The Story of Farmer John

So there’s this farmer, right? Yeah, Farmer John, and he’s got a family (a wife and a little boy). They live in good ol’ Iowa country, on a 400-acre plot of farmland consisting of a whole bunch of corn, some chickens, pigs, a trusty farm dog, and a whole lotta Holstein cows. Yeah, pretty typical farm family you’d think, but wait, you need to know a bit more.

The mom and the little boy are Christian. They go to church every Sunday, say their prayers, and try and be saints day-in and day-out. Farmer John, however, isn’t Christian. He doesn’t buy it – all the prayers, some “magical” book called the Bible, always standing, sitting, and kneeling, a guy who healed, taught, died, and supposedly rose from the dead 2,000 years ago… It just doesn’t add up for him, doesn’t make sense.

Well, it’s Christmas Eve, and Farmer John’s wife and boy are dressed up and heading out the door for midnight Mass (without Farmer John, of course). Now John’s been checkin’ the weather just about every hour for the past few days ‘cause rumor has it a big honkin’ storm is on its way. And if the rumors be true, than those cows are gonna have to find some warm shelter until it’s safe to live outside again. That night though, Farmer John watches the mercury in the thermometer take a dive. He knows the storm is about to hit, and he knows unless he gets his herd of cattle in a warm barn than it’s gonna be nothing but a lotta frozen steak outside the next day. Mmmm… steak. ANYWAY…

Farmer John suits up head-to-toe with as much warm clothing as he can find and heads outside. He flings the barn doors open and yells, “Alright cows! Come on in!” But the cows don’t come. Farmer John thinks to himself, “Hmm… maybe some nice, fresh hay and water will get ‘em to come on in”. So John gets the hay ready, pours out some fresh water in the troughs and again yells, “Alright ya dumb cows! Here ya go!”… But NOTHIN’. The cows just stare at him.

Frustrated, Farmer John heads inside, gets Spunky (the trusty farm dog) and lets him loose to do all the work (Now you have to know Spunky: he’s a little old, but the best cattle herder in all of Iowa and always full of spunk – hence the name). So little Spunky goes flying around, chasing cows left and right, scootin’ them towards the barn entrance, but the cows just won’t go in! And after a while ol’ Spunky’s getting tired. The poor pup is panting like crazy and trying his hardest to herd the cows inside, but still not a single cow is going in the barn. Fearing Spunky might just work himself to death trying to get the cows inside, Farmer John picks him up and sends him inside to get some water and warm up.

But now, watching the snow begin to fall, seeing the dark clouds roll in, and feeling the temperature continue to fall, Farmer John realizes he needs to act fast. Still thinking, he sprints back to the farmhouse and heads inside. Then an idea comes to him… Remembering his son’s Halloween costume, John rushes into his bedroom and digs through his drawers. He pulls out a tiny cow costume (tail, udders, and all!) and reluctantly begins to put it on. Once it’s on, he takes one look in the mirror and realizes how downright ridiculous he looks, but alas, he knows he’s gotta get those cows inside. So out to the cold he goes…

Dropping to his hands and knees, Farmer John begins to crawl towards the barn, hoping to show the cows the way to warmth. Seeing that the cows still aren’t following, he begins to moo as loud as he can: “MOOOOO-VE in here!!!” But the cows still ain’t budging. Finally, crawling and mooing the whole way there, Farmer John makes it into the barn, drinks some water out of the trough, eats some hay, and then lies down to show the cows just how nice and comfortable the barn really is. But still nothin’. The cows, standing there, stare at Farmer John as if he’s crazy. And that’s when Farmer John, cow outfit and all, questions out loud, “Why don’t they get the picture??? I’ve shown them the warm barn! I’ve tried “moo-ing” the answer to them! I’m even wearing a cow costume and they STILL won’t follow me! Ahh! If only I could somehow become one of them, then maybe they’d follow…” And suddenly, right then and there, just like that, John’s eyes are finally opened. With snow falling all around and tears beginning to fall, the God that Farmer John always rejected finally became real. This “crazy” God came to earth as one of us because He loved us so much and wanted to show us the way home to Heaven. And He was willing to die just to get us there:

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, so that everyone who believed in Him might not perish, but have eternal life.” – John 3:16

Instructions: After reading The Story of Farmer John (or hearing it told out loud) answer the questions below. 1. Why isn’t Farmer John a Christian? What are some things he seems to disagree with or not understand about Christianity? 2. What is the first thing Farmer John does to try and get the cows to go inside the barn? 3. What is the second thing Farmer John does to try and get the cows to go inside the barn? 4. What is the third thing Farmer John does to try and get the cows to go inside the barn? 5. What is the fourth (and last) thing Farmer John does to try and get the cows to go inside the barn? 6. What does Farmer John wish he could do to make the cows finally go inside the barn? Why do you think Farmer John thinks this would actually work? 7. What eventually helps Farmer John understand Jesus/Christianity?

The Story of Farmer John

7 pts.

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