame forward, to our children and to their children. The only way that darkness can prevail is if people don’t pass the flame on … if people fail to let their LITTLE LIGHT SHINE.

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marengo County #3285

384+/- AC - This is one of those rare properties that offers quality fishing opportunities, great deer hunting, and good turkey hunting. You might even be able to catch some ducks using the flooded timber in the back of the large lake. I do not know of a hunting property in the Black Belt currently on the market with newer and nicer amenities and improvements than this place. $1,200,000 Tallapoosa County #3292

210+/- AC - Once in a lifetime opportunity to purchase over 200 acres of undeveloped & unrestricted property on beautiful Lake Martin. Imagine waking up every morning with a waterfront view and having endless options of how to spend the day on your property. You could launch the boat and spend the day out on the lake fishing or joyriding. If you like to hunt, you could ease your way through the mature pine and hardwood bottoms in search of a trophy deer in the fall or a weary old gobbler in the spring. $1,495,000 blount County

1,153+/- AC - An incredible opportunity is available to own one of the highest points in Blount County, McAnnally Mountain! This is a mixture of pine and hardwood with road frontage and internal roads with an excellent deer and turkey population. $2,421,300 covington County #3522

30+/- AC - Property consists primarily of row crop farmland currently planted in corn. This property has the potential to make an excellent homesite for someone wanting to live in the country, build a home, and have their own open land to grow crops/garden, raise cattle, or just to hunt. $110,000 tallapoosa County #3499

304+/- AC - Boulder Creek Plantation is a well-managed and meticulously maintained wildlife preserve situated on 300+/- acres in north-central Tallapoosa Co, Alabama. Located just 10 miles from Alexander City, AL, 47 miles from Auburn, AL, 81 miles from Birmingham, Al, and a short distance to Lake Martin. $3,700,000 perry County #3516

172+/- AC - Properties along the Cahaba River are rarely available for purchase, and this tract has approximately 1/2 mile of frontage on what is our longest free-flowing river in the state. The property lies along the east side of the river. The timber on this property is a good mixture of 20–25-year-old pine plantations, 4-8 year old pine plantation, and upland and bottomland hardwoods.$346,400 cherokee County #3611

1472+/- AC - This is an extraordinarily rare opportunity to buy a large tract with long tern timber investment and recreational uses. There are numerous recreational opportunities on this property including deer hunting, turkey hunting, duck hunting in the duck swamp, ATV riding and more. The property has of 132+/- acres of hardwoods, 35.75+/- acres of natural pine, 90 acres of open productive land and 1126+/- of pine plantation in varying pre merch age classes planted. $2,395,250 chambers County

932+/- AC - Large timber investment opportunity! The tract is comprised of different age classes of planted pine and mature hardwood stands. There is also an 8+/- acre pond and Little Chatahospee Creek flows through the property giving water access for the wildlife year-round. Scattered throughout the property are small food plots and there is a good road system that traverses the rolling topography allowing for ease of access. $1,958,040 clay County #3591

60+/- AC - About 55 of those are fenced and currently house cattle. There’s a small creek that runs through the middle of the property that makes it easily accessible for farm animals. Power, water, and County utilities are accessible on the Hwy 49 road frontage. There is also dirt road frontage across the back of the property on Stanford Circle. $220,000 lownes County #3324

255+/- AC - This property has been managed to produce big deer, turkey, and ducks. There is a well established road system throughout the property making all areas easily accessible. $499,000

LIVING THE DREAM 5 HOUSE BROILER FARM IN CLEBURNE COUNTY, AL Farm NEW LISTING

Living the Dream Farm is a 5 House Broiler Farm located near Ranburne, AL in Cleburne County. This farm includes one Mega House 66×600 built in 2012 and 4 40×400 built in 1996 & 1997. The farm consists of 50+/- acres of mostly pasture including some fertile creek bottomland.

The farm has a historical gross annual income of has been $225,000-275,000 depending on 4 flocks per year, but some years the farm gets a 5th flock. The farm grows for Koch Foods Pine Mountain Valley Complex, growing an 8.5 lb bird on a 60 day growout. This farm runs on all municipal water and has a newly installed customized water filtration system. The farm will have natural gas as of October 2021 installed on the farm. The farm has a multiple bay compost shed as well as a separate litter barn with concrete floor.

The home is a two story dwelling with a two car garage. Recently updated metal roof, recently updated HVAC, hardwood floors, master on the main floor, and plenty of room for a growing family. This farm is located just minutes from the Ranburne Elementary and High School a highly regarded school in the area. You are just a few minutes from Bowdon, GA as well as Carrollton, GA and Oxford, AL. This farm is a perfect location for one family member to have an off the farm job. This farm is also close to West Georgia College and other higher learning institutions.

The farm has frontage on Lost Little Creek. The pastures are fenced and cross fenced. This farm can support 15-18 cow units. There is a cattle barn with hay and equipment storage.

Living the Dream Farm is a bio-secure area. All farm visitors must abide by Koch’s Foods and PoultrySouth’s bio-security procedures. All potential purchasers must be prequalified prior to making a farm visit. No visitors without a listing agent present. Please reach out to us for more information about how to qualify. RANDALL UPCHURCH

PoultrySouth Co-Founder

256-239-5379 randall@selandgroup.com ROBERT KING

PoultrySouth Co-Founder 844-855-0680 robert@selandgroup.com